Download the template

  • Change order template, PDF: one Letter page to print and fill in, with the scope, the lines, the new contract amount, the schedule and both signatures.
  • Change order template, Excel: type the quantities and unit prices, and the change’s amount, overhead and profit, tax and the new contract amount work themselves out. A credit is a line with a minus amount. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.

Both are free, with no sign-up. They match the estimate template and the invoice template line for line.

What a change order is

The contract and its estimate set the work and the price. Once the job starts, things change: the owner wants something added, a material is swapped, or the tear-out shows damage nobody could see. A change order puts each change in writing, prices it, and gets both signatures before that work starts, so the contract, the schedule and the final invoice all still agree.

What goes on one

California’s home improvement law is a clear checklist. A change order isn’t enforceable against the owner unless it sets out (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 7159.6):

  1. The scope of the work in the order.
  2. The amount added to or subtracted from the contract.
  3. The effect on the progress payments or the completion date.

The template adds what makes it easy to file and check later:

Part What to put
Change order no., date A number in order for the job, and the day it’s written
Contract no., contract date The contract the change belongs to
Contractor and owner Both parties, the property address, your license number, and a claim or job number if there is one
Scope of the change What’s added or taken out, and why
Lines Each piece of the change: description, quantity, unit, unit price and amount
This change order The lines with overhead, profit and tax
Contract sum The original amount, the change orders before this one, this one, and the new total
Schedule and payments Days added or taken off, the new completion date, and the change to progress payments
Signatures The owner and the contractor, with dates

Signed before the work starts

California requires home improvement contracts to carry a “Note About Extra Work and Change Orders” saying that a change order becomes part of the contract once it’s in writing and signed by both parties before the work it covers starts (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 7159(d)(13)). The owner also can’t require the contractor to do extra or changed work without giving written authorization (7159.6(b)).

Other states write their own rules, and a contract can set its own change order clause. Signing before the work keeps the price and the schedule agreed either way.

Pricing the change

Price a change the way the estimate was priced: the same line descriptions, units and unit prices, with overhead, profit and tax on top. When the change takes work out, list it as a credit at the price it carried in the estimate. On an insurance job, added work found during the repair can also go to the insurer as a supplement.

When the estimate is written in BluMatrix

BluMatrix writes the estimate line by line at current prices for the ZIP code, with overhead, profit and tax, and the client signs it online. The added work prices the same way, so the change order’s lines read against the estimate’s.

Common questions

What is a change order in construction?

A written change to the contract, signed by the owner and the contractor, that states the work added or taken out, the change in price, and the effect on the schedule and payments.

Does a change order have to be in writing?

In California, yes for home improvement work: it becomes part of the contract only if it’s in writing and signed by the parties before the work it covers starts (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 7159(d)). Elsewhere, check your state’s rules and the contract.

Can a change order lower the price?

Yes. Work taken out is a credit, a line with a minus amount, and the new contract amount goes down.

Is the change order template free?

Yes. The PDF and the Excel sheet are free to download and use, with no sign-up.