Change order template, and how to get one signed before the work
Most payment fights start with work nobody wrote down. A change order turns "while you're here, can you" into a signed agreement on scope, price and time before the crew starts.
Download the change order template: PDFWord
The template
One change order per change. Print the PDF or fill in the Word file, and keep every change order on the job in the log (below).
Change order #[number] · [date]
Project: [name and address] · Client: [name]
Original contract: [date or number]
The change: [what is added, removed or done differently, where, and with what materials]
Why: [client request, hidden condition, code or inspector requirement, design change]
Price: labor [$] · materials [$] · other [$] · this change [$]
Original contract [$] + earlier change orders [$] + this change [$] = new contract total [$]
Schedule: [days added or saved] · new completion date [date]
Payment: [due with the next payment, or a deposit before the work]
Photos and attachments: [what was found, drawings, quotes]
Approved: client [signature, date] · contractor [signature, date]
When you need one
Any time the scope, the price or the schedule moves from what was signed: the client adds something, the client takes something out, you find rot or bad wiring behind a wall, or the inspector asks for something the plans didn't show. Small changes count too; a series of small unwritten ones is how a job ends up hundreds or thousands over with nothing to show for it.
What makes it hold up
- A clear description. Someone who wasn't there should understand exactly what changed.
- The price and the new total. Show this change and what the whole contract now comes to, so nobody is surprised at the end.
- The schedule. If the change adds days, say so now, not when the job runs late.
- Signatures and dates from both sides, before the work.
- Photos of a hidden condition before you touch it.
Get it signed before the work
The order matters: describe, price, sign, then build. If something can't wait, such as a leak that has to be stopped today, photograph it, tell the client in writing what you are doing and why, and get the change order signed as soon as you can. Your contract may say how changes have to be approved; follow it.
Keep a log
Number change orders in order and keep them in one list with their status: sent, signed, done, invoiced. The free change order log does this: Excel or printable PDF. At the end of the job, the log and the signed copies explain every dollar between the original contract and the final invoice.
Common mistakes
- Verbal approval in the driveway and nothing written.
- A description like "extra work, kitchen" that nobody can check later.
- No new contract total, so the final invoice comes as a shock.
- Waiting until the end of the job to write them all up.
This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Some states have specific rules for home improvement contracts and changes to them; check yours.
Doing it in FieldPix
Write the change as an agreement or a proposal on the job in FieldPix, attach the photos of what you found, and have the client sign on your phone or from a link. The signed copy stays with the job, and the extra amount can go on the invoice and be paid by pay link, QR code or card. Watch: agreements clients sign on your phone.
