4.23 Change Orders During Construction

(Adopted 8-25-2008)

A change order is a written order to the contractor signed by the owner and the architect, issued after execution of the contract, authorizing a change in the work or an adjustment in the contract sum or the contract time. Although the general philosophy of the College is to discourage contract adjustments during a project, change orders may result from the following:

  1. Changes in the quality or scope of the project,
  2. Changes resulting from an unforeseen condition, and
  3. Changes due to errors or omissions by the architect or contractor.

Additional costs incurred for time or materials, when unit costs or rates for time or materials are included in the terms of the contract, are not considered change orders for purposes of this Policy.

Procedures (Revised 12-5-2022)

4.23.1  Change orders may be signed by the President of the College only under the following circumstances:

  1. The College President, after discussions with representatives of the project monitoring team, may sign any change order authorizing a change in the work, provided that the contract sum is not increased by more than $20,000 and that contingency funds are available for said change.
  2. A proposed change order shall be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval when the proposed increase in the contract sum exceeds $20,000, or when the contingency funds are insufficient to cover the proposed increase. If approved, the College President or designee is authorized to immediately sign the change order.
  3. In an emergency, such as where there is a threat to life or property, the College President is authorized to immediately sign any change order. In such case, the College President should advise the Board of the circumstances necessitating the change order as soon as practicable.

4.23.2  In processing change order requests, the College President shall attempt to identify situations where a proposed change order may have been caused by an error or omission of the architect or contractor.  In appropriate cases, the College shall endeavor to recover the cost of the change from the responsible party.