Change orders — the operational mechanics

Any modification to scope, cost, or timeline goes through a change order. The mechanics below protect both you and the customer — bypass them and you've done unfunded, undocumented work that's hard to recover.

Steps

1. Identify the change. Either you spot something on site, or the customer asks for an adjustment. Either way, it gets formal.
2. Submit a change order proposal through the Beams platform. Include:

• Changed scope — what's new or different.
• Price impact — materials and labour separately.
• Time impact — programme effect.
• Notes — any assumptions, exclusions, or context.

1. Customer reviews and approves through their dashboard. Beams prepares the formal Change Order Document for digital signature.
2. Customer pre-pays the change order amount into the Beams Account.
3. You start the new work. Only after both approval and funding are in.
4. Submit a separate invoice referencing the change order number when the change-order work is complete.

Payment timing for change orders

• Standard change orders (under £5,000): paid at project Sign Off, alongside the final milestone.
• Larger changes: may be paid in two instalments — 50% up front and 50% upon completion.

Why every change goes through this process

Most renovation disputes come from changes that weren't formally agreed. Verbal change orders, mid-build email exchanges that no one filed, "let's just do it and figure it out later" — all the patterns we see in disputes share that lineage. The formal process is the protection both sides have against later disagreement.

What if a change is genuinely urgent

Safety-critical changes that can't wait for paperwork — emergency structural remediation, immediate fire-safety, water damage — act first and document second. The customer will see the change order through the platform shortly after. Beams supports this; we'd rather safety than paperwork.

Related articles

• Reporting progress and challenges
• Milestone evidence and approvals