Before Your Condo or HOA Approves a Change Order: A Board Checklist
Before approving a construction change order, a condo or HOA board should ask for a written explanation of what changed, why it changed, how the price was calculated and what happens to the schedule. A request for more money is not, by itself, a complete decision package.
The goal is not to reject every change. It is to make each decision understandable, supported and traceable. Use the checklist below to organize a discussion with your owner's representative, contractor, design professionals and association counsel. Adapt it to the actual project contract and the association's approval process.
Start with three separate questions
AIA Contract Documents explains change orders through changes to the work, contract amount and contract time. Its change-order guidance is a useful reference for that distinction. Your project's own agreement determines the applicable process and participants.
For board discussion, separate three questions: Is the additional work justified? Is the proposed price supported? Is the requested time adjustment explained? Agreement that a repair is needed does not automatically answer the other two questions.
1. Identify exactly what is different
Ask for the building, floor, elevation or work area involved, together with the relevant drawing, specification, photograph or field report. Compare the request with the original scope and any previously approved revisions. Avoid accepting descriptions such as 'additional repairs' without identifying the work.
Where quantities matter, ask which quantity was included in the contract, what quantity is now proposed and how the difference was measured. For example, a balcony repair request is easier to assess when the package identifies the affected locations rather than presenting one total for the entire building.
2. Document the reason for the request
Ask the project team to distinguish a concealed condition, an owner-requested addition, a design revision and work that may already be included. Those are different explanations and deserve different supporting records. Avoid deciding responsibility from a verbal summary alone.
Have the appropriate design professional address technical questions. Have counsel evaluate disputed contract interpretation or responsibility. An owner's representative can assemble the records and coordinate the review without substituting for those professional roles.
3. Make the price reviewable
Request a breakdown appropriate to the size and nature of the change. Useful questions include: What labor, materials and equipment are included? Are there subcontractor quotations? Does an agreed unit price apply? How are markups calculated? Does the proposal include a credit for work that will no longer be performed?
Keep allowances and previously approved work visible during this review. Ask the team to explain how the new request relates to them so the same work is not unintentionally counted twice. A supported price is more useful than a round number accompanied by a short deadline.
4. Ask what changes on the calendar
Request the specific activities affected, any additional procurement time and the proposed revised milestone dates. For an occupied community, also ask about resident access, temporary closures, noise notices and coordination with other contractors.
A useful board question is: 'Which activity cannot proceed until this decision is made, and what is the latest decision date supported by the schedule?' This turns a general claim of urgency into something the project team can evaluate. Do not assume that extra work always causes an equal extension to the overall project.
5. Show the total commitment, not just today's request
Present the original contract amount, previously approved changes, this proposal and the resulting revised amount together. Keep other pending requests separate from approved commitments. Also show any contingency remaining and the basis for the forecast of work still to come.
For discussion, a simple running log can include the request number, date, location, reason, proposed amount, reviewed amount, proposed time adjustment, responsible reviewer and current status. Use distinct labels such as requested, under review, approved, rejected and withdrawn.
6. Keep review, authorization and payment separate
A technical recommendation, a price review, permission to proceed and approval of a payment request are different steps. Identify who is responsible for each under the project's agreements and the association's applicable decision process. Do not treat a consultant's review as permission for any individual to commit the association.
Ask counsel about approval authority, meeting requirements and disputed terms rather than treating this checklist as a legal rule. Urgent safety conditions need an appropriate response from the responsible professionals; this checklist should not delay emergency measures.
A one-page packet for the board
Use these six headings for an internal decision summary: the requested change and location; supporting technical documents; the pricing comparison and credits; schedule and resident impacts; the updated commitment and contingency; and the recommendation, open questions and required authorization. Attach the underlying documents rather than replacing them with the summary.
For a hypothetical concrete-restoration request, the packet might include a marked-up location plan, measured additional quantities, the design professional's repair direction, the applicable pricing basis and an updated work sequence. That is an illustration of documentation, not a claim about an HCMC client project.
How HCMC supports the review
HCMC's project-controls services include reviewing proposed changes and assessing their cost and schedule consequences. The owner's representative helps organize the information so the board can evaluate the decision instead of managing disconnected conversations.
For projects still being organized, start with project planning and development and a clear scope before bidding. For related reading, see the existing guide below on coordinating multiple repairs.
Related reading: Sequencing multi-repair projects for condos and HOAs.
Have an upcoming condo or HOA repair project? Contact HCMC to discuss owner's representation, project planning and construction oversight in Broward, Palm Beach, Brevard or Hillsborough County.
Prepared for HCMC with AI assistance, using HCMC's published service information and the linked reference. This article provides general construction-management information, not project-specific legal or engineering advice.
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