A Change Comes Up and There's No Signed Change Order: Decision Tree
Why this matters
Every job that runs long enough hits a moment where the plan changes: the customer wants more, or you open something up and find a problem nobody knew was there. The temptation is to just handle it and sort the paperwork later. That is how shops end up doing real work for free, or fighting over a bill at the end. What you do in the first few minutes after a change appears decides whether you get paid for it. This tree is that decision.
Start here: is it a safety problem first?
If the change is because you uncovered something unsafe, live wire in the wrong place, gas where it should not be, structural damage, standing water near electricity, anything that can hurt someone, make it safe before you think about paperwork. Stop work in that area, isolate or de-energize the hazard, keep people clear, and tell the customer plainly what you found. Once the hazard is controlled and nobody is in danger, then handle the scope and price the way the rest of this tree describes. Safety does not wait for a signature.
If the customer is asking for extra work
A customer asking you to add something is the easy case, and still the one shops fumble. Do not fold it into the job silently. Pause, price the addition, and write it up as a change order before you do it, even a photo of a note you both initial, or a text that spells out the added scope and cost and gets a "yes, do it" back. The rule is simple: the change gets agreed in writing before the work, not billed as a surprise after. A verbal "sure, add it" is worth exactly what you can prove.
If you discovered a hidden or pre-existing condition
This is where your original scope exclusions pay off. You open a wall, a panel, or a system, and find damage or a code issue that was not visible when you quoted. Stop. Document what you found with a photo, explain it to the customer, and price the additional work as a change order. Do not quietly fix it and hope they will understand the bigger bill, they will not, and your exclusion clause exists precisely so this is a change order, not a fight. If it is unsafe, see Start here first.
If it is genuinely trivial
Judgment applies. If the change is a minute of work and a customer would find a change order for it insulting, use common sense. But be honest about "trivial": it means no real time, no real material, and no added risk. The moment a change adds cost, hours, or exposure, it is a change order, however small it feels in the moment. Trivial is a low bar, and most changes clear it.
Get it in writing before you build it
The whole discipline reduces to one line: capture the change before you do the work, in whatever written form the job allows. On a formal job, a signed change order. On a quick residential job, a texted scope-and-price with a clear yes, or a note you both initial. The medium matters less than the sequence. Written-then-built protects you; built-then-billed does not.
If you already did the work before writing it up
Sometimes it is too late, the change is done and nothing was signed. Recover as best you can. Write it up now, show the customer the added scope and any photos of what drove it, and ask them to acknowledge it in writing before the final invoice. Most reasonable customers will sign off on work they asked for or clearly needed. Some will not, and you may have to decide whether to eat it or press it. Either way, treat it as the lesson: next time, the paper comes before the work.
Recap
- Unsafe? Make it safe first, stop, isolate, clear people, then handle scope.
- Customer-requested add: price it, write it, get a yes, then build.
- Hidden condition: document, explain, change-order it; lean on your exclusions.
- Truly trivial: judgment, but the bar is low.
- Always: written before built.
- Already built: write it up now and get acknowledgment before final billing.
References
- OSHA general-industry guidance on stopping work for unsafe conditions
- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), managing scope changes and contracts
- Trade-standard practice for written change authorization before performing added work
- See related: The Change Order as a Contract Amendment, Not a Formality; What a Basic Service Agreement Must Contain