Overview
On every construction project there are changes that impact the original scope, cost, and schedule. To capture those changes, contractors utilize Change Orders that describes what has changed and the associated cost/schedule impact of that change. There can be 10s to 1000s of Change Orders on a project, and it is vital to the contractor’s financial health and reporting to ensure they are managing them correctly.
The Change Orders module is the newest addition to Fieldwire's suite of Project Management tools, and it integrates with other parts of Fieldwire allowing you to have a single source of truth for agreed scope changes, faster data gather from relevant parties/stakeholders, faster approval process, etc.
Note: In order to get this feature onto your instance of Fieldwire, you can schedule a demo with our sales team or you can purchase it with Business Plus. If you are already on Business Plus, Change Orders will be automatically added to your Account.
Table of Contents
- How to Enable PM on a Project
- The Change Order Workflow
- The Change Orders Tab
- Create a Change Order
- Request Cost
- Submit for Approval
- Send Rejection
- Create Revision
- Send Approval
How to Enable PM on a Project
For information on companies and how to enable PM on a project, please see this article.
User Permissions for Change Orders
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Manager |
Contributor |
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Project Management Onboarding
If you are accessing the Change Orders (or any Project Management) tab for the first time, you will see a pop-up to help get you started with Project Management in Fieldwire and setting up your “Company” on the project. First, you’ll need to add your company name and click the "Next" button. This will be the same company name for all PM modules on the project. However, it is not automatically filled by the “Company” information you put into your profile settings.
Next, you’ll be asked to enter your company code, which will help you and your team stay organized throughout the project.
And, that’s it! In the example shown in these screenshots, we used the company name, ABC, as well as the company code, ABC.
How to set a Lead Company
To make sure that all RFIs, Submittals, and Change Orders go through your "company" in Fieldwire, you can now set a Lead Company. To get started, you'll first want to go to the project People tab and then click on "Set lead company" for the company that you want to be considered the "lead".
After clicking on "Set lead company", you'll get a pop-up that indicates what the users in the Lead company can do vs users in the "Other companies" that were not designated to be the lead. For example, users in the Lead company can send submittals to or request submittals from any company, whereas users in the "Other companies" can only send submittals to the lead company.
Once you've decided that you do want to set a lead company, you'll need to click on the blue "Set lead company" button. After you click the blue button, you'll see the lead company indicated with a crown icon and "Lead company" next to it.
The Change Order Workflow
A Change Order can adopt different ‘statuses’, depending on the stage the Change Order is in. Since all Change Orders follow the same flow for progression, review the table below for an explanation of the different statuses a Change Order will adopt:
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Change Order Status |
Definition |
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Draft |
A Change Order is in the ‘Draft’ status when it is first created. To create a Draft Change Order, you must have the Manager permission within PM access. While the Change Order is in the ‘Draft’ state, you can add details and cost information. When the change order is ready, it can either be submitted for approval or requested. |
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Requested |
If requested (the status transitions from Draft to Requested), the new assignee can then add cost information to the change order and submit it back to the user who requested it from them, transitioning the status from Requested to Pending approval. |
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Pending Approval |
In the Pending approval status, the new assignee can either approve or reject the change order, sending it back to the user that submitted it to them. This will transition the status to either Approved or Rejected respectively. |
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Rejected |
If Rejected, the user who submitted it for approval is the new assignee and they have the option to create a revision of the change order if they want to modify the cost details and resubmit. |
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Pending Revision |
Once a revision is created, the status transitions from Rejected to Pending revision. If a revision is created, the user has the option to copy over the last version’s cost information and backup documents, so they can build off of the previous revision or start from scratch. Once the change order is ready to resubmit, Managers can submit for approval again transitioning it from Pending revision to Pending approval. The Pending approval workflow recommences with the new revision. |
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Approved |
If Approved, there is no further action to be taken on the change order. |
Watchers
Within the “Watchers” tab you’ll be able to add and remove “Watchers” at each step of the workflow. In order to do so, you’ll need to click on “+ Add watcher” and click on the name of the person/persons that you'd like to add. You can also remove that Watcher by clicking the “x” that appears by hovering over their name.
If that user is not currently on that project, you have the ability to invite them. However, please note that if the new user you are inviting is not on your Account, you will be charged an additional fee if you do not have the available license(s) to cover that user.
In addition to adding Watchers in the 'Details' section, you’ll also be able to add/remove Watchers within most Change Order status pop-up boxes.
The Change Orders Tab
Any individual associated with a Company, as either a Manager or Contributor, can access the ‘Change Orders’ tab - here, they are able to access each change in the project, independent of the ‘Status’.
The headers in this tab provide a high-level overview on the nature, order, subject, and status of the Change Orders across the project. More specifically, these headers are defined below:
- #: The 'Company Code' is assigned by the company the change order is being requested from and added when the change order moves from Draft to the Requested or Pending approval statuses.
- Name: The title of the change order, added when the change order is created.
- Status: The current state of the submittal, which dictates what actions are available to the users - can be ‘Draft’, ‘Requested’, ‘Pending review’, ‘Pending approval’, ‘Pending close’, ‘Closed’, and ‘Void’.
- Due date: Added by the user requesting the change order. It reflects the date the submitter should send the change order to the user requesting it.
- Total Cost: The total cost captured in the change order.
- Assignee: The current owner of the Change Order's next actions.
In addition, you'll notice the various statuses up at the top where you'll be able to easily see how many change orders are on the project in each status as well as keep track of the dollar amount that's been approved.
Create a Change Order
To create a Change Order Draft, you must have the Manager permission within PM access. To create a new Change Order, navigate to the Change orders tab, select “+New change order”, then enter the name of your change order. You can add a description of your change order if you'd like, though it is not mandatory. Once you're ready to create the change order, click "Create draft".
Note: The "Name" of the Change Order can be adjusted later on - click on the pencil by the Name in the 'Draft' Change Order.
A new change order draft is created. On a change order, there are no required fields, but when a Draft change order has been created, details and cost information can be added to it. The change order is split up into 3 areas: header on top, "Details" on the right, and "Cost" information on the left.
Cost information is further split up by the cost sections on top (Materials, Labor, Equipment, Subcontractor), Cost markups, Cost summary, Backup documents, and Notes.
The primary difference between the cost sections is the Unit types that are available. For instance, under the "Materials" section, in the "UNIT TYPE" dropdown, you can select, "Each", "Linear feet", "Square feet", "Square yards", etc. Whereas under the "Labor" and "Equipment" sections, in the "UNIT TYPE" dropdown, you can select, "Hours", "Days", "Weeks", etc.
Additionally, the cost sections can be marked up independently or together in the cost markups. A final markup can also be applied to the change order which is essentially a markup on top of a markup, most commonly used for a bond, insurance, etc.
Request Cost
When the change order is ready, a blue ‘Send’ dropdown button will be available. By clicking the blue dropdown button, you'll see two options, "Request cost" and "Submit for approval". This workflow will be going over the 'Request cost' option. After selecting ‘Request cost’, enter the “Assignee”, add “Watchers” and the “Due date”, and an optional “Email Message”. Once this information is filled out, click the blue "Request" button.
This will move the change order into the 'Requested' status, and an email notification will be sent to the new Assignee directing them to add their costs and submit the change order in Fieldwire.
Submit for Approval
Once the change order is in the 'Requested' status, the new assignee can then add cost information to the change order and submit it back to the user who requested it from them. To do so, the assignee will click the blue "Submit" button. Next, they'll be prompted to enter the “Assignee”, add “Watchers” and the “Due date”, as well as an optional “Email Message”. Once this information is filled out, click the blue "Submit" button, which will transition the status from Requested to Pending approval.
Send Rejection
In the 'Pending approval' status, the new assignee can either Approve or Reject the change order, sending it back to the user that submitted it to them. This will transition the status to either Approved or Rejected respectively.
If "Reject" is chosen, you'll receive a pop-up that asks you to confirm that you do want to send the rejection to the submitter.
Also, as indicated in the messaging in the pop-up, if you decide to reject the change order, Fieldwire will allow the submitter to create a revision.
Create Revision
To create a revision, the assignee simply has to click on the "Create revision" button and then choose the "Assignee", "Watchers", and select the "Due date". If a revision is created, the user has the option to copy over the last version’s cost information and backup documents with the checkboxes as shown in the screenshot below, so they can build off of the previous revision or start from scratch. Once a revision is created, the status transitions from Rejected to Pending revision.
In the Pending revision status, a new revision of the cost table allows the user to edit the content, as well as add more Backup documents and add more Notes before they resubmit. Notice in the screenshot below that "rev. 1" is next to "Cost" to indicate that this is the 1st revision.
In addition, past revisions can be seen beneath the current revision in case you want to reference past responses or submissions.
Once the change order is ready to resubmit, Managers can submit for approval again transitioning it from Pending revision to Pending approval. The Pending approval workflow recommences with the new revision.
Send Approval
Once again, in the 'Pending approval' status, the new assignee can either Approve or Reject the change order.
If the new assignee clicks 'Approve', they will see one more pop-up to confirm their action. By clicking the blue "Send" button, the status of the change order will be changed to "Approved", the change order process is complete, and no further action can be taken on the change order.