Change Log Template

What is a Change Log?

A change log is the register of every change raised on a project: what changed, why, who raised it, what it was claimed to cost, what was approved, and where it currently stands.

It is the record produced by integrated change control. A change request enters the log when raised and stays there until it is approved, rejected or withdrawn, so nothing is decided off the record.

A change that has been priced but not decided is an exposure, not a cost. Only approved changes move the contract sum, and a project change log that blurs the two will show a position better or worse than the real one.

Change Log Example

Here is an example of a completed change log, showing the log itself and the contract position it produces.

What to Include in a Change Log Template

A change log needs one row per change and two sets of columns: what is claimed and what is approved. Everything else supports those. This free template covers it across six sheets.

The log records, per change: change number, date raised, raised by, title, what changed and why, type of change, origin, route, cost claimed, days claimed, cost approved, days approved, variance, status and days open.

Four drop-downs do the work:

• Status: Raised, under review, priced and awaiting decision, approved, approved with price to follow, rejected, withdrawn, deferred.
• Type of change: Scope addition, scope deletion, design change, site condition, owner request, regulatory or authority, error or omission, substitution, schedule only, correction with no cost or time.
• Origin: Owner, designer, contractor, authority, third party, existing conditions, not established.
• Route: Change order, change directive, change request not instructed, absorbed with no change order, allowance drawdown, contingency drawdown.

Route records how the change is being carried. A change absorbed or drawn from contingency never becomes a change order, so it would leave no trace in a log that only tracks change orders.

How to Use This Change Log Template in Excel

Fill in the claimed columns when a change is raised, and leave the approved columns empty until somebody with authority decides.

1. Complete the cover with the project, the contract and the data date.
2. Edit the four drop-down lists to match your contract's vocabulary before logging anything.
3. Give every change a number and log it the day it is raised, not the day it is priced.
4. Record what changed and why, then set the type of change and the origin.
5. Enter the claimed cost and claimed days. Leave the approved columns blank.
6. Set the route, so it is clear whether this becomes a change order, a directive, or is absorbed.
7. Fill in the approved cost and days only when the decision is made, and update the status.
8. Read the contract position and change summary. Both calculate from the log, so nothing is typed twice.

The contract position separates three numbers: the current contract sum, which is the only figure agreed; what is claimed and not yet decided; and the worst case if everything claimed is allowed. That last figure is a boundary, not a forecast.

Change Control Log and Change Management Log Templates

A change control log and a change log are the same document. Change control is the process; the change log is the record it produces. A change management log is usually the same register on a project, though the term also appears in organizational change management, where it tracks something different.

Related Articles and Templates

Explore these resources for project change tracking, change requests, approvals, and contract changes:

• Change Request Template
• Change Order Template
• Change Management Plan
• Guide to Change Orders in Construction Projects
• Construction Change Order: Process, Tips & Best Practices
• What is a Construction Change Directive (CCD)?