Change orders and extensions

How changes to a contract work

Once a contract is signed, nobody edits it in place. Quantities, prices, added or removed positions, a new deadline or new terms all go through a change order, so that both companies agree on every version.

• Update request (Заявка за актуализация): the client asks the contractor to make a change. It carries only a description of what should change.
• Change order: the change itself. It is a draft copy of the contract BoQ and terms. When it is accepted, or finalized by a company that acts for both sides, its differences are merged into the contract and the version goes up by 1.
• Extension (разширение): a change order that the client starts by contracting new work with a company it already has a signed contract with. The new offer's positions are added to the existing contract.

The Contract changes panel

Click Contract changes (Промени по договор) on the contract page. The panel shows one main button and the Contract change history (История на промените по договор). The button depends on your side:

• The contractor, and the client of a self-managed subcontractor, see Make a change (Направи промяна). It is disabled while a change proposal on this contract waits for an answer.
• The client of a contractor on BuildColab sees Request update (Заяви актуализация). It is disabled while your last update request is still open.

For an investor's budget the panel is called Budget changes (Промени по бюджет). The history is explained in Contracts: signing, details and history.

How to request an update (client)

1. Open the contract from Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители) and click Contract changes (Промени по договор).
2. Click Request update (Заяви актуализация).
3. In Description (Описание) write what must change and why. The description is required.
4. Click Send (Изпрати). Cancel (Отказ) closes without sending.

The toast "Contract update request created successfully" confirms it. The history shows an Update request entry with your description and the contract version. The contractor sees the banner You have a contract update request (Имате заявка за актуализация на договора) on its project page with the button Make a change. No e-mail is sent, so tell the contractor if needed.

1. The panel Contract changes (Промени по договор) on the contract page.
2. The dialog Request update (Заяви актуализация).
3. The required field Description (Описание).
4. Send (Изпрати) creates the update request; Cancel (Отказ) closes without sending.

How to make a change (contractor)

1. Open the contract: Contract with client (Договор с възложител) → Related (Свързани) → Contract changes (Промени по договор). If you have an update request, you can also click Make a change on the banner on the project page.
2. Click Make a change (Направи промяна). BuildColab prepares a copy of the contract BoQ in the background ("Creating contract change draft..." then "The contract change draft was created.") and opens the draft. If a draft already exists, it opens that one.
3. The draft page is titled Draft - contract changes (Чернова - промени по договор). Edit it like any BoQ: add, edit or delete positions and categories, change quantities, and price positions with resource analyses. See Working in the BoQ editor.
4. To change the terms, open View (Изглед) → View details (Виж детайли). The right panel Edit (Редактиране) shows the contract terms; change them and click Save changes (Запази промените): "The contract changes were saved."
5. Click Show changes (Покажи промени) to mark what differs from the signed version: added, changed and removed positions. Hide changes (Скрий промени) removes the marks.
6. Click Propose change (Предложи промяна) and confirm "Are you sure you want to propose a change to this contract?".

Propose change is enabled only when the draft differs from the contract (the BoQ was edited or the terms were saved) and no other proposal on this contract is pending. After you propose, the draft is read-only.

The client gets the notification "A change order was submitted for {contractName} ({amountDelta})", the e-mail "{company} sent a contract change proposal", the banner You have a contract change proposal (Имате предложение за промяна по договор) on its project page, and the pill Change proposal (Предложение за промяна) on the contract row.

A draft you have not proposed yet shows as the pill Change draft (Чернова на промяна) in the client's contract list and as the banner Change-order draft in progress (Чернова на промяна по договор) with Continue editing (Продължи редакцията).

1. The title Draft - contract changes (Чернова - промени по договор).
2. View (Изглед) holds View details, which opens the terms for editing, and the change marking.
3. Show changes (Покажи промени) marks added, changed and removed positions; while the marking is on, the button reads Hide changes (Скрий промени).
4. A changed position, marked against the signed version.
5. Propose change (Предложи промяна) sends the change to the client.

How to answer a change proposal

1. Open the proposal: the pill Change proposal (Предложение за промяна) in Contracts with contractors, the project page banner You have a contract change proposal → Review the contract, or Review (Разгледай) on the entry Contract change proposal in the history.
2. On Contract preview (Преглед на договор) click Show changes (Покажи промени) to see what differs from the current version.
3. Click View details (Виж детайли) to see the proposed terms.
4. Click Accept (Приеми), or Decline (Откажи) and confirm.

Accepting: BuildColab keeps a snapshot of the current version, merges the added, deleted and repriced positions into the contract BoQ, and raises the contract version by 1. Commitments against the client's budget follow the new version. The proposer gets "{partnerName} accepted the change order for {contractName}" and the e-mail "{company} accepted the contract change proposal".

Declining: the change draft is deactivated and the contract stays as it was. The proposer gets "{partnerName} declined the change order for {contractName}" and the e-mail "{company} declined the contract change proposal". The contractor can make a new change with Make a change.

Finalizing a change without a proposal

When your company acts for both sides, there is nobody to send a proposal to. The change is committed directly:

• Self-managed subcontractor: the client makes the change on its behalf. The draft's button is Finalize (Финализирай), with the confirmation "Are you sure you want to finalize the change to this contract?". The toasts are "Finalizing the contract change..." and "The contract change was finalized.", and you return to the contract.
• Self-contract (your own contract with a client outside BuildColab) and an investor's budget: the draft is titled Draft - budget changes (Чернова - промени по бюджет) and the button is Budget acceptance (Приемане на бюджет), with the confirmation "Every line in this draft will be accepted into the budget as its next version. Continue?". The result is the same: a new signed version.

Next to it, Finalize part (Финализирай част), or Accept part of the budget (Приемане на част от бюджета) in the budget wording, commits only the changes you tick and moves the rest into a new draft. See Partial acceptance.

Extensions: contracting again with the same company

BuildColab keeps one contract per pair of companies on a project. When you already have a signed contract with a company and you contract new work with it, for example after it won a second offer request, the new work becomes an extension of the existing contract.

• On the award screen the bidder is marked will be an extension (ще бъде разширение): "You already have a signed contract with this bidder on this project — a contract from this offer extends it."
• Opening the contract panel on its offer shows Add to existing contract (Добавяне към съществуващ договор): "A contract with this partner already exists for this project. Your offer will be added to the existing contract as a change order — you will review the combined scope before anything is sent or signed."
• Only the prices of the bidder's offer are carried into the extension. Its resource analyses do not enter your BoQ.
• An extension can be made from a sent offer, or part of it, that is not withdrawn, superseded or awarded to someone else.
• While an extension proposal to that company waits for an answer, you cannot start another contract with it.

How to make an extension

1. Open the winner's offer with Review (Разгледай) in the request panel and click Propose contract (Предложи договор), or Create contract on their behalf for a self-managed subcontractor.
2. In Add to existing contract click Continue (Продължи). BuildColab prepares the workspace in the background ("Preparing the workspace…") and opens the change-order draft with the combined scope. The workspace is prepared for you and is read-only.
3. Check the combined scope with Show changes and the terms with View details.
4. For a contractor on BuildColab click Propose change (Предложи промяна); the contractor accepts or declines it like any change proposal. For a self-managed subcontractor click Finalize (Финализирай).

For a self-managed subcontractor you can also add positions straight from your BoQ as an annex with Contract with a contractor (Сключи договор с изпълнител). See Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts.

Parallel changes and superseded proposals

• A change proposal can be accepted only if the contract has not moved to a newer version in the meantime. If another change was accepted first, the older pending proposal is marked Superseded (Заменена) and its draft becomes read-only with the banner "This draft has been superseded by another contract change proposal. It is read-only."
• The company whose proposal was replaced gets "{partnerName} replaced the change order for {contractName} with a newer one" and the e-mail "Your contract change request was superseded".
• Approving a payment application that adds positions outside the contract also creates a new contract version, so an open change draft made before it becomes out of date. See Positions outside the contract.
• Only one change draft per contract version exists. Make a change reopens it instead of creating a second one.

Statuses

Limits

• A sent change proposal cannot be withdrawn. The other side must accept or decline it, or another accepted change supersedes it.
• A change proposed to another company is accepted or declined in full. Partial commits exist only where your company finalizes directly.
• An extension is finalized in full only.
• Change orders do not change either company's project phase.

With BORO

BORO can create a change-order draft, finalize a change for a self-managed subcontractor or a self-contract, and send a contract update request. Binding steps show an approval card first. See What BORO can do.

Permissions and plan

Change orders need a paid plan or trial. See Permission reference.

Common questions

Related

• Contracts: signing, details and history
• Partial acceptance
• Contract proposals
• Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts
• Positions outside the contract