Documents & records
Change order
Also called: CO
A change order is the formal, executed document that modifies the contract — adding or deleting scope and adjusting the contract sum and completion date accordingly. It's signed by both the owner and the contractor, which is what separates it from a directive: a change order reflects agreement on the change and its cost and time impact. It usually originates from an RFI answer, a design revision, an owner request, or a discovered field condition.
Why it matters
Change orders are the paper trail for how a job's scope and price actually evolved from the original contract. Performing changed work without one — on a verbal instruction or an unpriced directive — is one of the surest ways to end up unpaid or in dispute over what was authorized.
How it shows up on site
An executed change order updates the schedule of values so the added scope can be billed, and it feeds the as-built record when it moves something from where the plans showed it. A change directed but not yet agreed on price rides as a construction change directive until the number is settled.
Related terms
- Construction change directive (CCD)An owner-signed order directing the contractor to proceed with a change before the price or time impact has been fully agreed.
- Field directiveA written instruction issued in the field directing the contractor to do or change something, ahead of formal contract paperwork.
- Request for information (RFI)A formal written question from the contractor to the design team when the drawings or specs are unclear, conflicting or incomplete.
- Schedule of valuesThe breakdown of the contract sum into line items of work, used to measure progress and support each payment application.
- As-built drawingsThe construction drawings marked up to show how the work was actually installed, including every field change from the original design.
- Punch listThe running list of incomplete or defective work a contractor has to fix before an area is accepted and closed out.
Knowing the term is step one. Proving it is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.