Change Orders 101: How to Handle Scope Creep Without Losing the Client

Almost every job picks up extra requests along the way — a moved outlet, an upgraded fixture, a wall that turns out to need more than patching. The problem isn't the extra work itself; it's doing it without adjusting the price or the paper trail.

Put it in writing before you do the work

A verbal "yeah sure, that's not a big deal" is where scope creep quietly eats a job's profit. A short change order — what's changing, what it costs, signed before work starts — takes two minutes and prevents a much longer argument at final payment.

Price it like a mini-estimate

Treat every change order with the same discipline as the original estimate: materials, labor, and a clear total, not a rough verbal number. Clients respect a specific number ($340 to relocate the outlet) far more than a vague one ("probably a couple hundred extra") — and a specific number is what actually gets paid.

Keep it separate from — but linked to — the original contract

A change order should reference the original job and adjust its total contract value, not exist as a disconnected side conversation. That way there's one clear record of what the client agreed to pay, start to finish, if the job is ever disputed.

In Selwik, a change order is generated from the existing project, priced like a normal estimate, and — once signed — automatically updates the project's contract value, so your records and your invoice always match what was actually agreed.