1. Keep a clear baseline before discussing an extra
A customer asks, “Could you paint the other wall while you are here?” Start by opening the scope they already received. Confirm whether the wall is excluded, whether another item is being removed and which version everyone is discussing.
Record the estimate reference, version, date and the specific request. Do not overwrite the only copy of the original document. You need to see how the proposed work changed, especially when several conversations happen across a Texas service area or with different property contacts.
This is an operational recordkeeping method for small jobs. It does not establish what a contract requires or whether a message creates a legally binding change order.
2. Describe the change so someone else could locate it
Use the surface name, dimensions, photo reference and requested result. “Add east bedroom wall, two specified coats, including listed preparation” is easier to estimate than “extra painting.” Identify the reason as a customer request, an inspected condition or a product substitution, without assigning blame.
A useful documentation example comes from TxDOT's change-order guidance: its process records the purpose, reason, location and method of a change alongside cost and time considerations. Those public-project procedures do not govern this private-job example; the transferable lesson is to describe a change precisely.
Keep a requested change separate from an approved instruction in your records. A question about an option is not automatically a direction to perform it.
3. Check whether a local condition changes the sequence
Some requests change more than quantity. On a historically designated Austin property, an exterior alteration may require review; the city's historic review page distinguishes that work from routine maintenance and notes that changes after approval can require another review. Confirm the property-specific position before promising an altered exterior finish.
Weather may instead change timing without changing the requested surface. Use the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio office for current planning information on jobs in that region, and the appropriate local forecast elsewhere in Texas.
Record which issue you actually have: added scope, a changed specification or a scheduling update. Rain in the forecast is not, by itself, a new customer instruction or an automatic additional charge.
4. Show additions, credits and the new total
Consider an invented painting estimate with a $1,000 selling price. The customer requests another surface and removes one previously included item. After assessing the work, you propose an additional $320 and a $120 credit.
| Entry | Selling amount |
|---|---|
| Original estimate | $1,000 |
| Added, specifically described work | +$320 |
| Removed work | −$120 |
| Net adjustment | +$200 |
| Revised selling total | $1,200 |
The customer should be able to see both the $200 change and the $1,200 revised total. State whether any applicable separately stated amounts are affected. Do not present the revised total as the amount currently due; billing and payments are separate records.
5. Recheck the costs behind the adjustment
Assume the original direct cost was $750. The added work costs $240: five labor hours at an invented $32 loaded hourly cost, plus $60 of materials and $20 of other job costs. Removing the old item saves $70 in actual remaining costs. Some setup is still needed for the rest of the job.
$750 + $240 − $70 = $920
At the proposed $1,200 selling total, $280 remains before overhead and other expenses, a gross margin of about 23.33%. The original $1,000 price on $750 cost had a 25% gross margin. A tidy-looking adjustment did not preserve the original percentage.
Review that result before presenting the final proposal. The markup and margin guide shows the formulas. Credits should reflect the proposed commercial change, while your cost sheet tracks the costs actually removed; those amounts are not automatically identical.
6. Give the customer one decision to make
Estimate SAMPLE-024, proposed revision 2: add the east bedroom wall work listed below for $320 and remove the listed closet work for a $120 credit. Net change: $200. Revised estimate total: $1,200. The added work changes the planned labor allowance; we will confirm the revised sequence and available completion window with you before proceeding.
Replace the sample with the exact scope and a realistic timing explanation. Identify the person designated by the customer to review the proposal. Keep their response with the version they reviewed, using your normal business process.
If the request remains undecided, do not silently include it in the crew's task list. Clarify which existing work can continue independently and which work must wait for a decision.
7. Carry the same version into the job record
Once the next step is confirmed, make sure the crew, customer contact and billing record refer to the same scope. Keep completed, removed and pending items distinguishable. At handoff, compare the actual work with the latest agreed version.
Use the contractor estimate checklist for the revised document, and review estimate versus invoice before billing. Clear records make it easier to explain the job without trying to reconstruct a string of short messages weeks later.
Sources and further reading
About this article
Prepared for the Quote Your Jobs blog. Worked examples use illustrative assumptions, not customer case studies or local market rates. Replace them with the actual scope, supplier information and costs for your job.
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