The Change Order Audit

Written review of your change order documentation practice and dispute exposure. Identifies where approvals slip through verbal exchanges. Delivered as a PDF within 5 business days.

A subcontractor on a public construction thread described losing $4,000 in a single month to unbilled T&M work — vague texts from the field, scribbled notes arriving two weeks late, GCs denying change orders because the documentation missed the deadline. On one crew that is $48,000 a year.

Where change orders leak

The dispute risk in most change orders is not whether the work was done — it is whether the approval was captured. Verbal go-aheads on the job site, texts that get buried, emails that were never formally acknowledged: these are the paper trails that go missing when a project sours.

By the time the dispute surfaces, both sides have a different account of what was agreed to and when. The contractor who documented their changes on the record has leverage. The one who relied on the relationship does not.

What this can recover

One subcontractor on a public construction thread described losing roughly $4,000 in a single month to unbilled T&M work — vague texts from the field, scribbled notes that arrived two weeks late, GCs denying change orders because the documentation missed the deadline. On one crew that is $48,000 a year.

Across the broader contractor population, change-order documentation chaos is widely cited as 3–4% of margin lost per project. The audit names the specific points in your workflow where approvals are slipping off the record.

What you send

Recent change order documentation samples in whatever format you currently use — emails, PDFs, handwritten logs, software exports. A short description of your current approval workflow: how you initiate a CO, who approves it, and what constitutes a confirmed approval in your process.

What you get back

A written PDF audit of your documentation practice, identifying the specific gaps that create dispute exposure, the scenarios where your current workflow leaves approvals unconfirmed, and recommended changes to capture approvals on the record. Delivered within 5 business days of intake.

Who this is for

GCs and subs running active projects with regular change activity — particularly those who have experienced a disputed change order or suspect they are undercharging because verbal approvals are not making it into formal documentation. Most useful for firms where the PM or super is handling change orders alongside everything else.

$9,999 one-time

Pays for itself on three months of typical T&M leakage.

This audit is currently under construction and we are gauging demand. Join the waitlist to be first to know when it becomes bookable.

Questions people ask first

What does the Change Order Audit look at?

Your change-order documentation practice across three to six recent jobs. Where verbal approvals are turning into “I never agreed to that” weeks later, where the paper trail breaks, what your current process can and can't defend in a dispute, and the minimum upgrade that holds up.

Why this audit specifically?

Change-order chaos is widely cited as 3–4% of margin lost per project on mid-size construction firms. On a $5M operation that's $150,000–$200,000 a year. The audit names the specific pattern your operation uses today and the specific gaps that are costing you that margin.

What do you need from me?

Three to six recent change orders that ran on real jobs (redacted is fine — names and numbers can be placeholdered), a written description of how COs typically flow in your operation, and the contract size range you typically work. We don't need contract values, customer names, or signed copies.

How fast is delivery?

PDF in your inbox within 5 business days of the intake form. One round of clarifying questions if anything is ambiguous — the clock pauses until you reply.

What does it cost and what's the math?

$9,999 one-time. On a $5M operation losing 3% to change-order leakage ($150K/year), the audit pays for itself if it recovers 6.5% of that leak — a low bar on most operations. If you're below $2M in volume, the math gets tighter; talk to us first about whether this or the smaller T&M Leak Audit is the right size.