01
Gather the change facts
Put the contract boundary, cause, revised work, pricing support, and field status in one fact set.
Made for General Contractors
Prepare for the Change Order Talk
25 min
Intermediate
Difficult Conversations
Prepare for a Conversation
Difficult Conversation
Walk into a change order discussion with the facts, tradeoffs, talking points, and approval request organized.
We'll use them to write your prompt.
Completed ✓
Make Your Play
Give us the situation. We’ll build the prompt.
Prepare a firm, clear change order conversation without burying the owner in detail or making unsupported promises about cost and timing.
Your answers save as you type.
What you'll do
This is the plan inside your prompt. Add your details first. Then follow these steps with ChatGPT or Claude.
02
Test the impacts and options
Check whether each price, schedule statement, and proposed option is supported and workable.
03
Build the conversation plan
Turn the verified facts into talking points, responses to pushback, an approval ask, and a written closeout.
Make Your Play
Prepare for the Change Order Talk
Tell us what the prompt needs to know
Start with the questions below. Each answer personalizes the playbook and builds the prompt you’ll use at the end.
Your situation
Describe the project, current phase, people in the conversation, relevant contract terms, and what has happened so far.
0/10000
State what caused the change, what evidence supports that account, and any disagreement about responsibility.
0/10000
List the added, removed, or revised work and explain how it differs from the original scope.
0/10000
Enter the price, estimate status, quote basis, markup, exclusions, and any cost that remains uncertain.
0/10000
Describe affected activities, expected delay, decision deadline, and any steps that could reduce the impact.
0/10000
List realistic options, their tradeoffs, the exact decision needed, and who can authorize it.
0/10000
This playbook was updated. Review your inputs before copying.
What you'll do
Check a step when you finish it.
01
Gather the change facts
Put the contract boundary, cause, revised work, pricing support, and field status in one fact set.
02
Test the impacts and options
Check whether each price, schedule statement, and proposed option is supported and workable.
03
Build the conversation plan
Turn the verified facts into talking points, responses to pushback, an approval ask, and a written closeout.
Fill in the fields above to generate your prompt preview.
Assembled prompt
Beginner instructions
Gather the latest scope, pricing, schedule, and correspondence before starting. Mark estimates as estimates, and separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Replace contract language with plain wording, but keep the original document available for reference.
Advanced instructions
Pressure-test the plan against the contract notice process, subcontractor quotes, critical path, allowances, exclusions, and authorization limits. Adjust the options so each one can actually be executed in the field.
Use this when
You have a pending or disputed project change and need to discuss its cause, scope, price, schedule effect, and approval with an owner or client.
You'll need
- Project context
- Cause of the change
- Changed scope
- Cost impact
- Schedule impact
- Options and approval
You'll get
- The change cause and scope boundary clearly stated
- Confirmed facts separated from disputed points and assumptions
- Cost and schedule effects tied to available support
- At least one workable path forward with clear tradeoffs
- The required decision, approver, approval method, and deadline identified
- A same-day written follow-up ready to send.
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- The change cause and scope boundary clearly stated
- Confirmed facts separated from disputed points and assumptions
- Cost and schedule effects tied to available support
- At least one workable path forward with clear tradeoffs
- The required decision, approver, approval method, and deadline identified
- A same-day written follow-up ready to send.
Examples
Progress 1 of 3