Between labor, materials, and the constant push to keep crews moving, Specialty Contractors operate on tight margins and tighter timelines. That’s why every Change Order Request (COR) matters.
In our recent Specialty Contractor survey, respondents told us that Change Orders and work tracked on a T&M basis aren’t just side jobs — they account for 10–30% of annual revenue. When approvals and payments stall, two financial pressures mount fast:
Revenue at Risk: Crews complete the work, but until the COR is approved, payment hangs in limbo. Specialty Contractors live with the uncertainty of whether costs will ever be collected in full.
Cash Flow Crunch: 72% of Specialty Contractors say slow COR processing impacts cash flow. Delays tie up working capital that should be paying crews, purchasing materials, or funding additional projects.
Our survey also revealed the five most common reasons CORs get delayed. Each problem is both structural and persistent, but with the right workflows, totally preventable. Check out the list and see how your process stacks up:
1) Miscommunication and Misalignment with GCs
The challenge: 82% of Specialty Contractors maintain customer-facing COR logs, but most are just static exports with cobbled-together spreadsheets tacked on. Or worse: it’s all spreadsheet. Meanwhile, GCs keep their own records. The two versions rarely match. In fact, two thirds of GCs say that trade partner COR Logs are frequently out of alignment with theirs.
Why it persists: Change Order logs are often updated after the fact, and contractors can’t see what the GC has marked as pending, approved, or rejected, so surprises are inevitable. Version control is also an issue: with multiple logs exchanged across multiple email threads, it can be difficult to align on a single source of truth.
The cost: Lack of communication was cited by 56% of Specialty Contractors as one of the top reasons CORs get rejected (and 66% of GCs say they are “sometimes” or “often” surprised by COR submissions). Those surprises strain trust, slow down reviews, and lead to disputes.
How Clearstory fixes it: Clearstory provides a single, shared, live COR log that syncs all project stakeholders in real time. Every revision, comment, and status update is visible to you and your GC customer. That transparency eliminates surprises, builds trust, and speeds approvals.
2) Missing or Incomplete Documentation
The challenge: Another 57% of Specialty Contractors say missing documentation is one of the top reasons CORs are rejected. That might mean no photo evidence, missing or unsigned T&M Tags, or vague scope notes. Field teams under pressure often treat paperwork as secondary, and GCs are forced to delay on COR approvals with incomplete backup.
Why it persists: Paper tickets and disconnected systems make it nearly impossible to capture everything at the point of work. By the time the office realizes something’s missing, crews have moved on, and the gap can’t be fixed without costly, time-consuming rework or guesswork.
The cost: Incomplete back-up can lead to weeks of approval delays or outright denial. Every missing photo or receipt isn’t just a clerical slip, it’s a revenue leak.How Clearstory fixes it: Clearstory’s digital T&M Tags capture photos, scope notes, and labor details with just a click, and electronic GC signatures can be secured in real time from any device, creating a defensible, time-stamped record. By standardizing documentation at the point of work, Clearstory closes this critical approval gap.
3) Just Plain Late Change Order Requests
The challenge: In traditional workflows, a signed paper ticket must be transported back to the office, scanned, logged, repriced, and packaged before it becomes a COR. For 52% of Specialty Contractors, this takes 8–14 days; for another 30%, it’s 15–30 days. That’s up to a month after work is performed that your GC finally gets a Change Order Request.
Why it persists: Paper workflows are ponderously slow and office admin teams are overextended, often juggling multiple spreadsheets and emails. By the time the GC sees the request, the work may be weeks or months old.
The cost: 43% of survey respondents say COR rejections most often stem from late submission. And even if your COR is eventually paid in full, each week’s delay pushes out billing and tightens cash flow.
How Clearstory fixes it: Clearstory creates a direct pipeline from field capture to COR package. As soon as a tag is signed, it’s immediately visible to the office with all backup attached. Pricing teams can generate and send a polished COR in minutes, keeping billing cycles tight and cutting off late submissions before they start.
4) Pricing Disputes with GCs
The challenge: Half of Specialty Contractors cite cost disagreements as another leading cause of delay. Without pricing transparency, GCs question labor rates, material markups, or quantities. Negotiations devolve into back-and-forth, with subs often repricing the same COR multiple times, leading to more delays and strained relationships.
Why it persists: Inconsistent formats and incomplete pricing breakdowns fuel mistrust. Specialty Contractors are left re-exporting, reformatting, revising, and burning through unbillable hours. Internal discrepancies with pricing can also lead to inconsistency from COR to COR and project to project.
The cost: 70% of CORs require 3 to 4 rounds of revision, often triggered by pricing discrepancies. Every cycle stretches approvals by weeks and chips away at margins.
How Clearstory fixes it: With Clearstory, contractors submit standardized, itemized COR packages tailored to the GC’s format. Standardized pricing in Clearstory gives field teams, estimators, and admin access to the same consistent rate and material pricing. Built-in rate transparency, attached documentation, and automated math eliminate common flashpoints. The result: fewer disputes, faster approvals, and revenue in the bank instead of in limbo.
5) Lack of Budget
The challenge: Our survey found that 44% of Subcontractors say valid CORs are delayed simply because there’s no budget left to cover them. GCs must juggle contingency and allowance funds across trades, and if your request shows up after those dollars are allocated, it risks landing in a “no budget left” bucket.
Why it persists: GCs and Owners are under constant pressure to stay on budget, which means allocating funds as costs arise. When CORs arrive late, they often show up after those decisions are made, forcing GCs to push back, not on validity, but on available funding.
The cost: Subs face long negotiations or partial payments, effectively financing labor, material, and overhead out of pocket. Cash flow tightens, margins shrink, and relationships strain when valid work is left unpaid.
How Clearstory fixes it: Clearstory makes CORs visible as soon as work happens. Digital T&M Tags, photos, and signatures flow instantly into polished COR packages, so GCs see emerging costs while funding is still available. Clearstory’s Allowances feature also gives all stakeholders real-time visibility into contingency and allowance balances, preventing overdrafts and ensuring draw downs happen before budget disappears.
The Final Word: Don't Let Preventable Delays Drain Margin
The five biggest causes of Change Order delays—missing documentation, lack of communication, pricing disputes, GC misalignment on budget, and late submissions—are all solvable. What keeps them alive is outdated, manual workflows.
Clearstory is built to replace those workflows with a real-time, connected network designed to protect revenue, accelerate cash flow, and strengthen GC relationships. In an environment where every week of delay puts liquidity at risk, the contractors who modernize first will be the ones who grow strongest.
Ready to put Clearstory to work on your projects?
Schedule a free demo today and see how quickly you can uplevel your Change Order game to improve GC relationships and get paid faster.