Very few construction projects are built exactly as they were priced. Owners change their minds, designers answer RFIs, and site conditions turn out differently. Change is normal; losing track of it is what hurts the margin.
Where the leaks happen
- Work done before the change is agreed. The crew builds it, the paperwork follows weeks later, if at all.
- Changes that never reach the contract. A change is agreed on site, but the contract value is never updated.
- Subcontractor changes that are not passed on. The subcontractor’s change order is paid, the client’s is not issued.
A simple discipline that works
- Record every change as a change order with its reason, its time impact and its cost impact, even when the amount is still open.
- Keep it next to the contract with the client and with the subcontractors, so the original, the changes and the revised value are always visible together.
- Connect RFIs and submittals to the decision that caused the change, so the history explains the number.
- Compare plan and actual by phase, including approved crew hours, while the job is running.
Make it part of the daily routine
The site diary, the crew hours and the change orders should be filled in where the work happens, not reconstructed at the end of the month. When the site and the office work from the same information, changes are noticed when they happen.
Qentrilo keeps change orders, contracts, RFIs and submittals, the site diary and crew hours on the project, with the budget planned by phase. See it for construction companies.