Change order
A change order is the written record of a scope change after the contract is signed: what changed, what it costs, how it moves the schedule, and both signatures. It is the mechanism that keeps a changing job and its price honest with each other.
Skipped change orders are where renovation margins go to die. Verbal yeses accumulate into unbilled work, and the final invoice becomes an argument instead of a document.
What belongs in every change order?
Four things: a precise scope description, the price built the same way the original estimate was built (from priced work items, not a round number), the schedule impact, and signatures before the work starts. Pricing changes from the same cost basis as the original bid keeps the conversation about scope, not trust.
Price your next job from the same cost data these figures come from, adjusted for where the job is. You set your markup and approve every line before you bid.
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