Change order form template: what to include and when to sign

What a change order form is, and when you need one

A change order form is a short written agreement that changes a job after the contract is signed. It says what work is being added, removed or swapped, what that does to the price, and what it does to the schedule and payments. Once you and the customer both sign it, the new total replaces the old one.

You don’t need one for work that was already in the contract. That’s why the original scope matters so much. The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) makes the same point in its older guide for California contractors (the statute is the current rule). Arguments over “extras” are common, and a clearly written original agreement makes it easier to tell what’s extra. A contract that only says “bathroom remodel” turns every question on site into a debate.

You do need one whenever the work or the price moves away from what was signed:

• The customer asks for more: another outlet, a bigger patio, a second coat of paint.
• The customer asks for less, or a cheaper option. That’s a change order too, with a credit instead of a charge.
• A material or fixture changes: a different tile, or a backordered unit swapped for another model.
• An allowance runs over or under. In CSLB’s sample contract language, the price goes up or down by written change order when an allowance item costs more or less than planned.
• You find something nobody could see when you quoted: rot under the tile, old wiring behind a wall, a cracked drain line.
• An inspector requires work that wasn’t in the plans.

Reference: CSLB: Contracting for Success, A Contractor’s Guide to Home Improvement Contracts (opens in a new tab)

What to put on a change order form

A change order doesn’t need to be long. One page covers most jobs. What matters is that someone could read it a year from now and know exactly what was agreed, for how much, and when. These are the fields, in the order we’d lay them out:

• Header: your business name, address, phone and license number, the same as on your contract.
• Change order number, like CO-3, and the job it belongs to: customer name, job address and the date of the original contract.
• The date it was written, and who asked for the change: the customer, you, an inspector or a designer.
• What’s changing, in plain words: the work, where it happens, and the materials, with brand, model or color. Add what’s not included, so nobody assumes it is.
• Why: a customer request, a condition found on site, an inspector’s requirement or an allowance difference.
• Price: labor, materials, equipment or disposal, and your overhead and profit, with the total added or taken off. You can price a change three ways: a fixed amount, time and materials with a cap the bill won’t go over (a “not-to-exceed” amount), or a unit price from the contract, like per sheet of roof decking. If your contract sets a markup for changes, use it.
• Running total: the original contract price, the change orders signed so far, this change, and the new contract price.
• Schedule: days added or saved, and the new expected finish date.
• Payments: when this money is due, for example with the next progress payment or on completion.
• Attachments: photos of what you found, a sketch, or the product page for the new fixture.
• How long the price is good for, such as seven days, since material prices move.
• Signatures: lines for the customer and for you, with printed names and dates, plus a line saying the work starts only after both sign.
• California home improvement jobs: if the contract’s subcontractor box is checked “Yes,” every change order must repeat the contract’s subcontractor statement. Our guide to tracking subcontractor licenses covers the rest.

Reference: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab)

A change order form template, filled in

Here is the form filled in for a made-up kitchen remodel: the countertop change from the trade examples below. Copy the layout into your own document or app, and swap in your details. Write “none” in any field that doesn’t apply, rather than leaving it blank.

• Header: [your business name, address, phone and license number], matching the contract.
• Change order: CO-2 for the Oak Street kitchen remodel. Original contract dated [date]. Written [date], requested by the homeowner.
• Change: replace the allowance countertop with the homeowner’s chosen white quartz, 42 square feet, same edge and sink cutout. Not included: the backsplash, which stays as in the contract.
• Reason: allowance difference. The contract allows $3,000 for countertops, and the chosen quartz costs $4,200.
• Price: $1,200 added. In this made-up contract, allowances already include overhead and profit, so there’s no extra markup.
• Running total: original contract price $48,000, earlier change orders $650, this change $1,200, new contract price $49,850.
• Schedule: three days added for the new fabrication date. New expected finish date: [date].
• Payment: the $1,200 is added to the next progress payment.
• Subcontractor statement: the same one as in the contract, since its subcontractor box is checked “Yes.”
• Attachments: a photo of the quartz sample and its product page.
• Price good for: seven days.
• Signatures: homeowner and contractor, with printed names and dates. Work on this change starts only after both sign.

How to get it signed before the extra work starts

Many change order fights start the same way. The customer asks for something on site, the crew says “sure,” and the price shows up for the first time on the final invoice. The fix is a habit more than a form: nothing extra gets built until it’s written, priced and signed.

Here is a simple routine for a small crew, and two cases that test it:

• Name it on the spot. Teach the crew one line: “That’s outside what we agreed. We’ll write it up and send you the price.” No prices promised in the driveway.
• Write it up the same day, ideally on site from a phone. Take photos of what you found before anyone opens things up further.
• Price it from your price list or set hourly rates, so two people in your office would land on the same number. If the full cost depends on what’s behind a wall, price the first step, or set a not-to-exceed cap.
• Send it and talk it through. Hand it over in person, or send a link by text or email, then call to walk through the price and the new finish date.
• Get both signatures, then give the customer a copy they can keep, like a PDF.
• Only then order materials and put the work on the schedule. The crew should see the signed change order on the job, not a text that says “go ahead.”
• Bill it as its own line. The next invoice should say “Change order 3: two added recessed lights, $640,” not a bigger number with no explanation.
• If it can’t wait. When work truly can’t wait, like a leaking pipe behind an open wall, the same steps apply, just faster. Call the customer, send the change order to their phone and get it signed before the crew starts. Ten minutes of waiting costs less than a month of arguing over an invoice.
• If the customer says no. Keep the declined change order too. It shows you found the problem, offered the work and told them the price. That matters if the same rotten board or old valve causes trouble later.

Change order examples by trade

These examples are made up, and each one shows a different kind of change. Each highlights one part, but every real change order still needs a price, the effect on the schedule and payments, and both signatures before the work starts.

• Kitchen remodel. The contract allows $3,000 for countertops, and the homeowner picks a quartz that costs $4,200. The change order adds $1,200, adds three days for the new fabrication date, and moves the extra into the next progress payment. The template above shows it filled in.
• Electrical. Partway through a rewire, the electrician finds the old panel can’t take the new circuits. The change order adds a priced panel upgrade, attaches a photo of the old panel, and gives a new expected finish date. It also notes that the permit and utility schedule could push that date.
• Plumbing. While replacing a water heater, the plumber finds a corroded shutoff valve. A small change order on the phone, $185 to replace it, gets signed before the old valve comes off.
• HVAC. On install day, the customer asks for a second thermostat for the upstairs zone. The change order prices the thermostat and wiring and adds half a day.
• Landscaping. The customer drops one planting bed and adds 40 feet of drip line. One change order shows both: a credit for the bed, a charge for the drip line and the net change.
• Roofing. Under the old shingles, some decking is rotten. If the contract set a price per sheet, the change order is quick: the sheet count, the price per sheet, the total, any extra day, and photos. It still gets signed before the new decking goes on. If the contract set no per-sheet price, price the work first.

What the law says: California as an example

Rules on change orders vary by state, and your contract can add its own. California spells them out in Business and Professions Code section 7159, which covers home improvement contracts with an owner or tenant over $500. It’s a useful example even if you work elsewhere. Small service and repair jobs that follow sections 7159.10 to 7159.14 have their own rules. This isn’t legal advice. Confirm the rules for your own jobs with your state’s contractor board or a lawyer.

Under section 7159, a home improvement contract and any change to it must be in writing and signed by both sides before the work it covers starts. A change order becomes part of the contract only when it’s signed before that work starts. It must describe the scope of the extra work or change and the cost added or taken off. It must also show the effect on the schedule of progress payments.

The contract must also carry a notice that explains this to the homeowner. It says they can’t require you to do extra work without written authorization before that work starts. It also says a change order isn’t enforceable against them unless it’s written before the work starts. It has to state the scope, the amount added or taken off, and the effect on progress payments or the completion date.

The same notice says that if you skip these steps, you may still be able to recover pay for the work through legal or equitable remedies meant to prevent unjust enrichment. Counting on that is far riskier than a signed change order.

Under section 7111, California contractors must keep records of all their contracts, documents, receipts and payments, and make them available to CSLB for inspection for at least five years after a project is finished. Failing to do so is cause for discipline. Change orders are part of the contract, so keep them with it. Our articles on California home improvement contract records and down payments and progress payments cover the rest of the contract.

Section 7159 covers home improvement contracts with owners and tenants, not commercial jobs or subcontracts. On those, start with the contract’s change clause, though other laws can still apply. It may set a deadline for giving notice of a change and name who can approve one. Read that clause before the job starts, not when the extra work shows up.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7111 (opens in a new tab)

Signing on paper, by email or in a portal

A signature on paper works. In most cases, so does an electronic one. For the deals it covers, those in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, the federal E-SIGN Act says a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic.

Two details matter for jobs with homeowners. First, when a law says a consumer must get something in writing, E-SIGN allows an electronic copy only if they agree to get records that way. Before they agree, they must be told things like how to get a paper copy and how to withdraw. Second, where a contract must be in writing, an electronic copy can lose its legal effect if it isn’t in a form every party can keep and accurately reproduce later. So send the customer a PDF of the signed change order, not only a link that might expire. Ask your lawyer how these rules apply to your contracts.

Then pick the method that fits how often your jobs change:

• A carbon-copy change order book in the truck. Cheap and fast, and the customer gets a copy on the spot. But the office doesn’t see it until someone brings it back, and it can get lost before it reaches the invoice.
• A template plus an e-signature app. Fill in a document, send it for signature, file the PDF. Fine for a few change orders a month. The signed file still sits apart from the job and the invoice, so someone copies the numbers across by hand.
• Change orders inside a job app. Construction apps built for remodelers may include them. JobTread’s feature page, for example, says customers can approve change orders digitally and that they sync to the job budget (when we checked in October 2026). If you run remodels and an app like that fits your jobs, it’s often the simplest answer.
• A customer portal. The customer signs in, sees every change order on their job, signs new ones and sees the running total. Our guide to choosing a client portal covers what to look for.

References: GovInfo: 15 U.S. Code section 7001 (E-SIGN Act), General rule of validity (opens in a new tab) · JobTread: Change Orders (opens in a new tab)

Keep every change order with the job and the invoice

A signed change order only protects you if you can find it and it makes it onto the invoice. The usual leaks are simple. The signed paper rides in a truck for two weeks. The invoice gets built from the original quote. The crew built the extra work from a text message nobody saved.

A change order log ties it together. For each job, keep one row per change order: number, date, description, amount, days added, status, date signed, and the invoice it was billed on. At the end of the job, the log should add up to the difference between the original price and the final bill. If it doesn’t, something was built without being signed, or signed without being billed.

Whatever tool you use, check it against this list:

• Numbers change orders for each job automatically, so CO-4 never goes missing between CO-3 and CO-5.
• Fills in the customer, job address and contract details from the job, so nobody retypes them.
• Shows the running total: the original price, every signed change order, and the current contract price.
• Tracks a status for each one: draft, sent, signed, declined or billed. It flags any work on the schedule from a change order that isn’t signed yet.
• Shows the crew approved changes on their phones, with notes and photos. See our guide to saving job site photos to the job.
• Puts each signed change order on the next invoice as its own line, and updates the payment schedule.
• Keeps the signed PDF with the job for as long as you need it, and lets you export everything.

When a form is enough, and when to build your own

If you write a few change orders a year, a good form and an e-signature app are enough. If you run remodels and a construction app with change orders fits how you work, use it. We’d rather say that than sell you a build.

Custom makes sense when change orders have to live inside the system that runs everything else. That means your job records, the crew’s phone app, invoices that go to QuickBooks Online and payments through Stripe or Square. That’s the kind of custom business software we build. The office writes the change order from the job, the customer signs it in a portal, the crew sees it once it’s signed, and the next invoice picks it up.

If you already have custom software that holds your jobs and invoices, adding a change order form can be a focused fix: $750–$3,000 over 1–⁠2 weeks. If someone else built it, we review it first. One business system, like jobs, quotes, change orders and invoices together, is $6,000–$18,000 over 6–⁠10 weeks. A full system with a crew phone app and a customer portal is $18,000–$40,000 over 10–⁠16 weeks. These are our prices as of October 4, 2026. Every launch includes 30 days of fixes, and you own the code we write once the project is paid in full.

Bring the last few change orders that turned into arguments, or never made it onto an invoice, to a free first call. You get a fixed price in writing within 48 hours.