Losing Too Many Change Order Decisions

Failure to successfully manage this critical element within the AEC industry impacts profitability, client relationships and company morale.

Solution Path

Collection and analysis of the firm’s recent change-order results is a critical first step.

Reasons for positive outcomes need to be established and reviewed for successful change-orders.

Reasons for negative outcomes need to be established and reviewed for unsuccessful change-orders.

The information mentioned above is fed back into the change order process to improve future results. Typical process improvements include;

• greater use of photos
• improving site logs
• improved documentation
• decreasing response time
• training personnel on change-order process requirements
• negotiation skills training
• adjusting contract terms where possible
• ensuring open and honest early communication of problems