Change orders
A change order is how a fixed price responds to something nobody could see beforehand. Some are entirely legitimate. What determines whether you can tell is what was written down before the work started.
What this page cannot establish
- SewerOwner cannot tell you whether a change order is justified
- SewerOwner cannot tell you whether an amount is reasonable
- a change order being permitted does not establish that a particular one is correct
What to settle before signing
- Under what circumstances can the price change?
- Would I be notified before additional cost is incurred, or after?
- Does the notification have to be in writing?
- Is there a cap, or a threshold above which my approval is required?
- What documentation of the condition would accompany a change order?
- What happens if I do not approve it — is the work stopped, and in what state?
- Who decides whether the condition was foreseeable?
What would change the answer
- the written change-order clause in each proposal
- the stated assumptions the change order would respond to
What to do next
The change-order clause and the assumptions section only make sense read together.
Check what your proposal assumesIf your situation is different
- Work is already under way: Documenting work as it happens
Related, and why
- During the work
What to photograph and record when something unexpected is found.