What is change order management in construction?

Change order management is the process of capturing a change to the contracted scope, pricing it, getting it approved and signed, and carrying the approved amount into the contract value and the next billing. ManoByte implements this for contractors so an executed change order reaches the pay application automatically instead of depending on someone remembering it at month end.

Why do change orders go unbilled?

Change orders go unbilled for two common reasons: the work was authorised verbally and never captured as a signed record, or the change order was executed but updating the contract value and the billing stayed a separate manual step. ManoByte closes both gaps by capturing approval as an e-signature at the time it is given and flowing executed change orders into contract value and the next pay application.

How do you get a change order approved faster?

Approval speeds up when a change order routes automatically to whoever holds authority for that amount, rather than sitting in one person's inbox. ManoByte implements approval queue routing with e-signature so the change order reaches the right approver immediately and the signature is captured as part of the record.

Can AI draft a change order?

Yes. ManoByte implements agents that draft and execute change orders from the job record, so a project manager reviews and sends rather than starting from a blank form. The agent works inside the same system and permissions as a person, and the resulting change order carries the same audit trail.

How do change orders affect the schedule of values?

An executed change order revises the contract sum, which must be reflected in the schedule of values and therefore in the next pay application. ManoByte implements change orders as part of the same system as the schedule of values and the pay application, so the revised contract amount flows through without a separate manual update.

Change Order Control

Change Order Management That Ends the Unbilled Backlog

The work got done. Somebody approved it verbally. It never got signed, so it never got billed, and the margin on that job quietly went to zero. ManoByte implements the change order workflow that captures the change when it happens, gets it signed, and carries it into the contract value and the next pay application without anyone remembering to.

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The Cost

Unbilled change orders are the most expensive paperwork in construction

No line item on a job costs more than work you performed, absorbed, and never invoiced. It does not show up as a loss. It shows up as a job that came in under margin for reasons nobody can name.

Verbal approvals become absorbed cost

The superintendent is told to proceed. The crew proceeds. Six weeks later the paperwork does not exist, the person who approved it has moved on, and the conversation starts from nothing.

Signed change orders still miss the billing

A change order can be fully executed and still never reach the pay application, because updating the contract value is a separate manual step somebody has to remember at month end.

Approval sits with whoever opens email first

Without a routing path, a change order waits on one person's inbox. The work is already underway, so every day of delay is exposure that grows.

Nobody can see the exposure in aggregate

Any one pending change order is manageable. The number that matters is what is outstanding across every active job right now, and most contractors cannot produce it on demand.

What Gets Implemented

From the moment the change happens to the moment it is billed

The point is not a better form. It is that a change order cannot be worked, approved and then forgotten, because the record and the billing are the same system.

A change order log tied to the schedule of values, so every change has a record, a status and a place in the contract rather than living in a thread between a PM and a super.
Customer e-signature on the change order itself, so approval is captured as a signed record at the time it is given, not reconstructed from an email months later when it is disputed.
Approval queue routing that sends each change order to whoever actually has authority for that amount, so it does not sit waiting on the one person who happens to be on a jobsite.
Executed change orders flow into contract value and the pay application, so the revised contract amount and the next billing reflect the change automatically instead of depending on someone remembering at month end.
An agent that drafts and executes the change order from the job record, so the PM reviews and sends rather than starting from a blank form while standing in a trailer.
An immutable audit trail across the whole chain, so when an owner questions a change eight months on, the sequence of who approved what and when is a record rather than an argument.

How a change order implementation runs

1
Find where changes actually die
We trace real change orders on a live job from field notification to billing. The leak is almost always one of two places: the capture at the jobsite, or the handoff into the contract value.
2
Configure the path and the authority
Approval routing, signature requirements and thresholds are set to how your organisation actually delegates authority, then connected so an executed change order reaches the pay application on its own.
3
Prove it on live work
We run the workflow on active jobs with your PMs. The measure is your outstanding unapproved change order balance and how long a change takes to go from performed to billed.

Questions

Change Order Management: Common Questions

What is change order management in construction?: Change order management is the process of capturing a change to the contracted scope, pricing it, getting it approved and signed, and carrying the approved amount into the contract value and the next billing. ManoByte implements this for contractors so an executed change order reaches the pay application automatically instead of depending on someone remembering it at month end.
Why do change orders go unbilled?: Change orders go unbilled for two common reasons: the work was authorised verbally and never captured as a signed record, or the change order was executed but updating the contract value and the billing stayed a separate manual step. ManoByte closes both gaps by capturing approval as an e-signature at the time it is given and flowing executed change orders into contract value and the next pay application.
How do you get a change order approved faster?: Approval speeds up when a change order routes automatically to whoever holds authority for that amount, rather than sitting in one person's inbox. ManoByte implements approval queue routing with e-signature so the change order reaches the right approver immediately and the signature is captured as part of the record.
Can AI draft a change order?: Yes. ManoByte implements agents that draft and execute change orders from the job record, so a project manager reviews and sends rather than starting from a blank form. The agent works inside the same system and permissions as a person, and the resulting change order carries the same audit trail.
How do change orders affect the schedule of values?: An executed change order revises the contract sum, which must be reflected in the schedule of values and therefore in the next pay application. ManoByte implements change orders as part of the same system as the schedule of values and the pay application, so the revised contract amount flows through without a separate manual update.

Get Started

How much change order work

have you performed but never billed?

If the answer takes more than a minute to produce, that is the problem. Tell us how changes get captured on your jobs today and we will show you where they are being absorbed.