Construction Changes: Give Each Cost Revision a Decision Record

By Don McClain | Founder & Principal, Medro Advisors A useful addition to a cost-to-complete review is a change register: original allowance, revised price, reason, approving party and affected milestone. Separate a contractor estimate from an accepted change order and a requested draw from usable cash. For each unresolved change, record the last decision date before it delays another trade. If a scope reduction is proposed, ask the project team which inspections, operating requirements or revenue assumptions also change. This extends the November 7 archive review into a practical control for the next budget meeting.