Echelon Field Note

What Is a Construction Change Order Audit?

A completed-project change-order audit is a reconciliation exercise: compare what happened in the work with what ultimately reached the commercial and financial record.

In this Field Note, ‘audit’ means a commercial record reconciliation, not an accounting audit or attestation engagement.

It is not just a change-log review

A change log shows what somebody entered into the change process. It does not necessarily show every instance of extra work, field direction, pricing revision, or item that failed to reach the log.

Test the full chain

A useful review traces material change activity through occurrence, documentation, pricing, submission, revision, approval or rejection, contract incorporation, billing, and payment. The specific records vary by contractor and project.

Reconcile across systems

The review becomes useful when it compares sources maintained for different purposes: field records, correspondence, commercial logs, pay applications, invoices, job-cost information, and closeout files.

What the output should tell management

Management should be able to distinguish resolved items, commercially open items, documentation gaps, and matters requiring another professional. A list of documents is not the deliverable; a clear account of the project is.