Free homeowner worksheet · 2026 · No account required
Free Construction Change Order Tracker
Track approved changes, pending requests, contract increases and credits, schedule impacts and remaining contingency for your home addition or renovation.
Track construction changes against your original contract
Enter the original agreed contract price in USD and any contingency you are holding outside the signed contract. Add proposed or agreed work changes as they arise. An approved credit can be entered as a negative amount. Nothing you type into this tracker is intentionally uploaded by this tool; export CSV before leaving or refreshing the page.
Change requests
Set a status to Approved only after the change has the approvals required by your actual contract. Pending positive amounts are tracked as potential exposure, not added to the signed contract total.
Enter an original contract price to see approved changes, pending exposure and remaining contingency.
CSV exports are generated locally in your browser. There is no cloud save or automatic recovery after you leave.
Worked example: a $120,000 addition contract
Suppose a homeowner signs a contract for $120,000 and keeps a separate 15% reserve ($18,000). The owner then approves a structural beam upgrade for $4,500, approves a $1,200 credit for removing a skylight, and has a $3,000 window upgrade pending. The tracker makes the difference between approved contract changes and possible future exposure visible.
| Item | Decision | Cost impact |
|---|---|---|
| Additional structural beam | Approved | +$4,500 |
| Remove originally specified skylight | Approved | −$1,200 |
| Upgrade window package | Pending | +$3,000 |
| Revised signed contract | Base + net approved | $123,300 |
| Potential total if pending change is approved | Not yet committed | $126,300 |
| Remaining reserve after approved changes | $138,000 ceiling − $123,300 | $14,700 |
This is fictional arithmetic for demonstration, not a price survey or advice about whether a change should be accepted. Select Load worked example above to inspect the rows and edit them.
How to track a home addition change order
- Record your baseline: use the signed contract amount, and keep the homeowner reserve separate so it is not mistakenly treated as money already paid to the contractor.
- Write a specific description: record the work, materials or credit being requested, plus its impact in dollars and calendar days. In the reference field, enter the change-order number or document identifier.
- Mark its status correctly: Approved means authorized under the contract’s rules. Pending is a proposal, not a price you have accepted; Declined is excluded from the revised total.
- Watch the remaining reserve: positive approved changes consume your planned cushion, while pending positive requests signal additional exposure. A possible future credit is not counted until approved.
- Keep signed documents separately: download this CSV for your records and retain the actual written change description, price, schedule adjustment and required signatures or approvals.
When to use this tool instead of the other calculators
Before hiring a contractor, use the home addition cost estimator to explore a broad planning range and the contractor bid comparison tool to compare two actual proposals. Once a construction contract exists, this change-order tracker records additional work and potential cost or schedule movement. If you need to prepare the original bid request, start with our free contractor scope-request template.
Frequently asked questions
Does a pending change order increase the signed contract price?
Not in this tool. Only rows you mark Approved affect the revised signed amount. Whether the real project permits unilateral directives or other adjustment procedures depends on the actual agreement and applicable rules.
Can I enter a credit or negative change?
Yes. Enter a negative amount for a credit that reduces an approved contract scope. A pending negative credit does not offset pending positive exposure until it has been agreed.
How does the contingency calculation work?
The reserve equals the original signed contract multiplied by the percentage you choose. The tracker’s remaining headroom is that reserve minus the net approved contract increase. It is an owner planning buffer, not money automatically added to the contractor’s contract.
Is this a payment ledger or legal document?
No. It tracks proposed and agreed changes to price and time. It does not track invoices, deposits, actual bank payments, lien waivers or contractual authorization. Keep your signed documents and payment records separately.
Are my entries saved when I close the page?
No. The tool calculates in your browser, without saving the entries to a user account. Download the CSV before you leave; it is a record for you to store or open in a spreadsheet, not an upload to AdditionPilot.
Sources and limitations
Updated October 26, 2026. For homeowner precautions, see the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s guidance on home improvement contracts and estimates. For context on the distinction between a signed change order and other project changes, see AIA Contract Documents’ change-order explanation. The tool’s calculations are AdditionPilot’s own basic arithmetic; no external cost figures are supplied or validated.