Draft a defensible construction change order with entitlement basis, scope delta, itemised pricing, and schedule impact. Use when asked to write a change order, price extra work, draft a CO or COR/PCO, respond to a directive for changed work, or paper a field change. Produces a complete change order request with contract-clause entitlement, labour/material/equipment/OH&P breakdown, time impact statement, and reservation of rights.
SKILL.md
Change Order Writer Skill
A change order that just says "extra work — $48,500" gets cut in half in review. A defensible one answers three questions before they're asked: why am I entitled (which contract clause, triggered by what event), what exactly changed (scope delta from the contract baseline), and what does it really cost (built-up pricing plus time). This skill drafts change orders that survive an owner's rep audit — and preserves rights on the impacts you can't price yet.
What This Skill Produces
A complete change order request (COR/PCO) ready for letterhead
Entitlement narrative citing the contract clause and the triggering event/document
Scope delta — contract baseline vs. changed condition, with document references
Pricing breakdown: labour, material, equipment, subcontractor cost, then OH&P per the contract markup provisions
Schedule impact statement and a reservation of rights for cumulative/unquantified impacts
Required Inputs
Ask for what's missing; from a thin brief, draft anyway and mark every gap [confirm]:
The change event — what happened (RFI answer, design revision, differing site condition, owner directive, regulatory change) and when it was discovered
Contract references — changes clause number, notice requirements, allowed markup percentages, unit rates if any
Baseline scope — what the contract documents required before the change
Cost inputs — crew composition, hours, material quantities/quotes, equipment, sub quotes (rough is fine; the skill structures them)
Schedule situation — is affected work on or near the critical path; current completion date
Entitlement & Pricing Framework
Entitlement first. Classify the trigger — it drives the clause you cite:
DSC clause — Type I (differs from documents) or Type II (unusual for the locality)
RFI answer adding work
Changes clause via the RFI/ASI as the directive document
Owner-caused delay/interference
Changes + delay provisions (pair with a delay notice)
Never assert entitlement without naming the clause and the triggering document by number and date. If notice deadlines have passed, say so and frame the submission accordingly — don't hide it.
Pricing build-up. Price from records, not round numbers: labour (crew × hours × loaded rates — base plus burden), material (quantities × quoted prices, attach quotes), equipment (owned at established rates, rented at invoice), subcontractor cost, then apply OH&P at the contract-specified markups on self-performed and sub work separately. Include small-tools/consumables, supervision, and bond/insurance adjustment if the contract allows. Anything estimated rather than quoted gets labelled.
Time. State added work duration and whether it hits the critical path. If time impact can't be fixed yet, request a to-be-determined extension and reserve rights — never write "no schedule impact" as a default.
Output Format
Change Order Request No. [#]: [Short title]
Project / Contract No. / Date / To / From1. Description of change — plain-language summary of the changed condition.
2. Entitlement — clause citation + triggering document (RFI #, ASI #, directive, DSC discovery date) + notice given (date, method).
3. Scope delta — was/is table against contract documents.
4. Pricing — itemised table: Labour / Material / Equipment / Subcontractors / Subtotal / OH&P (per §[x]) / Bond & insurance / Total. Attachments list (quotes, tickets, T&M sheets).
5. Schedule impact — [X] calendar days requested, critical-path basis stated, or expressly reserved pending analysis.
6. Reservation of rights — rights reserved for cumulative impact, acceleration, and consequential effects not quantifiable at submission.
7. Signature block and the line: "This draft is not legal advice — route through your contracts counsel before sending."
Quality Checks
Entitlement cites a specific clause number and a specific triggering document with date
Notice status is stated honestly — given on time, late, or being given by this submission
Every cost line is either backed by a record/quote or labelled as an estimate [confirm]
OH&P follows the contract markup provisions, not a default percentage
Schedule impact is affirmatively stated or expressly reserved — never silent
Reservation of rights and the not-legal-advice routing line are present
Anti-Patterns
Do not price a change order from bare cost without OH&P and a cumulative-impact reservation — you won't get a second bite
Do not write "no schedule impact" reflexively to look cooperative — silence waives time you may need
Do not proceed with changed work on a verbal directive without papering it the same day
Do not bundle unrelated changes into one CO — each event stands on its own entitlement
Do not soften entitlement language ("we feel", "we believe we may be due") — state the clause and the facts
