Change order

A change order is a documented, authorized modification to a contract's scope, schedule, compensation, or other terms.

Definition

For a civil engineering firm, a change order records an agreed adjustment to the original contract, such as added survey work, revised design deliverables, a schedule extension, or a fee change. It commonly identifies the changed work, price or compensation method, timing, and required approvals. The contract determines who can authorize the change and what form is required. Firms may use signed amendments, task orders, or other written approvals, and they may track requested, submitted, approved, and billed changes separately. A client request or a consultant's estimate is not necessarily an authorized change order. Nor is every additional task automatically outside the original scope; the contract and project facts matter. Owners use change-order tracking to connect scope decisions with staffing, schedule, billing, and forecast updates. Federal contracting rules address modifications for covered contracts, but do not define every firm's private agreements. FAR Part 31

How owners use it

• Record the request, scope impact, fee, schedule effect, approver, and approval status in the project file.
• Keep requested and approved changes distinct in backlog and revenue forecasts.
• Use written authorization procedures that match the client contract before assigning changed work.
• Example: A $90,000 design contract receives an approved $12,000 survey addition; $90,000 + $12,000 = $102,000 revised contract value.

Related terms

• Scope of ServicesThe written description of work a firm agrees to perform, including tasks, deliverables, assumptions, exclusions, and sometimes interfaces with other
• Additional ServicesWork that falls outside the services included in the original agreement.
• Scope creepScope creep is the gradual expansion of project work beyond the agreed scope without a matching adjustment to fee, schedule,
• Task OrderA document issued under an existing contract to authorize a specific assignment.
• Change ControlA process for reviewing, approving, recording, and communicating changes to a project's scope, schedule, budget, or requirements.
• Project marginProject margin is the difference between project revenue and selected project costs, expressed as an amount or percentage.

Related guides and articles

• How should a firm price additional services and scope changes?Set up a process to identify, document, price, and authorize changed work before the team starts it, when the contract permits that process.
• How do engineering firms manage client changes during design?A design change can affect engineering, scope, fee, schedule, and documents already in circulation.
• What should happen at an engineering project kickoff?A kickoff is the owner’s chance to catch mismatched expectations while they are still inexpensive to resolve.