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A signed change order is the end of a story; the change event is the beginning. Logging it before you know the price puts the exposure in the forecast and starts the paper trail.

On the sample project, RFI-212 is the origin of a change event for fire dampers, priced and approved as CO #14 at $86,400. The Budget tool reads approved and pending changes, commitments and direct costs, so the forecast moves without anyone re-keying it.

One change, from question to budgetRFI-212, then Change event, then Potential change order, then CO #14 approved, then Budget and forecast.RFI-212The question that found the changeChange eventOrigin RFI, rough cost by cost codePotential change orderPriced against the contractCO #14 approved$86,400 on the prime contractBudget and forecastApproved changes, projected over/under
  1. RFI-212The question that found the change
  2. Change eventOrigin RFI, rough cost by cost code
  3. Potential change orderPriced against the contract
  4. CO #14 approved$86,400 on the prime contract
  5. Budget and forecastApproved changes, projected over/under
One change, from question to budget
Text version
  1. RFI-212: The question that found the change
  2. Change event: Origin RFI, rough cost by cost code
  3. Potential change order: Priced against the contract
  4. CO #14 approved: $86,400 on the prime contract
  5. Budget and forecast: Approved changes, projected over/under
Hands-on · about 10 minutes · sample project

Exercise

  1. Open Change Events and find the event whose origin RFI is RFI-212. Read its line items and rough order of magnitude.
  2. Open Change Orders and find CO #14. Note what it links back to.
  3. Create your own change event: a title, Scope TBD, a Type and an event date, with one line item (cost code, description and a rough cost).
  4. Open Budget. Find Approved Budget Changes and Pending Budget Changes for a cost code, and Projected Over/Under.
  5. On the Forecast tab, read Forecast to Complete and Est. Cost at Completion for one line.
  6. On the Snapshots tab, click Capture snapshot, name it “Course lesson 6”, then compare it on the Variance tab.

14-day free trial. Pricing for paid plans isn't set yet. Everything here runs on the sample project in your own workspace.

Watch the walkthrough · 2:50

Log a potential change as a change event

  1. 0:00Start a new change event
  2. 0:31Name the possible change
  3. 0:50Mark the scope
  4. 1:19Describe what happened
  5. 1:33Choose a cost code for the line
  6. 1:56Add a rough line item
  7. 2:09Enter a rough amount
  8. 2:21Create the change event
  9. 2:32Check the saved line item
Read the transcript

Here we are on the New Change Event page in our local sample project. A change event is where we note a possible change early, before anyone prices or approves it. Let's log one together.

First, we give it a title that says what changed. Our example is added fire sealant at corridor penetrations. The demo adds a unique reference so each recording creates its own sample record.

Next, we set Scope. For this sample we choose Out of Scope, which tells the team we believe the work sits outside the current contract. Pick whatever your team has actually agreed.

In Description, we explain what happened and why it may cost money. Our sample says the inspector asked for extra fire sealant at corridor penetrations that aren't shown on the drawings.

Now let's add a line item. We start with the cost code, because a line needs one to be saved. For this sample we use General Requirements; choose the code your team actually tracks this work against.

In the Line Items section, we type a short description of the work. One line is enough to start, and we can refine it later.

Then we enter a rough amount for that line. It's an early estimate, not an approved price, and we can refine it later.

Now we select Create Change Event. The app saves it and opens the detail page with its number and our title in the header.

Here's the change event we created. The header shows the Open status and the Out of Scope tag, and our new line appears in Line Items with its rough amount. We have logged the possible change, marked its scope, and recorded a first estimate, so pricing can move forward from here.

Check your work

Tick each step you finished

Progress is saved in this browser only.

Self-check

Does a change event move the budget?

Only when it has budget-change amounts on its lines and is closed; closing posts them by cost code, and reopening removes them.

Which changes move the cost columns rather than the budget columns?

Commitment changes. Owner changes move the budget columns.

Where does actual cost in the budget come from today?

The project budget shows direct costs and commitments. Company Accounting also tracks posted job costs; check the source and reconcile the views before relying on a total.

Use it on your own job

Open file