Add a Change Order to the Schedule

Change orders are used when a new work, alteration, or extension emerges. There are two types of change orders:

• Commitment change order – Commitment change orders represent changes in the agreed cost and/or the timeline for the work covered by the scope of the contract. Contractors use commitment change orders if their deliverables would cost more than the committed cost or could extend the proposed timeline. Useful for budget amendments and schedule revisions.
• Contract change order– Contract change orders represent any addition to, alteration, or omission of planned work covered by the scope of the contract. These include work that is not covered in the scope of the contract, like deviations in plans and dimensions, changes in designs, materials, and more. There are two types of contract change orders:
  • Prime contract change order – Changes that affect the contract between the general contractor and the owner/developer. Typically prime contract change orders are initiated by the general contractor and approved by the owner.
  • Client contract change order - Changes that affect the contract between the subcontractor and the general contractor. Typically client contract change orders are initiated by the subcontractor and approved by the general contractor and/or the owner. 

The change orders undergo a series of processes and GC/owner approval, after which the GC adds it to the schedule for execution. See 'Change Orders - An Overview' to read more about the change orders.

In order to push the change work to the respective contractor(s), the GC needs to add the change work to the master schedule. A change order becomes eligible for addition to the schedule after selecting the contractor(s), obtaining owner approval, and closed. Once added to the schedule, the work gets auto-assigned to the respective subcontractors whose work cost estimates are accepted.

To add a change order to the schedule

• Open the project schedule in grid view. If not already done,
  • Click the app launcher  , then select 'Schedule'
  • Click 'Planner' on the top and select 'Grid' on the left.
• Identify the top-level task next to which you want to add the change order.
• Right-click on the row, then choose 'Add' > 'Change Order.'  

The approved and completed change orders pertaining to the project are shown:

• Click the serial number of the change order you want to add to the schedule and Click 'Add', then 'Yes' to confirm your action.

The selected change order is added as the next top-level task, with the change order title as its task name. 

The change order is automatically broken down into subtasks, one for each subcontractor whose work cost estimates have been accepted. These subtasks are automatically assigned to the respective subcontractors. Estimated labor requirements and task durations are auto-filled based on the subcontractors’ submitted estimates.

Adjust Schedule Details

• Set the planned start and end dates and define task dependencies by clicking inside the respective cells. Refer to  Add Dependencies for detailed guidance.
• Apply constraints to subtasks if necessary. See Specify Constraints For Scheduled Tasks if you need guidance on this.

Publish the Change Order

• Right-click the change order and select 'Publish.'

Once published, assigned subtasks are pushed to subcontractors, appearing as parent-level tasks on their contractor schedules. The line items from their submitted estimates are automatically added as subtasks under this parent item.

The project budget gets auto-updated with the cost of the change work. You can view the list of change orders added to the budget with their details in the 'Finance' > 'Budget' > 'Change Order' screen. See View Budget Updates for more details.