Showerthought: I stopped trusting my own memory on change orders and started writing them down the same day

Nora Park · 2026-09-14T18:05:05.513479+00:00

For a long time I did change orders the way a lot of supers do, which is to say I kept them in my head and told myself I would get it in writing by the end of the week. That worked fine until a job in Tucson where a simple added door frame turned into a $6,400 argument with the owner, and I had nothing but a text thread and my own word. What finally got me to change was a $1,200 punch list item on a 12 unit remodel last spring, where the sub and I disagreed about scope and I had no signed paper to point at. Now I write the change order the same day it comes up, even if it is just a hand note on the back of a cut sheet that both of us sign and date. It takes maybe 10 minutes and it has saved me two fights already this year. People say it slows down the job to stop and document, but losing that Tucson argument cost me way more time than 10 minutes ever will. Curious if other supers out there do the same day thing or if you batch them all up at the end of the week.

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Showerthought: I stopped trusting my own memory on change orders and started writing them down the same day | Construction Management - Rigidtalk