{"id":11507,"date":"2020-01-26T03:42:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T03:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/cnstrctr\/glossary\/change-order\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T10:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T17:07:02","slug":"change-order","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/change-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Change Order [CO]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In project management, a change order is a component of the change management process whereby changes in the scope of work agreed to by the owner, contractor and architect\/engineer are implemented. A change order adds work to or deletes work from the original contract, and depending on the change it may adjust the contract amount, the completion date, or both.<\/p>\n<h2>What a change order includes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Change order number, date and project<\/li>\n<li>Description of the change and the documents it references (CCN, RFI, site instruction, revised drawings)<\/li>\n<li>Cost breakdown with labour, material, equipment, subcontractor costs and markups<\/li>\n<li>Change to the contract sum and the revised contract sum<\/li>\n<li>Change to contract time, if any<\/li>\n<li>Signatures of the owner and contractor (and the architect on AIA contracts)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The change order process<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>A change is identified: owner request, design error or omission, unforeseen site condition, code requirement or RFI answer.<\/li>\n<li>The consultant issues a request for pricing, often a <a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/ccn\/\">CCN<\/a> or proposed change order.<\/li>\n<li>The contractor collects subcontractor quotes and submits a priced proposal with any schedule impact.<\/li>\n<li>The parties review and negotiate.<\/li>\n<li>The change order is issued and signed, then the budget, schedule and billing are updated.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If work has to start before price or time is agreed, the owner can issue a <a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/change-directive\/\">change directive<\/a> instead, which is later converted into a change order.<\/p>\n<h2>Types of change orders and pricing<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>What it does<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Additive<\/td>\n<td>Adds scope and increases the contract sum<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Deductive (credit)<\/td>\n<td>Removes scope and reduces the contract sum<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>No-cost<\/td>\n<td>Records a change with no price effect<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Time only<\/td>\n<td>Extends (or reduces) the contract time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Changes are usually priced as a lump sum, with agreed unit prices, or on a cost-plus or time-and-materials basis, as the contract allows.<\/p>\n<h2>Regional naming<\/h2>\n<p>The AIA form in the US is G701 Change Order. Canadian CCDC 2 contracts use change orders and change directives. In the UK and Australia the usual term is &#8220;variation&#8221;, and in the Middle East and much of Asia &#8220;variation order&#8221; (VO).<\/p>\n<h2>Tips<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not proceed on extra work without written authorization.<\/li>\n<li>Include schedule impact in every proposal; time cannot always be claimed later.<\/li>\n<li>Track every change, pending and approved, in a change order log.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Related terms<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/change-directive\/\">Change Directive<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/site-instruction\/\">Site Instruction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/ccn\/\">CCN<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/glossary\/contingency\/\">Contingency<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Related templates and guides<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/files\/construction\/administration\/change-order-template\/\">Change Order Template<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/files\/construction\/administration\/change-order-log\/\">Change Order Log<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/files\/construction\/administration\/variation-order-template\/\">Variation Order &#8211; Template<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/tutorials\/your-guide-to-submitting-a-construction-change-request\/\">Your Guide to Submitting a Construction Change Request<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<h3>Do you have to accept a change order?<\/h3>\n<p>A contractor cannot normally be forced to sign a change order it disagrees with. Most standard contracts let the owner order the work through a change directive, with price and time settled later under the contract. Disagreements that cannot be settled then go through the contract&#8217;s claims and dispute process.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the difference between an RFI and a change order?<\/h3>\n<p>An RFI is a question asking the design team to clarify the documents. A change order is a signed agreement that changes the contract scope, price or time. An RFI answer can lead to a change order if it adds or removes work, but the RFI itself never changes the contract.<\/p>\n<h3>Who signs a change order?<\/h3>\n<p>The owner and the contractor sign it. On AIA contracts the architect also signs. A subcontractor change order is signed between the general contractor and the subcontractor, usually after the matching owner change order is approved.<\/p>\n<h3>What is a deductive change order?<\/h3>\n<p>A deductive (credit) change order removes work from the contract and reduces the contract sum. Contracts often limit or exclude markup on credits, so check how overhead and profit are handled before pricing a deduction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In project management, a change order is a component of the change management process whereby changes in the scope of work agreed to by the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"glossary-categories":[465],"glossary-tags":[],"class_list":["post-11507","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry","glossary-categories-division-01-general-requirements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/11507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/11507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20340,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/11507\/revisions\/20340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"glossary-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-categories?post=11507"},{"taxonomy":"glossary-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-tags?post=11507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}