Change Order Template for Construction (Free CSV Download)

A change order template is a fill-in form that records a signed change to the construction contract: what changed, why, what it costs, how many days it adds, and who agreed to it. The template below covers the same ground as an AIA G701 change order, adds a line-item cost breakdown, and includes a separate change order request (PCO or COR) form for the pricing stage.

A complete construction change order form has five parts: identification (CO number, project, contract date), a description of the change with drawing and spec references, the reason or origin (owner request, design error, unforeseen condition, RFI), a cost breakdown with markup, and the contract sum and contract time before and after. It is valid only once the owner, architect, and contractor sign.

What fields does a construction change order form need?

Every field below exists so someone reading the change order a year later can rebuild the decision without the email chain. The example column follows one change on a three-story medical office building: a rated shaft wall that the architect added after an RFI exposed a missing fire-rated enclosure.

What does a filled-in change order cost breakdown look like?

The cost breakdown is where most change orders stall, because the owner can't tell what they're paying for. Here is the same CO-014 priced line by line, with markup applied the way most contracts separate self-performed work from subcontracted work.

Download the change order template

Download the change order template (CSV, opens in Excel or Google Sheets). The header row holds every field above and the second row holds the CO-014 example, so you can overwrite it or keep it as a reference.

If your contract is on AIA documents, the executed change order should still be the AIA G701 form or whatever form the contract names. Use this template as the backup sheet that travels with it, and as a running log of every change on the job.

What goes on a change order request (PCO or COR)?

A change order request is the contractor's priced proposal before anyone signs a change order. Teams call it a PCO (potential change order), COR (change order request), or change proposal, and one CO often bundles several of them.

The request needs fewer signatures and more status tracking. These are the fields worth keeping in a change order request template:

How do you use a change order template step by step?

• Log the change as soon as you know about it. Open a COR the day an RFI answer, ASI, or owner request changes scope, even before pricing.
• Check the contract's notice clause. Many contracts set a deadline for written notice of a claimed change, and missing it can waive the claim.
• Write the description with references. Name the sheets, details, and spec sections that changed, and attach the revised drawings or sketch.
• Price it with backup. Get sub quotes broken into labor, material, and equipment, and apply only the markups the contract allows.
• Request time separately from money. If the change hits the critical path, show the schedule activity and the days, or write 0.
• Roll approved CORs into a change order, update the contract sum lines, and collect all three signatures before billing the work.

What are the most common change order mistakes?

• Lump-sum pricing with no breakdown, which invites a line-by-line dispute.
• No reason code, so nobody can later tell design errors from owner changes.
• Leaving the time field blank instead of writing 0, which some teams read as reserving the right to claim days later.
• Applying markup on markup, such as GC OH&P on top of sub OH&P beyond what the contract allows.
• Doing the work on a verbal approval and writing the change order after the fact.
• Contract sum lines that don't reconcile with the previous change order.

How does this template relate to the change order guide?

This page gives you the form. For the process behind it (who issues what, when a construction change directive applies, and how to negotiate), read the construction change order guide. If you're unsure whether an issue should be an RFI, ASI, bulletin, or change order at all, start with RFI vs ASI vs bulletin vs change order.

Most change orders begin as an RFI, so the RFI template in this series uses the same reference style. To compare your totals with typical projects, see the change order cost benchmark.

Where does Helonic fit in the change order process?

Helonic doesn't write or price change orders. It works earlier: it reads the full PDF drawing set and flags the cross-discipline conflicts and missing information that later turn into design-error change orders, such as the missing rated enclosure in the example above. The drawing conflict detection page shows what it checks, and the change order prevention guide covers the rest of the prevention workflow.