How to Download and Customize Change Order Documents

Change order documents provide formal approval and documentation for any changes to your project’s scope, cost, or time. This guide explains how to download Recommendation, Approval, and Order documents, customize their text, and manage who is authorized to issue them.

Before you start:

• Select the appropriate contract standard in the Contract module (not required, but documents won't include proper contractual clauses without it)
• Ensure changes are created and completed in the Changes register

Download a Change Order Document

Step 1: Access Change Order Documents

• Navigate to your Cost Module from the side navigation menu
• Click Changes in the top navigation

Step 2: Select Download Type

• In your Changes register, select the change you want to generate a document for
• Click the Action button next to that change
• From the dropdown menu, choose the document type you want to generate
  • Change Recommendation PDF
  • Change Approval PDF
  • Change Order PDF

Note: All document types are available for download immediately.

Add or Edit Text in Change Order Documents

Step 1: Edit the Change

• Click the Action button on your change
• Select Edit Change from the dropdown

Step 2: Access the Descriptions Tab

• Click the Descriptions below the change details
• You will find both the Recommendation Description and Approval Description section

Step 3: Customize Document Content

You can add custom text to your change order documents by editing the Descriptions tab. The Recommendation Description will appear on Recommendation documents, while the Approval Description will appear on both Approval and Order documents.

For Recommendation Documents: 

Step 1: Scroll to the Recommendation section Step 2: Enter your custom text. This text will appear in the Recommendation document

Note: The Recommendation document will be blank unless you add description text.

For Approval and Order Documents:

These documents include pre-filled contractual language based on the change order clause from your selected contract standard. You can customize this content in two ways:

Add Custom Approval Text

Step 1: Scroll down to the Approval section

Step 2: Toggle Customize your document text to the “on” position

Step3: Type any additional approval text in the text box. This text will appear in both the Approval and Order documents

Edit the Pre-filled Change Order Clause

Step 1: Navigate to Edit Contract form

Step 2: Click the Terms tab then select Change Terms

Step 3: Update the standard change order clause as needed

Step 4: Save and Download

• Click Update, then wait for the confirmation message
• Click the Actions button again next to the change
• From the dropdown menu, select the appropriate Change Order document (PDF) to download your completed file

Change the "Authorized by" on Documents

Step 1: Navigate to Edit Contract Form

• Click Contracts in the top navigation
• Click the Action button on the contract you want to edit
• Select Edit Contract

Step 2: Access the Contract Roles

• Ensure a Contract Standard is selected (this enables the Roles tab)
• Click the Roles tab

Step 3: Fill in Role Details 

• Complete the required role fields with the correct names and details

Step 4: Toggle the Correct Role for "Authorized by"

• Use the toggle to select which role should display as Authorized by on documents (Principal, Owner, Project Manager, or Architect, depending on the contract standard selected)

Note: When one role is toggled on, the toggle option for other roles will be grayed out.

Step 5: Save and Download

• Click Update to save your changes
• Return to the Action button to download your change order documents

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Q: Can I edit the pre-filled change order clause for just one change order?

No, change order clauses are set at the contract level in the Terms tab. Changes apply to all future change order documents for that contract. Use the custom approval text feature to add change-specific content.

Q: What happens if I have multiple roles filled in but no toggle selected?

Change order documents won't show an "Authorized by" person until you toggle on a specific role. Make sure to select the appropriate role and save your contract.

Q: What if the documents don't reflect my recent changes?

Ensure you clicked Update and saw the confirmation message. Refresh the page if the changes don't appear immediately.