Maintaining a Contract Change Order
In this Topic
The Contract Change Order Summary contains all the information currently recorded in a change order. To access this component, go to either the Contract Change Order Overview or the Contract Progress Summary (Change Orders tab) and click the CO Num link in the change order row.
The component opens on the General tab, which allows you to view or change this information about the change order:
Note: You can only modify a change order with a status of Draft. The current status is displayed on the component subheader.
To add a new change order to the contract, select Add New from the Actions menu on the component header. For more information, see Adding a Change Order to a Contract.
To add or change additional information in the change order, click the following tabs:
Increase/Decrease Items |
If item quantities are being changed in this change order, click this tab to maintain that information (see Changing Item Quantities with a Change Order). Note: This tab is available only if your agency allows item quantity increases and decreases on change orders. |
New Items |
If new items are being added to the contract in this change order, click this tab to maintain that information (see Adding New Items to a Contract with a Change Order). Note: This tab is available only if your agency allows new items to be added to a contract on change orders. |
Time Adjustments |
If the change order includes time adjustments, click this tab to maintain that information (see Adjusting Contract Time with a Change Order). Note: This tab is available only if your agency allows increases and decreases to contract times on change orders. |
Contract Claims |
Click this tab to view or maintain contract claims associated with this change order (see Maintaining Contract Claims for a Change Order). |
Review Tracking |
Click this tab to access review comments and add or remove reviewers for the change order (see Maintaining Reviewers for a Change Order). |
Approval Tracking |
Click this tab to access approval records for this change order (see Tracking Approvals for a Change Order). |
Force Accounts |
Click this tab to access a list of force accounts assigned to this change order (see Maintaining Force Accounts for a Change Order). |
Plan Discrepancies |
Click this tab to add a plan discrepancy record to the change order (see Associating Plan Discrepancies with a Change Order). |
Change Order Item Explanations |
Click this tab to associate change order explanations with one or more items included on the change order (see Associating Items with Change Order Explanations). |
Change Order Functions
Functions are the kind of changes you can make to a contract with a change order. The functions you are allowed to use in change orders are determined by your agency, but might include any of these:
Increasing or decreasing the approved quantities of items, including balancing completed items
Adding new items to the contract, including negative prices or quantities
Increasing or decreasing contract times
Processing a unilateral change order (without the approval of the prime contractor)
Processing a contract modification (that is, editing textual content of the contract only)
Automatically approving a change order when it is submitted for approval as long as it only contains changes to items that do not require formal approval (as indicated on the associated reference items)
To view which functions are being performed in this change order, expand the Functions section on the General tab to display these function indicators:
Note: The system only displays data for those functions allowed by your agency.
Change Order Explanations
To add explanation information for the change order, expand the Change Order Explanations section on the General tab.
To save a new change order explanation in the system, you must enter information in this field:
It is not required, but you can enter information in these fields to record additional information about the change order explanation:
Reference Explanation Name (When you enter a value in this field, the system displays the explanation type below the name, and it displays the description in the Explanation Description field.)
Click Save when you are finished. The system displays a message to confirm your changes were saved in the database.
Note: If your agency requires a change order explanation for new items or changes in item quantities, you must associate these explanations to the items before submitting the change order for approval (See Associating Items with Change Order Explanations).
Changing the Status of a Change Order
Some users can modify the status of an active change order based on role access. The system displays commands for changing the status if your user role is assigned access rights for the corresponding change order services.
To change the status of the change order to Draft, select Change to Draft from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The status can be changed to Draft only if the current status is Pending Review, Rejected, or Pending Approval. When you return a change order to Draft status, the system closes the current round of review or approval. The change order definition can now be changed and the review and/or approval process initiated again.
To change the status of the change order to Denied, select Change to Denied from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The status can be changed to Denied only if the current status is Draft, Rejected, or Pending Approval. The system updates the status of the change order to Denied.
To change the status of the change order to Void, select Change to Void from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The status can be changed to Void only if the current status is Draft, Rejected, or Pending Approval, the change order contains no item or time adjustment functions, and the Contract Modification Only function is set to Yes. The system updates the status of the change order to Voided. When a change order is voided, the system removes all details from the record except basic header and review/approval tracking information.
Change Order Review Process
Before submitting a change order for review, you must first click the Review Tracking tab and add one or more reviewers to the change order (see Adding Reviewers to a Contract Change Order).
You can only make a review decision on the change order if you are assigned as a reviewer for the current round of reviews and the change order has a status of Pending Review or Rejected.
Multiple rounds of review can be performed before the approval round(s). During the review cycle, to make a review decision for the change order, select Approve or Reject from the Actions menu on the component header. The system displays a modal window that requires you to enter a comment about the approval. Type a comment, and click the Save button. The system closes the modal window. If this is the last reviewer and no one has rejected the change order, the system automatically updates the status of the change order to Pending Approval. If any reviewers have rejected the change order, the change order remains in Pending Review. To move it along, the change order status must be manually changed to Pending Approval.
Note: If a change order is in Pending Review status and the last specified reviewer approves it, the system automatically assigns approval groups as necessary and attempts to apply the Pending Approval status. If errors occur that prevent the status from changing to the Pending Approval, the system sends the error messages to the default email address for the Author specified on the General tab for the change order.
Change Order Approval Process
Different approval commands are displayed for a change order depending on whether your user role is assigned to the current change order approval group, which commands are enabled for the current approval group, and the current approval level for the change order.
To submit a change order for approval, select Submit for Approval from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. You can only submit a change order for approval if it has a status of Draft or Pending Review. If no errors occur, the system updates the status of the change order to Pending Approval. The change order is now actively in the approval round and approval decisions can be made based on the actions enabled for the associated reference approval group.
Note: If no approval groups have been assigned to the change order when it is submitted for approval, the system automatically assigns the necessary groups before it applies the Pending Approval status. Automatic approval group assignments are based on the definition of the change order according to the reference change order rules. If approval groups have already been assigned when the change order is submitted for approval, the system verifies that all required minimum level groups have been assigned before updating the status to Pending Approval. If errors occur that prevent the status from changing to the Pending Approval, the system displays the errors on the Contract Change Order Summary.
Note: Change order approval decisions are typically processed in order from the lowest to the highest assigned approval group. However, if the agency option Allow Change Order Approval Level Skip is set to Yes, decisions at any higher level group can be made, and once made will automatically close any lower levels that were skipped. When skipping is allowed and a user is logged in with a role that applies to multiple approval groups, decisions are automatically made at the highest level.
To deny the change order during the approval process, select Deny from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The system displays a modal window that requires you to enter a comment explaining why the change order is being denied. Type the comment and click the Save button. The system closes the modal window, logs the approval decision, and updates the status of the change order to Denied.
To void the change order during the approval process, select Void from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. A change order can only be voided if it contains no item or time adjustment functions, and the Contract Modification Only function is set to Yes. The system displays a modal window that requires you to enter a comment explaining why the change order is being voided. Type the comment and click the Save button. The system closes the modal window, logs the approval decision, and updates the status of the change order to Voided. When a change order is voided, the system removes all details from the record except basic header and review/approval tracking information.
To reject the change order during the approval process, select Reject from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The system displays a modal window that requires you to enter a comment about the rejection. Type the comment and click the Save button. The system closes the modal window, logs the approval decision, and updates the status of the change order to Rejected.
To approve the change order, select Approve from the Actions menu on the Contract Change Order Summary component header. The system displays a modal window that requires you to enter a comment explaining why the change order is being approved. Type the comment and click the Save button. The system closes the modal window and takes one of the following actions:
If this is not the last level of approval, the system notifies the approver at the next higher level.
If this is the last level of approval, the system updates the contract appropriately and changes the status of the change order to Approved.
