ASI vs. Proposal Request vs. CCD vs. Change Order

During construction administration, most changes pass through several documents before they reach the contract. A question becomes an instruction, the instruction gets priced, and the price becomes a change order. Each document has one job. Use the wrong one and you either change the contract by accident or leave a change undocumented.

This guide compares the six documents architects handle most: the RFI, the ASI, the proposal request, the contractor's change order request, the construction change directive and the change order.

The short answer

RFI: a question, not a change

An RFI asks the design team to clarify something in the contract documents: a dimension that doesn't close, a detail that conflicts with a specification, a product that is no longer available. The architect answers, often after checking with a consultant.

An RFI answer should never change the contract sum or time on its own. When the answer requires a change, the change goes into its own document, usually an ASI or a proposal request, and the RFI points to it.

ASI: an instruction with no change in cost or time

An ASI gives the contractor additional instructions or interpretations, or orders a minor change in the work, on the understanding that the contract sum and contract time stay the same.

The important part is what happens when the contractor disagrees. If the contractor believes the ASI does affect cost or time, it should say so before acting on it. At that point the ASI has done its job, and the change continues as a proposal request so it can be priced. For more on ASIs, see what an ASI is in construction.

Proposal request: pricing a change before deciding

A proposal request describes a change the owner is considering and asks the contractor to price it, in cost and in time. It is a request for information about a possible change, not an instruction to do the work. The contractor should not proceed on a proposal request alone.

If the owner accepts the proposal, the change moves into a change order. If the owner declines, the proposal request closes and the contract stays as it was.

Change order request: when the contractor starts it

Sometimes the contractor raises the change: concealed conditions behind a wall, a code requirement nobody anticipated, a delay outside its control. The contractor submits a change order request on its own form, with its proposed cost and time.

The owner and architect review it. If they approve it, it becomes a change order. If they reject it, it closes, and the record should say why.

CCD: when the work can't wait

A construction change directive lets the work proceed before the owner and contractor agree on the price or the time. It is used when waiting would cost more than the change itself: an inspection is scheduled, a trade is about to cover up the work, or the site is unsafe.

A CCD takes effect once the owner and architect sign it. The contractor signs only if it agrees with the proposed adjustment. Either way, the CCD is settled later in a change order, once the cost and time are agreed or determined. The full guide covers how a construction change directive works.

Change order: the only document that changes the contract

A change order is the agreement that changes the contract sum, the contract time, or both. It states the original contract sum, the net change from earlier change orders, the sum before this change, the change itself, and the new contract sum. It does the same for time.

A change order is complete only when the owner, the architect and the contractor have all signed it. Until then it should not count toward any total, however certain it looks.

One change order often settles several changes at once. A single CO can close two proposal requests, a contractor's request and a CCD, as long as each of them is listed on it.

How the documents connect

The same change can be traced through the documents:

• Architect's instruction: RFI, then ASI. If the contractor doesn't accept the ASI, a proposal request follows, then a change order.
• Owner's change: proposal request, then change order, or closed if the owner declines.
• Contractor's request: change order request, then change order once the owner and architect approve it.
• Urgent work: CCD first, change order later.

Keeping that chain intact is what lets you answer the owner's question, "why did the contract sum go up?", in a minute instead of an afternoon.

Common mistakes that break the record

• Counting a change order before everyone signs. A workbook that adds a CO to the totals once the owner signs will disagree with the contract as soon as the contractor holds out.
• Putting cost on an ASI. If an instruction changes cost or time, it is not an ASI. Move it to a proposal request.
• Losing the link between documents. When a proposal request doesn't record which change order settled it, the logs can't tell you which changes are still open.
• Retyping the project header. Every form repeats the project, owner, contractor and contract date. Retyping them invites small errors in documents that may end up in a dispute.

Keeping it in one record

Agradium keeps each of these documents in its own log and links them as one change, from the first question to the signed change order. Contract sums carry forward from one change order to the next, and a change order counts toward the totals only when all three parties have signed. If you'd like to see how that works on a project, request a demo.

AIA document numbers are used here to identify the forms. Agradium is not affiliated with or endorsed by the American Institute of Architects.