Who pays for a change caused by a discontinued item?

That is a contract question, and it is worth settling before it happens. Many agreements treat vendor discontinuation as a project risk borne by the client — the goods must still be bought — while the re-specification time is either absorbed or billed hourly depending on how the fee is structured.

Does a change order need a signature?

It needs a recorded, dated approval; a signature is the traditional form and a per-item electronic acceptance is the practical one. What matters is that the record shows the client saw the price and the schedule impact before the work went ahead.

DefinitionUpdated July 31, 20262 min read

Change order: pricing a change before it happens

A change order is a written, priced amendment to an approved scope, signed before the work proceeds. What it must contain, and why verbal changes are the most reliable way to lose money on a project.

By Idan Mann, founder of NYA

The short answer

A change order is a written amendment to an already-approved scope: what is changing, what it costs, and what it does to the schedule, signed by the client before the work proceeds. Its purpose is to convert a conversation into an agreement while the change is still hypothetical.

Every project changes. What separates a profitable one from a painful one is whether the changes were priced in advance or absorbed. A change order is not bureaucracy — it is the moment where "could we just…" acquires a number, and the client decides whether they want it at that number.

What a change order has to contain

What is changing, described against the approved scope it amends — with the original line referenced, not paraphrased.
Why, briefly. Client request, site condition, vendor discontinuation and design error are four very different origins and they allocate cost differently.
The cost delta, broken into goods and time, including any restocking or cancellation charge on what is being replaced.
The schedule impact, in weeks. A substituted item with a longer lead time can move an install date further than its price moves the budget.
Approval, dated, before the work starts.

The expensive change order is the one written afterwards. Once the item is ordered or the hours are spent, you are no longer agreeing a price — you are asking to be paid for something already delivered, and the client's leverage is total.

Change orders and design fees

Under a flat fee, changes are where the fee is lost: the scope moved but the number did not. That is why flat-fee agreements should name what triggers a change order — a revision round beyond the stated allowance, a room added, a specification reworked after approval. Our fee calculator has a contingency input for exactly this reason, but a contingency is a cushion, not a substitute for the clause.

Common questions

Who pays for a change caused by a discontinued item?: That is a contract question, and it is worth settling before it happens. Many agreements treat vendor discontinuation as a project risk borne by the client — the goods must still be bought — while the re-specification time is either absorbed or billed hourly depending on how the fee is structured.
Does a change order need a signature?: It needs a recorded, dated approval; a signature is the traditional form and a per-item electronic acceptance is the practical one. What matters is that the record shows the client saw the price and the schedule impact before the work went ahead.

Keep reading

Change order: pricing a change before it happens

A change order is a written, priced amendment to an approved scope, signed before the work proceeds. What it must contain, and why verbal changes are the most reliable way to lose money on a project.

By Idan Mann, founder of NYA

The short answer

What a change order has to contain

What is changing, described against the approved scope it amends — with the original line referenced, not paraphrased.

Why, briefly. Client request, site condition, vendor discontinuation and design error are four very different origins and they allocate cost differently.

The cost delta, broken into goods and time, including any restocking or cancellation charge on what is being replaced.

The schedule impact, in weeks. A substituted item with a longer lead time can move an install date further than its price moves the budget.

Approval, dated, before the work starts.

Change orders and design fees

Common questions

Who pays for a change caused by a discontinued item?: That is a contract question, and it is worth settling before it happens. Many agreements treat vendor discontinuation as a project risk borne by the client — the goods must still be bought — while the re-specification time is either absorbed or billed hourly depending on how the fee is structured.
Does a change order need a signature?: It needs a recorded, dated approval; a signature is the traditional form and a per-item electronic acceptance is the practical one. What matters is that the record shows the client saw the price and the schedule impact before the work went ahead.