Change Order Log

What is a Change Order Log?

A change order log is a centralized record that tracks every approved modification to a construction project’s scope, cost, or schedule. It documents change order requests from initial submission to final approval and implementation.

Construction projects often change due to design revisions, unforeseen site conditions, or owner requests. Each change order must be documented with pricing, approvals, and running totals. Templates help teams capture and organize this information consistently throughout project delivery.

What's Included in a Construction Change Order Log Template?

A change order log template includes fields to record change order numbers, descriptions, costs, approvals, and status. It also tracks dates, responsible parties, and cumulative financial impacts to maintain full visibility throughout delivery.

Essential fields every construction change order log should contain are:

• Change Order Number: Unique identifier for tracking and referencing each modification across all project documentation.
• Date Submitted: The date when the change request was formally submitted for review and pricing.
• Description: Clear explanation of the scope change, including affected work, materials, or specifications.
• Reason for Change: Justification such as design revisions, unforeseen site conditions, owner requests, or construction contract requirements.
• Requesting Party: Who initiated the modification, whether owner, architect, general contractor, or subcontractor.
• Cost Impact: Detailed pricing showing additive or deductive changes, including labor, materials, equipment, markup, and overhead and profit.
• Schedule Impact: Time extension or acceleration required, a ffecting milestones and project completion dates.
• Approval Status: Current state showing pending, approved, or rejected with approval dates and authorized signatures.
• Cumulative Total: Running sum of all approved changes showing total impact on the original contract amount.
• Supporting Documents: Reference attached quotes, RFIs, drawings, specifications, or correspondence justifying the modification.
• Implementation Date: When the approved change was actually incorporated into the work and schedule.

💡 Pro Tip: Add a "Potential Change Order" column for modifications under discussion. Flagging changes early lets you forecast budget impacts before formal approval.

Why Use Change Order Log Templates?

Using a template for a construction change order log prevents the documentation gaps that derail budgets and create payment disputes. A well-maintained record ensures every modification gets priced, approved, and captured in project financials without falling through the cracks.

Here's why construction teams rely on structured change order tracking:

• Complete financial visibility: See total cost impact instantly without waiting until final accounting to discover budget overruns.
• Faster approvals: Consistent formats speed review cycles, cutting delays that impact schedules and cash flow.
• Dispute prevention: Complete documentation with approvals and pricing protects against disputes during final reconciliation.
• Budget control: Track actual versus forecasted change costs, keeping teams within contingency allowances.
• Audit readiness: Maintain complete records for owner reviews, lender requirements, or regulatory inspections.
• Pattern recognition: Identify recurring change causes, helping teams address root issues on future projects.
• Payment accuracy: Link approved changes directly to progress payments and invoicing cycles.
• Clear accountability: Document who requested, priced, and approved each change, creating responsibility trails that prevent finger-pointing.
• Project consistency: Use the same format across all projects for easier reporting and portfolio analysis.

💡 Pro Tip: Color-code rows by status - pending in yellow, approved in green, rejected in red. Visual indicators let anyone scanning the log spot bottlenecks instantly.

How to Use a Change Order Log in Construction?

Effective change tracking requires logging modifications immediately, updating status regularly, and linking changes to payments. Assign one owner to maintain the log and review weekly to catch delays.

Follow these easy steps to maintain a reliable change order log:

1. Set up your template: Download or create a change order log template with all essential columns before the project starts.
2. Assign one owner: Designate one person to maintain the log, ensuring consistent data entry and eliminating duplicate records.
3. Enter requests immediately: Log changes as soon as identified, even before pricing or approval, capturing potential impacts early.
4. Document details thoroughly: Include complete descriptions, justifications, and reference supporting documents like RFI responses or drawings.
5. Track pricing development: Update cost columns as estimates are refined, showing preliminary, proposed, and final approved amounts.
6. Record approvals completely: Fill in who approved each change, when approval occurred, and any conditions attached.
7. Calculate running totals: Use formulas to maintain cumulative sums showing aggregate impact on original contract value and remaining contingency.
8. Link to payment applications: Reference which progress payment includes each approved change, ensuring billing reflects all authorized work.
9. Update status weekly minimum: Review and refresh the change order log regularly, confirming accuracy with field teams and accounting.
10. Export for distribution: Share updated versions with stakeholders, maintaining clear version control and file naming conventions.
11. Reconcile before closeout: Verify all approved changes are incorporated into the final contract value before substantial completion.

💡 Pro Tip: Lock header rows and key formula columns in Excel to prevent accidental edits. Protect cumulative total calculations while letting teams update status and notes. One deleted formula can throw off your entire log's running totals, and you won't notice until closeout when it's too late.

Manage Change Orders with Mastt

Tracking change orders doesn't require spreadsheets or manual calculations. With Mastt's Cost Module, every change order connects directly to contracts, budgets, and approvals, keeping your project data accurate in one central system.

Manage your change order log in Mastt to:

📋 Generate professional change order letters automatically: Create documentation for recommendations, approvals, and authorizations.

🔗 Link changes to live contracts: See full cost visibility with every change order connected to contract data.

📤 Export change order PDFs for submission: Download ready-to-issue letters for owner approval or contractor authorization.

Here's how to track change orders in Mastt:

1. Open the Cost Module: Go to your project, open the Cost Module, and click Changes to view your Changes Register.
2. Add a new change order: Click + Add → Change. Enter the title, select the contract, category, and status (Forecast, Pending, In Principle, Approved, Rejected, or Withdrawn).
3. Record details: Add cost and time impacts under Contracts. Include descriptions, justifications, and attach supporting documents like quotes, RFIs, or drawings.
4. Review and save: Check the Descriptions tab for pre-filled approval text, edit if needed, then click Add to save.
5. Download change order letter: Return to the Changes Register, click the three-dot menu, and select Change Recommendation PDF, Change Approval Letter, or Change Order Letter.

Who Should Use the Construction Change Order Log?

A construction change order log template serves project teams handling modifications throughout delivery. Contractors, owners, project managers, cost estimators, and contract administrators all rely on these logs across different project phases.

✅ General Contractors: Track all changes across trades for accurate pricing and proper owner billing documentation.

✅ Project Managers: Monitor cumulative impacts on budgets and schedules, maintaining cost control throughout delivery.

✅ Project Engineers: Process change requests, coordinate subcontractor pricing, and maintain complete documentation for contract administration.

✅ Construction Managers: Oversee approval workflows, validate pricing, and ensure changes align with project scope and budget authority.

✅ Cost Estimators: Price change requests accurately, including labor, materials, equipment, and appropriate markups per contract terms.

✅ Owners and Owner Representatives: Review and authorize changes, maintaining visibility over total project costs and budget impacts.

✅ Subcontractors: Submit pricing for additional or modified work, tracking approval status and payment incorporation.

✅ Contract Administrators: Ensure changes comply with contract requirements, maintain audit trails, and verify proper approvals before payment.

When to Use Change Order Tracking?

A change order log should be active from contract signing through final reconciliation. Start tracking before the first change emerges so every modification gets captured from day one.

Deploy your change order log template during these critical project phases:

• Contract execution: Set up the spreadsheet immediately after signing, establishing tracking infrastructure before modifications occur.
• Pre-construction planning: Begin logging potential changes identified during design reviews, value engineering, or constructability studies.
• Design development: Track owner-requested modifications, specification changes, or alternatives before construction starts.
• Early construction phase: Capture unforeseen site conditions, RFI resolutions, or coordination issues discovered during mobilization.
• Active construction: Document all scope adjustments, material substitutions, design clarifications, or schedule-driven changes during execution.
• Owner change requests: Record any additions, deletions, or modifications requested after contracts are signed.
• Design coordination issues: Track changes resulting from conflicts, omissions, or inconsistencies discovered during construction.
• Progress billing cycles: Review the log before each payment application to ensure all approved modifications are properly billed.
• Schedule changes: Document modifications affecting time, including extensions or compression impacting costs.
• Final reconciliation: Use the change order log to verify that all approved changes are incorporated into the final contract value.

💡 Pro Tip: Include a "Date Discovered" column separate from "Date Submitted" in your template. This captures when teams first spotted the need for a change versus when formal requests got submitted. If there's a consistent 2-3 week gap, you've got an approval process bottleneck to address.

Problems with Free Change Order Log Templates in Excel Downloads

While a free construction change order log template Excel file might work initially, generic downloads create problems as projects scale. Without a solid change order log, teams face errors, inconsistencies, and visibility gaps that blow budgets.

Common challenges teams face with basic templates include:

⚠️ Missing critical fields: Many free downloads lack columns for schedule impact, running totals, or supporting document references.

⚠️ No built-in formulas: Generic templates require manual calculation of cumulative costs and budget variances, creating spreadsheet errors.

⚠️ Poor formatting: Free templates often have inconsistent layouts that make sorting, filtering, or reading the data difficult.

⚠️ Version control chaos: When three people edit separate copies, you end up with conflicting records and lost updates.

⚠️ Limited validation: Excel templates without dropdowns allow inconsistent status entries like "Approved," "approved," "OK," making filtering unreliable.

⚠️ No approval workflows: Basic spreadsheets can't show approval levels or track who approved what and when.

⚠️ Difficult sharing: Emailing Excel files creates confusion about which version is current and who has the latest data.

⚠️ No audit trail: Standard spreadsheets don't capture edit history, creating compliance gaps when auditors need documentation.

⚠️ Weak documentation links: Free templates rarely include fields referencing supporting documents like quotes, RFIs, or drawings.

⚠️ Payment reconciliation headaches: Basic formats make linking approved changes to progress payments time-consuming and error-prone.

💡 Pro Tip: If using a free Excel template temporarily, add data validation dropdowns immediately for status fields. Create a list with only "Pending," "Approved," and "Rejected" options. This prevents inconsistent entries and makes filtering actually work when you need to pull approved changes for billing.

Simplify Change Order Management with Mastt

Every construction project faces scope changes, design clarifications, and unexpected conditions. Success depends on documenting these modifications accurately from request through payment. A structured change order log ensures nothing falls through the cracks and every dollar is accounted for properly.

With Mastt, every change order connects directly to contracts, budgets, and payments in one live system. Track status changes, generate professional letters, and maintain complete audit trails without manual spreadsheet work.

👉 Start tracking your change order log in Mastt today and take control of project modifications with confidence.