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Bettesworth Construction
change orders

What to Check Before Approving a Construction Change Order

A practical review sequence for confirming a construction change order is authorized, clearly scoped, priced and scheduled under the project contract.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 8 min read
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Before approving a construction change order, confirm that the contract permits the proposed change, the right person has authority to approve it, and the documents clearly define the revised work, price, and effect on contract time. Then verify entitlement, cost support, schedule impact, funding, signatures, and attachments. The executed contract and applicable law control; no checklist can establish that a specific proposal is payable or legally sufficient without reviewing the project documents and facts.

Start with the contract and approval route

Read the executed agreement, incorporated general conditions, amendments, and project-specific change procedure before evaluating the proposal itself. The contract should identify who may request, review, direct, and approve changes; required notices and response periods; signature requirements; and any monetary thresholds or owner and lender funding controls.

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Do not assume that a project participant has authority just because they are involved in design or construction. AIA guidance notes that an architect does not automatically have authority to change the client-contractor agreement. Instructions for AIA Document G714-2017 also require the owner’s representative authorizing additional funds to be legally empowered and within the applicable monetary authority. These are examples for projects using those documents, not universal rules. Under federal acquisition rules, modifications may be executed only by contracting officers acting within their authority. FAR Subpart 43.2 applies to covered federal contracts; it does not automatically govern private construction.

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  • Identify the contract clause or procedure that governs changes.
  • Confirm who is allowed to direct work and who can commit funds.
  • Check notice deadlines, response periods, approval limits, and required signatures.
  • Confirm any required owner, lender, or other funding approval before authorizing the change.

Make the revised work unmistakable

The change description should let a person who was not part of the negotiations understand what is being added, deleted, substituted, or revised. Identify locations, quantities, quality and performance requirements, interfaces with existing work, exclusions, and responsibility for related work. A proposal that merely says “revise per discussion” or points to an undated sketch may leave the parties disputing what was authorized.

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Compare the proposed work with the current drawings, specifications, addenda, RFIs, submittals, and original scope. The purpose is to distinguish genuine extra or revised work from work the contractor already owes under the contract. AIA’s overview of A201-2017 recommends describing the effects so they can be understood, identifying affected contract documents, and referencing supporting documents and their dates. The AIA definition quoted in that overview describes a change order as a written instrument stating agreement on the change in Work, any adjustment to Contract Sum, and any adjustment to Contract Time; that definition applies when the project uses that form. AIA Contract Documents’ change-order overview.

Check the package against the existing scope

  • Are additions, deletions, substitutions, and affected locations explicit?
  • Are quantities and performance requirements stated or tied to dated documents?
  • Are interfaces, exclusions, temporary work, and related responsibilities addressed?
  • Does the proposal include work already required by the contract, or omit a credit for deleted work?
  • Are the drawings, specifications, and other attachments identified by title, revision, and date?

Test the reason and entitlement

Record who initiated the change and why. Common causes can include an owner preference, design development, a differing site condition, an approved substitution, coordination, or delay. But a plausible reason does not by itself prove that the contractor is entitled to additional payment or time. Compare the asserted cause with the contract’s allocation of risk, notice requirements, prior instructions, and the record of events.

Keep the factual basis distinct from the proposed remedy: identify the event, the contract provision or instruction relied on, and the resulting work or delay. AIA’s guidance recognizes that changes can arise from several causes, including owner changes, unforeseen conditions, approved substitutions, and delays, but who pays and whether time is due depend on the contract and project facts. AIA Contract Documents’ change-order overview.

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Review the proposed price and its backup

First check that the pricing method matches the contract: agreed lump sum, unit prices, cost plus fee, or another specified approach. The amount should be traceable to the changed scope, with credits for deleted work and no duplicate charge for costs already included in the original price. Review overhead and profit treatment against the contract rather than assuming a markup is allowed or applying one twice.

Pricing method What to verify
Lump sum Request enough detail to assess labor, materials, equipment, subcontractor amounts, taxes, and any bond, insurance, overhead, or profit components the contract allows. Check assumptions, exclusions, and credits for deleted work.
Unit price Confirm the applicable contract rates, quantities, and measurement rules; verify how actual quantities will be documented and reconciled.
Cost plus or reimbursable cost Check the contract’s allowable-cost definitions, fee, required records, and audit rights. Confirm that the proposed work will be tracked in the required way.

For any method, check whether the proposal has a validity period and how the changed work will be treated in the schedule of values and payment applications where relevant. AIA recommends assessing cost reasonableness and avoiding payment for work already included or duplicate overhead and profit. Its G714 instructions describe lump-sum, unit-price, and cost-plus approaches. AIA change-order overview; AIA Document G714-2017 instructions.

For a covered federal contract, FAR 43.204 says a cost analysis should be made when appropriate, segregable costs considered, and additional funds secured before a contract adjustment. Those requirements are specific to their federal scope, not a general rule for private projects. FAR 43.204.

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Assess the time and sequencing impact

Require the contractor to state whether the change affects contract time, milestones, or both, and to explain the number of days requested. Compare the request with an updated schedule or schedule narrative, not just a statement that the work “may cause delay.” Determine whether the changed activity affects the critical path, whether resequencing or mitigation is available, and whether procurement lead times, access restrictions, shutdown windows, or concurrent delays affect the claimed time.

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  • Identify the activity or milestone affected and the basis for the requested days.
  • Check critical-path consequences against the current schedule.
  • Review lead times, access, outages, and sequencing constraints.
  • Consider mitigation and resequencing, and account for concurrent delay where relevant.
  • State the agreed contract-time adjustment—or clearly state that it remains unresolved under an authorized interim process.

AIA’s review guidance specifically calls attention to critical-path effects, mitigation, and concurrent delay. AIA change-order overview.

Compare alternatives when there is more than one solution

When the proposal offers options, compare them on the same basis rather than choosing on initial price alone. Each alternative should deliver a defined performance outcome and make its cost, schedule, and risk differences visible.

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Comparison point Question to answer
Scope and performance Does each option meet the complete intended requirement, including interfaces and related work?
Cost and risk What are the initial cost, credits, lifecycle implications, and risk allowances under each option?
Schedule and disruption What is the critical-path effect, procurement lead time, and impact on access or operations?
Entitlement and compliance How does the contract allocate the cause and cost, and are code and safety implications addressed?
Constructability and records Can the option be built as described, and what approvals and supporting documents will it require?

AIA recommends considering necessity, alternatives, compensation method, cost, time, and effects on other project areas when evaluating a proposed change. AIA Best Practices: “A no-drama approach to changes and change orders”.

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Confirm funding, signatures, and attachments

Before approval, verify that the correct budget or contingency can fund the change and that the approving person has authority for that amount. Confirm the signatures required by the executed contract and the applicable form. Written client approval before issuing a change order is recommended in AIA guidance, but the project agreement determines the actual approval route. AIA Best Practices.

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Make the executed document point to the records that define and support the adjustment. Depending on the change, those may include the contractor’s proposal, revised drawings and specifications, schedule analysis, subcontractor quotations, quantity calculations, and relevant instructions or correspondence. Identify each by title and date so the signed document and its scope can be read together. For federal changes requiring additional funds, FAR says those funds must be secured before the adjustment. FAR 43.204.

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Know whether you are approving a final change or directing work

A fully agreed change order and an interim directive are different instruments. If the parties have not agreed on price or time but work must proceed, use a directive only if the governing contract authorizes that mechanism and the issuer has authority. The document should define the directed work, the method for adjusting price, the time impact, required cost and schedule records, and the process for reaching a final adjustment.

AIA Document G714-2017 is described as a directive for circumstances in which owner and contractor have not agreed on contract sum or time; its instructions say the contractor proceeds after receiving a completed directive, with the unresolved adjustment handled later through the contract’s process. G733-2019 serves a similar purpose in a construction-manager-as-adviser context. These forms do not create a directive right where the project contract does not provide one. G714-2017 instructions; G733-2019 instructions.

For applicable federal contracts, FAR Subpart 43.2 distinguishes non-forward-priced change orders from the later supplemental agreement that reflects the equitable adjustment. Federal procedures are not a default template for private projects. FAR Subpart 43.2.

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A practical approval sequence

  1. Locate the governing documents. Review the executed contract, amendments, incorporated conditions, and change procedure; note notice deadlines, authority, and required approvals.
  2. Validate the change description. Match the proposed work against current contract documents and identify additions, deletions, interfaces, exclusions, and dated attachments.
  3. Establish the basis. Record the initiating event or instruction and test entitlement against contract terms, risk allocation, and notice requirements.
  4. Reconcile the price. Apply the contract’s pricing method, review supporting quantities and costs, and account for credits, allowed markups, and payment treatment.
  5. Evaluate schedule effects. Review the requested days, affected activities, critical path, lead times, mitigation, and concurrent delays.
  6. Confirm funding and authorization. Check available funds and monetary limits; obtain required approvals from authorized parties.
  7. Choose the correct instrument. Use a final change order when price and time are agreed; use a directive only when the contract authorizes it and record how unresolved adjustments will be determined.
  8. Complete and retain the record. Obtain required signatures and attach or reference the proposal, revised documents, schedule analysis, and other support by title and date.

What this review can—and cannot—establish

A complete package makes the proposed scope, contract-sum adjustment, and contract-time adjustment understandable and traceable. It does not, by itself, establish that the change is payable, properly authorized, or legally sufficient: that conclusion depends on the executed agreement, project facts, governing law, and any applicable owner or procurement procedures. For highway work, the Federal Highway Administration’s resource index points to materials on contract changes, extra work, time extensions, and cardinal changes; it is a resource index rather than a project-specific approval rule, and it lists an update date of February 27, 2023. FHWA contract-changes resource index.

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