Keep small additions from becoming invisible work
“While you are here, could you also…” is an ordinary customer request. The difficulty begins when a friendly conversation changes the work without changing the record, price or schedule.
Give the team a way to respond that preserves the relationship and the commercial boundary. They should be able to acknowledge the request without promising that it is included.
We can look at that. I need to check the work and any effect on price or timing before we confirm it. I will record the request and come back with the options.
Capture the change when it happens
Record who requested it, what changes from the agreed scope, the reason, the price effect, the schedule effect and any dependencies. Attach the relevant photo, drawing or written description. Name the authorized decision-maker.
Distinguish requested, assessed, approved, declined and completed. A request is not approval. A verbal discussion about an option is not necessarily agreement to proceed.
For a change that should be included in the original price, record that too. “No extra charge” still needs a description so the team knows what has changed and the business can learn what effort it absorbed.
Connect approval to delivery and billing
Use the approval process required by the agreement and local rules. Tell the delivery team which version to follow. Update the schedule, purchasing and invoice preparation as appropriate. Keep declined options visible so they do not accidentally get delivered.
Do not treat a digital signature or a saved message as a guarantee against disputes. Clear records support a shared understanding; the agreement and applicable rules still matter. If immediate safety concerns arise, handle them through the appropriate safety process and obtain specialist advice where needed.
Review why extra work appears
Some changes reflect a customer's new preference. Others reveal missing discovery, unclear scope or a task you repeatedly forget to price. Treat those causes differently.
After a job, ask which changes could have been anticipated and which were genuinely new. Update your assessment or quote template when you see a repeated omission.
The end-of-day check: are there any requested or completed additions that have not reached the project record? It is much easier to clarify a small change while everyone remembers the conversation than to reconstruct it when the final invoice surprises the customer.
The change request and approval record
Use this whenever the requested work differs from the agreed scope. Keep requested changes visible until they are assessed, approved, declined or withdrawn.
- Project and customer: [write here]
- Original quote reference and version: [write here]
- Change reference and date: [write here]
- Requested by: [name and role]
What is changing
- Original agreed work: [brief description]
- Requested change: [specific description with drawing or photo reference]
- Reason and important constraints: [write here]
Assessment
- Additional or reduced price: [amount and applicable tax treatment]
- Effect on dates, duration or sequence: [write here]
- Dependencies and assumptions: [write here]
- Any effect on existing work or other suppliers: [write here]
- Valid until or review required by: [date if relevant]
Decision and action
- Authorized customer decision-maker: [name and role]
- Decision: [approved, declined, clarification needed or withdrawn]
- Evidence of decision through the agreed method: [reference and date]
- Delivery record updated by: [name and date]
- Schedule and purchasing updated by: [name and date]
- Invoice handoff completed by: [name and date]
Final check: the team knows which version to deliver, the customer knows the effect and invoicing knows what was approved. If the change has no price effect, record that explicitly rather than leaving the field ambiguous.
This record organizes the information. Use the approval and variation provisions appropriate to your agreement and local rules; it is not a substitute for them.