Change request (change order)
A formal request to change agreed scope, with its own estimate of cost and time, that both sides approve before the work starts.
In a fixed price contract every new idea goes through it, which is how a cheap bid becomes an expensive project: vendors sometimes price low and earn on change requests. In construction and US contracting the same thing is a change order. A light process keeps scope creep visible without blocking small fixes: a short form, an estimate, a yes or no, and a running log.
Related terms
- Scope creep: Small additions that each seem reasonable and together blow the budget and the date.
- Fixed price: A contract where scope and price are agreed up front and the vendor carries the risk.
- MSA and SOW (master services agreement, statement of work): The master services agreement sets the legal terms once; each statement of work adds one project: scope, deliverables, timeline and price.
- UAT (user acceptance testing) and sign-off: The final check where the buyer’s own users test the delivered software against agreed criteria and formally accept it, which often triggers payment.
