Construction change order
What is a construction change order?
A construction change order is a controlled amendment to agreed scope, price, schedule or another contract term after the original agreement.
Definition
A change order records work that is added, removed or revised after the original contract or accepted proposal. It should name the reason for the change, describe the altered scope, state the addition or credit, record any schedule extension and show who approved it.
The record matters because a site instruction alone does not explain the commercial effect. A traceable change order separates a proposal still under review from an approved amendment that may update the contract value and later appear in billing.
A change order is not the same as an RFI
An RFI asks for missing or ambiguous information. Its answer may confirm the original scope and change nothing commercially. A change order records the contractual effect when scope, price or time actually changes.
Use the term in practice
How change order software uses the record
Home Builder Software keeps origin, scope, amount, time extension, review, customer approval and posting status together. Posting is the commercial boundary: it updates the contract value and protects the approved history from later edits.