You do not need construction management software, a subscription, or a new app to use the Change Order Field Authorization kit. It was built for the job site: a free PDF reader on the phone in your pocket, a printer if you prefer paper, and either Excel or Google Sheets for the running totals.
What software opens and edits it
The kit arrives as PDFs and one spreadsheet. The flat printable PDFs — US Letter and A4, plus an ink-friendly black-and-white US Letter version — open in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free), Apple Preview, Apple Files on iPhone and iPad, Files by Google on Android, and most modern web browsers. Print a small stack for the clipboard, or use them to read the field script and the filled $800 example before your first real extra.
The fillable PDF is the on-site version. Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) on your phone and tap-type into every field where you stand: the added work, the price lock lines, the new total, the schedule effect, and the signatures. With 137 fillable fields, the whole authorization can be completed and signed on the spot, without walking back to the truck for a printer. Save one copy per change, named by job and change number.
The Change Order Log is an .xlsx file. It works in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, and LibreOffice Calc. Google Sheets is the easiest free option if you do not own Excel: upload the file to Google Drive, open it as a Sheet, and cumulative changes, the new contract total, and percent change calculate automatically as you add rows. Demo data with the $800 wall-cut extra shows the formulas working before you clear it for a live job.
What devices it works on
- iPhone and iPad — fillable PDF in Files or Acrobat Reader on site; log in Google Sheets or Numbers
- Android phones and tablets — fillable PDF in Acrobat Reader; log in Google Sheets
- Windows and Mac desktop — best for printing clipboard copies, filing signed authorizations, and reviewing job totals
- Any home or office printer — US Letter or A4, color or the included ink-friendly black-and-white version
A practical setup is phone-first: the authorization happens on the fillable PDF at the moment of the ask, photos go in the same job folder, and the spreadsheet is updated the same evening so the contract total is never a guess.
What pairs with it
The kit pairs with the documents that define the job: your signed original contract and scope of work (the authorization fences extras apart from that scope — keep them together), before and after photos from the checklist, and your usual invoicing tool, where the logged new total should match what you bill. [Affiliate slot: waterproof jobsite clipboard case] [Affiliate slot: jobsite document scanner app] It also pairs well with a Scope-of-Work Contract Template before day one and a Contractor Stop-Work Notice if payment stops entirely — the three cover before, during, and stuck.
Honest comparison: this kit vs. doing it manually
You can agree an extra with a handshake and a text thread. What you lose is the price lock and the fence. A text rarely separates original scope from added work line by line, rarely states labor, materials, and the new contract total together, and is hard to find at final billing months later. Project management platforms can handle change orders too, but they cost a monthly fee, need the client inside the system, and are slow in the hallway moment when the ask actually happens. This kit does not replace your contract or your accounting — a signed authorization still depends on the contract underneath it. Its job is the narrow one that loses money when it is skipped: a signed, priced record before the extra work starts.
This kit is an organizational tool, not legal advice. Contract rules vary by state and by your written contract — consult an attorney with questions.
Companion guide: Change Order Field Authorization: Sign Before You Cut, Lock the Price, and Get Paid for Every Extra
Get the kit
CONTROL: THREE MINUTES OF PAPERWORK PROTECTS EVERY EXTRA YOU EVER DO. Get the Change Order Field Authorization for $12.95, or find DealShore on Etsy.
Get free sample pages + new kit alerts — email contact@dealshore.com