A time and materials (T&M) ticket documents extra or disputed work: who worked, how many hours, what materials and equipment were used, and where. It is filled out the day the work is done and signed by someone with authority on the other side, usually the GC’s superintendent or the owner’s representative. Signed tickets become the backup for a change order priced on actual cost.
Why it matters
A signed ticket is evidence; an unsigned one is a negotiation. T&M work is often a fast-growing part of an overrun because it happens in small, unrecorded pieces. Tickets also have to match payroll and receipts, or auditors will challenge them.
Worked example
Illustrative: a sheet metal crew on Riverside Medical Center spends a day relocating duct to make room for the new fire dampers under a CCD. The foreman writes a ticket: 2 journeymen × 8 hrs, 1 apprentice × 8 hrs, 40 ft of duct, one scissor lift for one day. The GC superintendent signs it that afternoon. The office prices it at the contract labor rates plus markup and adds it to the change order backup.
Common mistakes
- Writing tickets days later from memory.
- Getting a signature from someone without authority to approve extra work.
- Ticket hours that don’t match timecards or certified payroll.
How os.construction handles it
We’re building T&M tickets captured on mobile with photos and signatures, tied to the change event and cost code so they price straight into the change order.