Manage change orders

A change order is an agreed change to the job's scope, price or schedule after the contract is signed. Use the project's Change orders tab to record each one, track whether the customer approved it, and print an authorization for the customer to sign. Approved change orders add to the contract value and can be billed.

You need contract terms first. Until they exist, the tab shows Contract terms are required first and an Open terms button. See Set up contract terms.

What the tab showsCopy Anchor Link

The top of the tab shows the Original contract value, the Customer and the Change order billing choice from the contract terms.

The table lists every change order:

Create a change orderCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the project and go to Change orders.
2. Click New change order.
3. Fill in the form:
   • Status: start with Pending. Change it to Accepted or Rejected when the customer answers.
   • Date requested, Draft date and Change order name.
   • Days to extend contract completion, Shop hours and Field hours.
   • Total cost of performance (your cost) and Total proposed value (the price to the customer).
   • Change notes: the scope of the change. These print on the authorization.
4. Click Save change order.

BidUnity numbers change orders for you, in order. The Contract summary beside the form shows how this change order moves the contract value:

• Original contract amount
• Net of previous changes: the total of approved change orders with a lower number.
• Net amount of contract
• This change order
• Net amount of contract upon acceptance
• Performance days

Counterparty CO # and Date accepted can only be filled in once the status is approved (Accepted, Scheduled, Completed or Contract Scope).

Edit a change orderCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the project and go to Change orders.
2. Click Edit on the change order's row.
3. Make your changes and click Save changes.

On this tab you can set the status to Pending, Accepted or Rejected. Scheduled, Completed and Contract Scope are set from the Pending change orders table on the Billing tab. See Bill with applications for payment.

Once a change order is included on an application for payment, it shows Included on progress bill and can't be changed. Its row shows View instead of Edit.

You can't delete a change order. Set it to Rejected if the customer turns it down.

Print a change order authorizationCopy Anchor Link

The authorization is a one-page form that asks the customer to agree to the change in writing.

1. Open the change order (click Edit or View). You need to have saved it first.
2. Click Print authorization. The authorization opens in a new browser tab.
3. Click Print.

The authorization shows:

• Your company's letterhead, the project name and address, and the person who created the change order as the preparer (Prepared by:).
• The draft date, the project's owner, and the customer's project ID from the contract terms.
• The change notes.
• The original contract amount, the net of previously accepted change orders, the amount of this change order, the new contract amount if it is accepted, and the change in contract time in days.
• A signature block for both companies' project managers, with Signature and Date accepted rows. Your company's Project manager is also the person who created the change order.

The preparer is the same no matter who prints the authorization. If BidUnity has no record of who created the change order, the preparer and your company's project manager are left blank.

What happens nextCopy Anchor Link

• When you set a change order to an approved status, it adds to the contract value and you can include it on the next application for payment.
• The Contract summary of later change orders counts it in Net of previous changes.