The Change Order Request (COR) log is the only tracking document shared between the Subcontractor and General Contractor. Put simply, it’s a living list that records every requested change to the original scope, budget, or schedule, giving the GC confidence they have captured every one of the Subcontractor’s extra-work costs.
But with all the moving parts on a construction project, manually updating and revising and reconciling COR logs can be challenging for GCs, and it's easy to fall behind on tracking every trade partner's multiple Change Orders. Perhaps this is why we’ve called the Change Order Request log the most important document in commercial construction.
The trouble is that COR logs are static, not dynamic or real-time, and therefore have dozens of manual steps to communicate around the process.
Here at Clearstory, we’re passionate about construction financials and helping companies better communicate between trade partners, General Contractors and Owners. From our own experience as PMs, we wanted to share 7 of the BIGGEST reasons the static COR log is problematic, and how to make changes to improve this part of your process.
A General Contractor may request the COR log monthly, for example, but once it’s sent out, the log is out of date for nearly a month, which:
Static COR Logs often require additional conversation and there’s no seamless way to collaborate, ask questions, or leave notes. The result is time consuming email follow ups or confusing PDF markups. Just managing the administrative work of updating the COR log is time intensive and a complete budget killer. Communicating about them is even more taxing.
The static COR log is usually updated upon request or initiation, which means all of its contents are documenting things that have been sent long before action was needed. Days and weeks can slip by and instead of processing and closing Change Orders quickly, you’re chasing people down for updates.
Once a COR log is updated, the history of each Change Order gets murky. Because a true change log should ‘systematically record and track modifications,’ the moment version control breaks down you lose that audit trail. Keeping track of each update is time consuming and subject to online and offline communication that slips through the cracks. This makes disputes challenging to resolve with teams hunting down emails threads and old versions of the log to get a clear paper trail. This is especially true during an audit or owner review months later.
This seemingly simple issue is possibly the biggest day-to-day headache. Industry-standard templates exist precisely to eliminate that chaos and keep every change ‘in order,’ yet few projects require their use. Receiving Change Orders in different formats is a guarantee that someone is working overtime to thoroughly review and and update changes into Excel, or worse, skimming through Change Orders to get the job done. Which leads us to the next issue:
The financial exposure of static COR logs isn't just time, it's mistakes. The items above make everything from costs to dates extremely error-prone and hard to track down. Errors increase the likelihood that CORs get rejected by owners and then disputed between Subcontractors and General Contractors.
Each line item in a COR log represents a separate COR document. With a static PDF log it is impossible to attach each of these files and even harder to keep track of any revisions. Project teams are left to download COR files out of email separately and store them with a corresponding file naming system to ensure they can match the COR Log line item to a COR document that is being reviewed.
A: A Change Order Request (COR) log is a running list of every COR sent on a project. It shows what was requested, when it was sent, the cost, and its approval status so everyone sees the same numbers.
A: The COR log is the only shared record of extra-work costs between subcontractor and general contractor. Keeping it current prevents budget surprises, speeds approvals, and protects everyone during audits or disputes.
A: At minimum note the COR number, brief work description, date submitted, dollar amount, status (submitted, approved, or rejected), and any schedule impact. Adding links to backup files keeps everything in one place.
A: Update the log as soon as a new COR is sent or its status changes. Delaying updates to weekly or monthly cycles leaves the team working from outdated numbers.
A: Online COR logs sync instantly, let teams comment in one place, track revision history automatically, and attach files to each line item. This cuts manual data entry, reduces errors, and keeps everyone on the same page.
A: The party issuing the CORs—usually the Subcontractor—should update the log and share it with the General Contractor. On larger projects, the GC may keep a master log that’s updated whenever new information comes in.
These issues may be part of your current workflow and fall into the ‘just the way it is’ attitude towards Change Orders. However, our customers see it differently with real-time cloud-based COR logs that:
This is a win-win for all GCs, Trades, and Owners alike and we’d like to help. To learn more about real-time COR logs in Clearstory, connect with one of our team members for a free demo today.