Change order template for remodeling contractors

A change order is the written record that the scope, price or schedule of a job moved, and that the client agreed to it before you did the work. Remodelers write more of them than any other trade, because opening a wall in a house built in 1962 always finds something. The form does not need to be fancy. It needs to be complete.

The fields that matter

1. Your business and the client. Names, and how to reach each of you.
2. The job and the original contract. Job name or address, and the date or number of the contract this changes.
3. Change order number. Number them per job: CO #1, #2, #3. A number makes it easy to say which one you mean six weeks later.
4. What is changing. One plain sentence a homeowner understands, like “Replace two rotted floor joists found under the tub.”
5. Why. Hidden damage, a client request, a code requirement, a material that is no longer available. The reason is what heads off the “why am I paying for this” call.
6. Cost breakdown. Labor, materials and any other costs as separate lines, then your markup, then the change total. Credits for removed work go here too, as negative lines.
7. Schedule impact. How many days this adds or removes. Leaving it blank invites a fight about the finish date later.
8. New contract total. Original contract plus all approved changes, including this one.
9. Signatures and dates. The client’s signature before the work starts. This is the field that does the real work.

A filled-in example

The numbers above are an example, not a pricing suggestion. Use your own rates.

Common mistakes

• Doing the work first and writing it up later. Once the joists are in, your leverage is gone. Get the yes, then pick up the saw.
• One lump sum. “Extra framing: $990” gets questioned. Line items get approved.
• No schedule line. If the change pushes the finish date, say so on the same page the client signs.
• Losing track of the running total. Three small changes add up. Show the new contract total every time so nobody is surprised at the final invoice.

Paper, PDF or a link?

A paper form works if you and the client are in the same room. Most change orders come up when the client is at work and you are on site, so the form ends up as a photo in a text thread. A link the client can open on a phone and answer, with the time and their typed name saved, closes that gap.

Want the client’s yes on record without printing anything? SignedChangeOrders is free for 3 change orders a month, or grab the free printable change order template.