Field note N-103 · 2026-08-07
Change orders: what the owner actually owes
Change orders are where budgets die — rarely in one blow, usually by a hundred defensible-sounding cuts. The discipline that stops it is simple to state: the contract, not the change order form, decides what you owe. Everything below follows from that.
Ask where the change came from
Every change order has an origin: an owner decision, an unforeseen condition, a design gap, or a contractor preference dressed as necessity. The origin determines who pays. An owner upgrade is yours. A genuinely unforeseen condition is usually shared per the contract. A coordination error in the drawings may be a professional-liability question, not an open owner checkbook. Sorting change orders by origin — in a log, from day one — is the single habit that keeps the conversation honest.
Price the change, not the moment
Change order pricing arrives when the contractor has maximum leverage — the work is imminent or already done. Scrutinize it like a bid: quantities against the drawings, unit costs against the schedule of values you already negotiated, markup against the percentage the contract allows (it is in there; look), and credits for the work deleted, which have a way of being forgotten. If the contract lets you direct the work on a time-and-materials basis with tickets while pricing is resolved, that option is your alternative to signing under pressure.
Time is money you can't see
A change order that adds fourteen days can cost more than its dollar figure — extended general conditions, your carrying costs, a delayed opening. Demand schedule substantiation, not assertion: does this change actually touch the critical path, or does it run parallel to work that governs? Signing away time casually is how a project ends up late with every individual delay "approved."
No signed ticket, no work — and no surprise claims
Insist the paper precede the work: written direction before changed work proceeds, per the contract's notice provisions. The same provisions bind the contractor — claims for "constructive changes" noticed months late are usually barred by the clause both parties signed. Enforcing that is not hardball; it is the deal.
This note is general guidance, not legal advice. If a change order on your desk doesn't smell right, a project review prices it against the contract before you sign.