How quickly do I have to send a change order notice?

Check the notice clause in your subcontract — it is often shorter than people expect, and some contracts use open language like "promptly" or "without delay" rather than a fixed count of days. Where the contract is vague, the safe interpretation is the same day you identify the event. Diarise the deadline when the instruction arrives, not when you sit down to price it.

Does sending a notice mean I can start the work?

Usually not. A notice records that a change may have occurred; it is not authorisation. Many contracts require separate written approval before the work is performed or before additional cost is recognised. Check what your contract requires before proceeding, because the two documents do different jobs.

What if I do not know the cost yet?

Send the notice anyway. Not knowing the cost, hours or schedule impact is the normal state at notice time, and in many contracts it is exactly why the notice is due immediately. State the impacts you do know and say plainly that the rest is still being evaluated.

Does an email count as a valid notice?

Often yes, but the contract decides. Some specify letters, some accept email, some require submission through the project management platform or a particular form. Whatever the method, keep evidence of the send date and the content — that record is what gets examined if the change order is later contested.

What happens if I miss the notice deadline?

It depends on the contract, and the consequences range from nothing to losing the entitlement entirely. Some contracts treat notice as a condition precedent, meaning a late notice can bar the claim regardless of its merits. That is why the deadline is worth knowing before the project starts rather than after the event.

Change Order Notice: What It Is and When to Send It

A change order notice is a formal communication telling the general contractor or owner that an event has occurred which may change the scope, cost or schedule. In most construction contracts it is the first obligation after a change is identified — before any pricing. It preserves your right to claim; it does not, by itself, authorise you to start work.

The notice is not a price proposal

This is where the most expensive misunderstanding lives. Many subcontractors believe they can only issue a notice once they know what the change will cost. In practice that belief is what causes the deadline to be missed.

At the moment a notice is due, it is normal not to know:

the final cost
the schedule impact
how many hours will be needed
what additional materials are involved
the full extent of the change

None of that prevents the communication. In many contracts it is precisely because those figures are unknown that the notice is required immediately. First you communicate the occurrence. Then you develop the analysis.

Why the requirement exists at all

It is easy to read notice clauses as bureaucracy. They are not. Managing a project depends on information, and a notice gives the other side the chance to act while the situation is still small.

On receiving one, a client may:

cancel the change altogether
modify the proposed solution
issue different instructions
cap the cost before it grows
resequence the work
ask for additional documentation

Without a notice, none of those decisions get made. The problem surfaces only when the change order proposal lands — often weeks after the event — and by then the options that would have been cheap for everyone have closed.

The deadline matters as much as the content

Contracts express the timing differently. Some specify a fixed number of days from the event. Others use language such as "promptly", "immediately", "without delay", or "within the time specified in the Contract". The wording varies; the message does not — communicate as early as possible.

Waiting until the cost analysis is finished before issuing the notice can itself be a breach, regardless of how well-founded the underlying claim turns out to be.

What a notice should contain

the date the event occurred
the location
an objective description of what happened
who made the request, or where the change originated
the impacts that are already known
a statement that further impacts are still being evaluated, where that applies

There is no advantage in turning a notice into a detailed proposal. The two documents serve different purposes, and conflating them slows the first one down.

Sending a notice does not authorise the work

A notice is an instrument of communication. It records that a situation exists which may change scope, cost or time. Most contracts do not treat it as permission to proceed, and depending on the clause you may need separate written authorisation before executing the work — or before any additional cost will be recognised.

The notice preserves your right to communicate. The contract determines when and how the work may actually be performed. Treating one as the other is a common and expensive substitution.

Where notices go wrong

Believing a conversation on site replaces the formal communication
Waiting for the proposal to be finished before reporting the event
Failing to record the date the condition occurred
Not following the procedure the contract actually specifies
Assuming another company on the project will send it

None of these are noticed at the time. They surface only when the change order is disputed, which is the worst possible moment to discover a procedural gap.

Once the notice is out, the next questions are who is allowed to authorise the work and how you record what it costs. See who can actually approve a change order and what belongs on a T&M tag.

ScopeConductor numbers your change orders automatically, attaches field photos as evidence, sends them for signature and follows up until you get an answer.

See how it works

Change Order Notice: The Requirement Most Subcontractors Miss