Contractor estimate
Any job, with a deposit to start and a date it’s good until.
Free change order template
Write up a change before you do the work: what’s changing and why, what it adds to the price or takes off, and the days it adds. The new contract total works itself out. Download a PDF for you and the customer to sign.
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- What you type stays on this device
- Prints on standard letter paper
Pricing the job first? Use the contractor estimate template. Job done? Use the contractor invoice template.
Fill in a change order
Type in the boxes. Empty boxes don’t print.
Your business
Remembered on this device for your next change order.
Change order
Customer
The job
What’s changing
The price of the change
Amount
Amount
A credit is work taken out: type its price as it is, and it comes off.
The contract
This change order worked out$0.00
Type the original contract to see the new contract total.
The finish date
No change to the date? Leave both empty, or put 0.
How it’s paid
Terms
Plain words to start from. Change them; an empty one doesn’t print.
What a change order needs
Eight things, so the customer can say yes knowing what changes, and the final bill holds no surprises. In California, a change order on a home improvement job can’t be enforced against the homeowner unless it sets out the work, the amount added or taken off, and what it does to the payments or the finish date (Business and Professions Code 7159.6). Other states have their own rules, so check yours.
- Which job it changes The contract or estimate it belongs to, by date and number.
- What’s changing The work added or taken out, in words the customer can check on site.
- Why What you found, or what they asked for, and when.
- The price of the change Each thing added on its own line; work taken out as a credit.
- The new contract total The original price, the changes so far, and this one.
- The time it adds Days added and the new finish date, or no change.
- How it’s paid With the next payment, the final one, or before the work starts.
- Both signatures, before the work Theirs and yours, with the date.
Where this comes from
Checked October 22, 2026. It’s in plain words, not quoted; the links are the authority, not this page.
- California Business and Professions Code, section 7159.6: extra work and change orders — the official text, at the California Legislature
- AIA Contract Documents, Summary: G701–2017, Change Order
Ridgeline Builders
350 Kietzke Ln, Reno, NV 89502
(775) 555-0152 · office@example.com
NV license #000000
Change
order
- Change order no.
- 2
- Date
- Oct 20, 2026
Customer
Maria Delgado
(775) 555-0133 · maria@example.com
1180 Mayberry Dr, Reno, NV 89509
The job
- Contract date
- Oct 2, 2026
- Contract or estimate no.
- Estimate 1042
What’s changing
Replace the rotted decking under the north slope, and add a ridge vent along the main ridge.
Why
The decking on the north slope was soft when the old shingles came off on Oct 19, and new shingles can’t go on it. You asked for the ridge vent that day.
The price of the change
| Description | Qty | Price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roof decking, 7/16 in. OSB, replaced (sheets) | 8 | $85.00 | $680.00 |
| Ridge vent along the main ridge, 36 ft | 1 | $410.00 | $410.00 |
| Two box vents we no longer need | 2 | −$45.00 | −$90.00 |
The finish date
- Days added
- 1
- New finish date
- Oct 23, 2026
How it’s paid
Added to the final payment, due when the job is done.
The contract
- Original contract
- $14,600.00
- Earlier change orders
- $350.00
- This change order
- $1,000.00
- New contract total
- $15,950.00
Terms
- 1. Everything else in our contract stays as it is.
- 2. We start this work once we’ve both signed.
Customer signatureDateFor Ridgeline BuildersDate
Four ways to keep a change from turning into an argument
Write it before you do it
A change done first and priced later is the one customers dispute.
Photograph what you found
The rotted decking or the cracked pipe, before it’s covered up.
Price it while you’re both there
The customer can say yes while you’re both looking at it.
Number them, one after another
New change order carries the total forward, so the last one shows the whole contract.
Questions about this change order
More templates for contractors are on the free templates page.
What is a change order?
A written change to a job you’ve already agreed: the work added or taken out, what it does to the price and the finish date, signed by you and the customer before the work starts.
Do I need a change order for a small change?
It’s the safe habit for any change to the price or the finish date, small ones included: a signed change order settles what you both agreed before the final bill, not after it. In California, a change order on a home improvement job can’t be enforced against the homeowner unless it sets out the work, the amount and what it does to the payments or the finish date. Other states have their own rules.
How do I take work off the price?
Add a credit. Type what’s taken out and its price as it is, and it comes off this change order’s total, printed with a minus sign. A change can be all credits, when work is taken out and nothing added.
How does the new contract total work?
Type the original contract price and what the earlier change orders came to, and the new total adds this change to both. New change order keeps the customer and the job, and moves this change into Earlier change orders, so the next one starts from the right total.
Is this the same as an AIA change order?
No. AIA Document G701 is the change order form for projects run on AIA contracts, usually with an architect, which the owner, the contractor and the architect all sign. This one is for a contractor and a customer: the same idea, the change and its price and time, in plain words.
Is this a legal contract?
It’s a starting point in plain words, not legal advice. Rules for home improvement contracts and their changes differ by state, so have a lawyer where you work read your version once, then reuse it.
How does the customer sign it?
Print it and sign it together before you start the work, or send the PDF and ask them to print it, sign it and send you a photo. It has lines for both of you, with the date.
Is this change order template free?
Yes. There’s no account, no trial and no email address to give. Fill it in and download the PDF as often as you like.
Where does what I type go?
Nowhere. It stays in this browser on this device, so it’s there next time you open the page. Wakeman never sees it, and Clear everything removes it.
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