Change orders on dirt jobs: how to price, write, and get extra work approved

Nobody finishes a dirt job exactly as quoted. You hit a buried tank, the customer wants the driveway moved ten feet, the engineer revises the grades, or the soil is not what the borings said. The extra work is normal. What goes wrong is the paperwork. Work gets done on a handshake, the final bill is bigger than the estimate, and the customer says "I never agreed to that."

A change order is how you turn a surprise into a priced, approved piece of the job. Our page on what a change order is covers the basics. This article is about doing them on a real site, in the middle of a real week.

What counts as a change

A change order is needed any time the work, the price, or the schedule moves from what you both agreed to. In dirt work, that usually means one of these:

• The customer asks for more. A longer trench, a bigger pad, an extra culvert, or a different finish grade.
• Conditions differ from what was assumed. Rock, water, old foundations, buried debris, bad soil that must be undercut. Our pages on rock clauses and undercutting cover two common ones.
• The design changes. New plans, revised grades, or an inspector's requirement.
• Someone else's delay. You stand by for a utility, a site that isn't ready, or another trade.
• The schedule moves. A customer-driven start delay, or an acceleration that costs overtime.

If it is covered in your original scope and price, it is not a change. That is why a clear scope matters. See what a scope of work is, and writing exclusions and assumptions to make the line between "included" and "extra" visible before work starts.

The order of operations on site

1. Stop at the surprise. When the crew hits something unexpected, they stop the affected work and call the foreman. Digging through it first and explaining later is how disputes start. Protect people first, and treat anything that could be a utility or a hazard as an emergency until it isn't.
2. Document it right then. Photos, with date and place, from a few angles. A short note of what was found, where, and when. A tape measure in the photo helps.
3. Tell the right person quickly. The owner, GC, or whoever your contract names for notices. Many commercial contracts require written notice of a changed condition within a set number of days, and missing that window can cost you the claim. Read yours.
4. Price it. Quote the extra work separately, as a lump sum, unit price, or time and materials. Be clear about which.
5. Get it approved in writing before you do the work. A signature is best. A text or email reply that says "approved" is better than nothing, but attach it to the job.
6. Then do it, track it separately, and bill it. Keep the extra hours and loads apart from the base scope so the numbers back up the invoice.

Three ways to price a change

• Lump sum. A fixed price for a defined bit of work. Good when you can see the whole task.
• Unit price. A price per yard, per foot, or per load that you agreed on in advance. Ideal for rock and undercut, where you can't know the quantity. If your original quote has unit prices, the change order often just applies them.
• Time and materials. You bill hours, machines, and material as they happen, usually with a markup and often with a not-to-exceed number. Best when the scope is unclear. Our article on time and materials vs fixed price covers the tradeoffs.

Whichever you choose, build the number from real costs: crew at loaded rates, machines at their cost per hour, trucking, disposal fees, material, and your overhead and profit. Extra work is not a favor. It is work, and it should carry the same markup as the rest. Many contracts also let you include the cost of the delay or remobilization the change caused, so ask for it if the contract allows.

What goes on the change order

A short form is fine, as long as it has the pieces that matter:

• Job name, address, and the original contract or estimate it changes.
• A numbered change order and a date.
• A plain description of the extra work, and what caused it.
• The price (lump sum, unit price, or T&M with a cap), and any effect on the schedule.
• How it will be billed: with the next invoice, or separately.
• Signature lines for both sides, with names and dates.
• Attached photos and quantities, when they back it up.

On commercial work, the GC may have its own form. Use it, but fill it in just as completely.

When the customer says "just do it"

It will happen. A homeowner standing in the yard says "while you're here, can you also..." and it feels rude to say "I'll write it up." Say it anyway, kindly: "Happy to. Let me text you the price so we're both clear." Then do it. Customers who are happy to pay for work are also happy to see the number first, and the ones who aren't are the ones the paperwork protects you from.

If you do work on a verbal OK in a real emergency, write it up the same day: what was done, why, who approved it, and when. A same-day note carries more weight than a story three weeks later.

The habits that keep change orders from piling up

• Review open change orders weekly: which are approved, which are waiting, and which are done but not billed. A running log for each job makes that review take minutes.
• Bill approved changes in the next invoice. Don't save them for the end.
• Close the loop at year end. Our closeout checklist includes extra work approved on site and never invoiced, which is more common than anyone admits.
• If the customer rejects a change you needed for the job to be done right, say what it means for the original scope and schedule, in writing.

Where TrackOver fits

TrackOver keeps change orders on the job record, next to the photos, hours, and invoice they belong to, so you can approve extra work from the field and bill it without digging for the paperwork. See estimates and invoices, pricing, or start the 7-day free trial, no card needed.

Common questions

Do I need a change order for every extra? If it changes the price, the scope, or the schedule, yes. Small items can be grouped, but write them down and get them acknowledged.

What if the customer won't sign? Stop work on the extra, explain the effect on the job, and put it in writing. Your contract and your state's law decide your options, so ask an attorney before you stop a whole job.

Can I add a markup to a change order? Usually yes, and you should include overhead and profit. Some contracts cap the markup, so read yours.

How is a change order different from a new estimate? A change order modifies an existing agreement and gets added to the contract total. A new estimate is a separate job.