Contracts & Buyout

Change Order

Also known as: CO / PCCO / CCO

A formal, signed modification to a contract that adjusts its scope, price, or schedule after it's been executed.

A change order is the documented, mutually agreed modification to a contract — adding scope, adjusting the price, or extending the schedule. On the owner side it's a Prime Contract Change Order (PCCO); on the subcontract side it's a Commitment Change Order (CCO).

Change orders are where margin is won or lost. Pricing a change fairly and getting it approved before the work proceeds protects both the schedule and the bottom line; letting changes pile up unpriced ("we'll sort it out later") is how jobs bleed money. Many change orders originate from a change event or an RFI answer that expanded the scope.

Related terms

Change Event

A potential change to the work, logged and priced early — before it becomes a formal change order.

Commitment

A subcontract or purchase order — a signed agreement committing money to a subcontractor or supplier for a defined scope.

Prime Contract

The agreement between the project owner and the general contractor that defines the total scope, price, and terms.

RFI (Request for Information)

A formal question from the contractor to the design team to resolve something the drawings or specs don't clearly answer.

Value Engineering

Finding lower-cost ways to deliver the same function — substituting systems or details to cut cost without losing value.

From term to skill

Use it on a real project.

Definitions get you fluent; reps get you hired. Run a sandboxed construction project and put Change Order into practice alongside every other workflow that moves a job.

Start training free