If your project is generating more electrical change orders than expected, most of them trace back to a small number of predictable causes. Knowing what those causes are helps you catch the next one before it happens.
Where change orders usually come from
Electrical change orders tend to trace back to a small number of causes: gaps in the original design, decisions made after construction started, conditions found in the field that were not visible during design, and coordination conflicts with other trades. Knowing which category a change falls into helps everyone agree on how it should be priced and who should carry the cost.
Design gaps found in the field
When drawings do not match site conditions, or a detail was missed during design, the resulting change order is generally the owner's or design team's cost to carry, since the contractor priced what was drawn. Catching these early, during a design review or a site walk before pricing, is cheaper than discovering them mid-construction.
Owner-driven changes
A decision to add capacity, relocate equipment, or upgrade a system after the contract is signed is a legitimate change, but it should be priced and approved before the work proceeds, not billed after the fact. Set up a simple approval process at contract signing: a written estimate, an approval signature, then the work.
Unforeseen site conditions
Existing buildings sometimes hide conditions that could not be seen during design: undocumented wiring, an undersized panel behind a finished wall, deteriorated conduit. These are usually fair change orders, since neither side could have priced them accurately in advance. Document the condition with photos when it is found, before it is disturbed.
Pricing a change order fairly
Agree on a pricing method at contract signing, whether that is a schedule of unit prices, an hourly rate plus material cost, or a lump sum estimate for each change. A change order priced against terms agreed before the change happened avoids a negotiation happening under time pressure mid-project.
Documenting time and materials
Where a change is priced on a time and materials basis rather than a fixed estimate, keep daily records: hours worked, materials used, and a brief description of the work performed. Have the owner's representative sign off on these records as the work happens, not weeks later when nobody remembers the details clearly. This single habit prevents more disputes than almost anything else on a time and materials change.
Communicating changes to the owner
An owner should never be surprised by a change order at final invoicing. Flag a probable change as soon as it is identified, give a preliminary estimate even before the final number is worked out, and confirm the owner wants the work to proceed before it happens. A change order that arrives as a surprise, even a fair one, damages trust more than the dollar amount usually warrants.
Reducing change orders before construction starts
A thorough site walk before pricing, a complete bid package, and a design reviewed for coordination with other trades before it goes to tender all reduce change orders before they start. None of this eliminates them entirely, since some conditions cannot be known until walls are open, but it shrinks the list considerably.
Keeping a running change order log
Track every change order, approved or pending, in a single running log visible to both the contractor and the owner, with its status, value and the reason it came up. This does two things: it stops small changes from getting lost or forgotten, and it gives everyone a running total against the original contract value, so nobody is surprised by the cumulative effect of several small changes late in the project.
Talk to Puffin Power
If you want an electrical contractor who documents changes clearly and prices them against agreed terms, contact Puffin Power. Ask us about how we handle change orders on design-build and turnkey electrical projects.
Published 2026-09-23 · About 3 minute read