Create a change order – Appia®

In this article:

Add or edit a change order | Quantity changes | New items | Existing time limit changes | New time limits | Attachments | Submit for approval | Delete a change order

Related resources:

Click here if you need information on balance overruns.

When a project is under construction, any changes must be made through a change order. You must have the proper permission in order to create a change order.

Change orders are listed from newest to oldest based on the date they were created. When you add a change order, the Appia service assigns it a permanent number, displayed in the No. column.

When you're finished adding all changes to the project, the change order must be submitted and approved for those changes to be committed and reflected within the Authorized Project Amount.

Add or edit a change order

You can edit a change order until the change order is approved. Once a change order has been added, the Appia service assigns it a number. This number will not change.

Select Change Orders from the Sidebar menu. The Appia service opens the Change Orders page.
To edit a change order, click the pencil Edit icon.
To add a change order, click Add. The Appia service goes to the New change order page.
Select the type of change order from the Change Order Type field. If you do not see your type of change order, talk to your system administrator.
Enter a short summary of the change in the Summary field and a longer description in the Description field, if necessary.
FIll in other fields if necessary.
Click Save.

The Appia service opens the Change Order page where you can fill out the details.

Quantity changes

You can't change the quantity for an item if there is a quantity change in a pending change order for that same item and fund package.

If the quantity for an item is greater than the approved quantity, use the Overrun section on the change order Overview page to add the item and the proposed change to the Quantity page.

You can't change the quantity of an item to be below zero. If an item is stockpiled, you can't decrease the item quantity to be less than the item’s stockpile quantity.

With the change order open, click Edit in the Quantity Changes header on the Change Order Overview page or click the Quantities tab to open the Quantity Changes page.
Click Select Items for the section that contains the items to change.
Select the items from the section’s item list and click Add Items.
Enter the change in the Proposed Change field, or enter the new quantity in the Proposed Quantity field. If you have an item with funding splits, enter the proposed change for the appropriate fund package.
If your project has more than one fund package, you'll see options to assign the package or split the item. Please see Funding for more information.
Enter a reason for the change.
When you are finished entering the information for all the selected items, click Save.

The Appia service displays the proposed changes on the Quantity Changes section of the Change Order page. The change order status, proposed extension amount, and type of change order are displayed in the Change Order heading.

New items

If an item with related reference data materials is added to the change order, those materials are added to the project once the change order is submitted for approval.

When your project has unattached items, you can add those items to your project from the New Items change order page. You cannot add an item to a change order if the item with the same fund package is in a pending change order. Items in pending change orders will not display on the project item list.

With the change order open, click Edit in the New Items header on the Change Order Overview page or click the New Items tab to open the New Items page.
Use the drop-down menu to select a reference data collection.
Click Add Items for the section to which the items will be added. If you're adding an unattached item, click Add Unattached Items. If the section does not have any unattached items, you won't see this button. The Appia service opens the reference item list or the project's list of unattached items.
Select the items or unattached items from the list and click Add Items.
Enter the quantity and the unit price of the added items.
If necessary, select the funding package or split the item. You will not see this option if your project has only one fund package.
If needed, enter a unique line number or enter a reason for adding the new or unattached item.
When you are finished entering the information for the items, click Save.

The Appia service adds the items to the New Items section of the change order and returns you to the change order Overview page. Unattached items display the unattached flag.

The Total Proposed Amount field on the Overview includes the extension amount of the added items.

Time limits

You can add new time limits or update existing time limits to your project when it is under construction. Once the change order is approved, the time limits will be updated in your project. Any liquidated damages will be accounted for when the next payment is made.

To extend the deadline of an existing time limit, use the Time Limit Changes section and update the Deadline Extension field.

Current time limit changes

You can't change a time limit that has been marked complete.

Use the Deadline Extension field to extend the deadline of an existing time limit.

With the change order open, click Edit in the Time Limit Changes header on the Change Order Overview page or click the Time Limit Changes tab to open the New Items page.
Click Add to select a time limit.
Select the time limits to change and click Add Time Limits.
For Calendar Days and Working Days, enter the number of days for the extension. For Completion Date, enter the new date. These fields are required. The Appia service calculates the proposed deadline.
If necessary, enter the reason.
Click Save.

The Appia service returns to the change order Overview page and displays the time limit change with the proposed extension and deadline.

New time limit changes

Once a time limit is added to a project through an approved change order, changes to that time limit must be made through the Time Limit Changes page of a new change order.

With the change order open, click Edit in the New Time Limit header on the Change Order Overview page or click the New Time Limits tab to open the New Time Limits page.
Click Add.
Depending on the type of deadline, enter the deadline days or the deadline date.
Select the type of time limit and enter the description and the liquidated damages.
Set the primary deadline if necessary.
Click Save.

The Appia service creates the new time limit for the change order and displays the New Time Limits page.

Attachments

You can add or remove change order attachments until the change order has been approved. Photos uploaded as attachments also display on the Photos tab.

With the change order open, click Edit in the Attachments header on the Change Order Overview page or click the Attachments tab to open the Attachments page.
Click Add Attachments.
Open your file directory and drag the files into the Drag and Drop window, or click choose your files. Navigate to and select the attachment, then click Open.
Enter or change the name and description, if necessary.
When you are finished adding or changing the attachment information, click Save.

The Appia service returns you to the change order Overview page and displays your attachment information including the date and time the attachment was submitted.

Submit for approval

There are two ways to submit a change order for approval: in Appia, and in Doc Express® (when the integration has been enabled).

Submit in Appia

When a change order is ready for approval, click Submit For Approval > Submit in Appia®. You can withdraw your request for approval by clicking Actions > Withdraw.

Submit in Doc Express

Doc Express is a secure, web-based platform for construction administration document workflows created by Infotech® and included for free with your Appia subscription.

You can connect your Appia project to a Doc Express contract to seamlessly submit change orders (and payments) to Doc Express for a secure, documented review and approval process.

Learn how to enable the Doc Express integration and submit a document.

Delete a change order

A change order can be deleted provided it is in a draft status. To delete a submitted change order, undo the approval request. This returns the change order to draft status where it can then be deleted.

Change orders that have been approved cannot be deleted, even if the approval is reversed.

Any item and related material added to the project through the change order will be removed if the change order is deleted. The Appia service does not re-sequence change order numbers when a change order is deleted.

Select the project from the My Projects page and select Change Order from the Sidebar menu if you are not already there.
Click the X icon for the change order you want to delete. If you do not see the X, you may have to first undo the approval request.
Click OK in the delete confirmation window.

The Appia service deletes the change order.