Construction Law

The Do’s and Dont’s of Change Orders featured image

The Do’s and Dont’s of Change Orders

As Florida construction attorneys, we draft contracts that tackle unforeseen changes and possess provisions for change orders. Over the span of your projects, there will be change orders and changes. The Owner may change his mind and want something different so a change order is a legal part of the contract where signatures and agreements are needed from each party to execute modifications of the project. This article covers the do’s and dont’s of change orders for any construction project.

The Change Order Checklist

Do’s:

  • Present a timely written change order claim.
  • Require the change order to be signed by the other party before starting extra work.
  • Take photographs to include in your change order.
  • Prepare a report of the extra work in daily logs.
  • Obtain the signature of the owner or the owner’s representative on a daily basis.
  • Be simple when writing the description and/or reason of change.
  • Include a transmittal with the change order and use the transmittal form included in the contract. Change orders submitted without the appropriate transmittal form may get rejected.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and math before submitting the change order.
  • Round up or down to the nearest whole dollar.
  • When in doubt about whether a piece of documentation should be added or not, add it. It can always be taken away later.
  • Include percentage amounts by each item when they add profit, overhead, and bond amounts.
  • Include enough time when processing a change order for approval.
  • Use the forms supplied with the contract to submit change orders.

Don’ts:

  • Don’t use acronyms.
  • Don’t include cents on a change order final cost.
  • Don’t perform extra work based on verbal reassurance of payment.

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.