Can a contractor be paid for a change before a change order exists?

Under the AIA owner-contractor agreement and the design-builder agreement filed with the SEC, applications for payment may include changes properly authorized by directives or interim determinations but not yet included in change orders. We would track each one until a change order covers it.

Who can issue a minor change in the work?

The AIA owner-contractor agreement lets the Architect alone issue one, and the 2026 abbreviated form gives that authority to the Owner's Representative, in both cases only without a change in contract sum or time. Under the 2026 form, a contractor who believes the change affects sum or time submits an RFCO.

Change event to change order: who signs

Q: Does the time impact have to travel with the cost request?

In Document A133, 2009 edition, requests for changes to the Contract Sum will simultaneously include, if applicable, any request for change of the Contract Time to the extent the delay and its critical-path effect are known. Otherwise supplemental information is due within five days of when it becomes known.

Map the approval path by instrument, not by habit. A change event should become a change order only when the parties the contract names agree on cost and time. A construction change directive can move work and payment ahead of that agreement. A minor change skips it only when the contract sum and time stay put. We would give every change event one owner and one record until a change order closes it. This rests on standard-form owner-contractor, construction manager and design-builder agreements filed with the SEC.

Where does a change event stall before it is a change order?

A field change, an RFI answer or an owner instruction creates cost exposure long before anyone signs. The exposure sits in a change log, an email thread or a superintendent’s notes. Project controls cannot tell which items are priced, which are directed and which are only discussed. A Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Design-Builder filed with the SEC lists Change Events, Client (Contract) Change Orders and Commitment Change Orders (Subs/Vendors) as separate headings in its change management section. The AIA owner-contractor agreement filed with the SEC sets a GMP of $70,515,823, subject to additions and deductions by Change Order. Costs that would cause it to be exceeded are paid by the Contractor without reimbursement. An event that never reaches an approved change order is exposure someone carries.

Who signs which instrument?

The AIA owner-contractor agreement states that a Change Order shall be based upon agreement among the Owner, Contractor and Architect. A Construction Change Directive requires agreement by the Owner and Architect and may or may not be agreed to by the Contractor. An order for a minor change may be issued by the Architect alone, provided there is no change in the Contract Price or Contract Time. The same agreement says the Architect will prepare Change Orders and Construction Change Directives. A Standard Abbreviated Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor dated January 2026 gives minor-change authority to the Owner’s Representative. If the Contractor believes a proposed minor change will affect the Contract Sum or Contract Time, it shall notify the Owner’s Representative in writing and submit a Request for Change Order (RFCO).

Where can the path be bypassed?

Payment is the first gap. The AIA owner-contractor agreement says applications for payment may include changes properly authorized by Construction Change Directives, or by interim determinations of the Architect, but not yet included in Change Orders. The design-builder agreement states the same for Change Directives and interim determinations of the Owner. It adds that Change Orders may be issued for all or any part of a Change Directive. This means a directive can be billed against while part of it stays open.

Time is the second gap. Document A133, 2009 edition, an Owner and Construction Manager as Constructor agreement filed with the SEC, says requests for changes to the Contract Sum will simultaneously include, if applicable, any request for change of the Contract Time, to the extent the delay and its critical-path effect are known. If not known, the Contractor shall furnish supplemental information within five days of when it becomes known. A cost request that leaves its time notice behind often returns as a claim.

Which instrument should a change event become?

The choice depends on whether price and time are agreed, disputed or unchanged. Under the design-builder agreement, the Owner and Design-Builder execute the Change Order once they agree.

Which instrument should a change event become?
Option	We would choose it when	What we would check first
Change order	All named parties agree on sum and time	Time request attached, contract form used
Change directive	Work must proceed before price is agreed	Owner and architect sign-off, a conversion date
Minor change	No change to contract sum or time	No RFCO raised by the contractor
Hold as change event	Scope or cause still unclear	One owner, an RFI reference, an estimate

What to do this quarter

Pull every open change event, directive and change order request into one register with one owner each.
Name the signatories per contract form, including who may issue minor changes.
Measure the age of each directive billed against but not yet converted to a change order.
Check that each cost request carries its time request, or a dated note for supplemental information where the contract uses the A133 language.
Match commitment change orders for subs and vendors to the client change order they depend on, and test markups against caps such as the 20% overhead and fee ceiling in the A133 agreement filed with the SEC.

What this means for a bottleneck worth $1M or more

When change exposure across a portfolio sits in logs nobody reconciles, change handling is worth redesigning as one domain within project information operations. Rules handle the predictable steps: which instrument, which signatories, which form. AI reads the messy inputs, such as RFI answers, field notes and subcontractor quotes, and drafts the change record. People approve every change order, directive and claim, and AI never decides alone. For EPC and engineering firms, this is the work of change capture from event to approved change order.

Limits of this evidence

These are contract forms filed with the SEC, not records of how projects ran. They show who may sign and what may be paid, not how often directives stay unconverted or how long approvals take. Each filing reflects one negotiated agreement, and markups, deadlines and signatories differ by form and project. They say nothing about software or about results from changing the approval path.