Change management end to end

Every construction project changes. The owner's problem is not change itself but change that arrives late, unpriced and undocumented, so that the final account becomes an argument. CCDC 2-2020 gives owners a complete toolkit in GC 6.1 to 6.6: who can order a change, how it is priced, what happens when price cannot be agreed in time, and how concealed conditions, delays and claims are handled. This lesson walks the whole path, from the first site question to the signed Change Order, on one Northgate example.

Learning outcomes

• Choose the right instrument for a change: Supplemental Instruction, Change Order or Change Directive.
• Explain how a Change Directive is valued and paid under GC 6.3, and when it becomes a Change Order.
• Apply the notice rules for concealed conditions (GC 6.4), delays (GC 6.5) and claims (GC 6.6).
• Run a change log that feeds the owner's cost report and schedule review.

The lesson

Only two ways to change the Work

GC 6.1 gives the Owner the right to change the Work, acting through the Consultant, by Change Order or Change Directive, and to change the Contract Time by Change Order. It also says the contractor may not perform a change without one of the two. That second rule protects the owner as much as the contractor. An instruction from the owner's facility manager to a subtrade on site is not a change; it is an invitation to a dispute.

A third document is often confused with them. The Consultant's Supplemental Instruction, issued under GC 2.2.12, clarifies or adds detail consistent with the intent of the Contract Documents but cannot change the Contract Price or Contract Time. If the contractor thinks an instruction does change price or time, the answer is a change through GC 6.1 to 6.3, not an argument about the label. Lesson 17 covers Supplemental Instructions in detail.

Change Order: agree first, then build

Under GC 6.2, when a change is proposed or required, the Consultant gives the contractor a written description of it. The contractor promptly proposes the adjustment to price and time, or the method of working them out, in a form the Consultant can evaluate. Once the parties agree, the adjustment takes effect and is recorded in a Change Order signed by the Owner and Contractor; the value then goes into the next payment application. Most changes should follow this route. It is the only one where the owner knows the price before the work is done.

Change Directive: build first, agree later

Sometimes the work cannot wait for agreement. GC 6.3 lets the Owner, through the Consultant, direct the contractor to proceed before price and time are agreed. The limits matter. A Change Directive covers only changes within the general scope of the Contract, cannot be used for a change in time alone, and should not bundle unrelated changes. The contractor must start promptly once it receives it.

The price adjustment is the net change in the contractor's actual cost, plus the percentage fee in the Contract Documents on a net increase. GC 6.3.7 lists what counts as cost, from labour and products to field office costs, subcontract amounts and permit fees, and the 2020 edition tightened it to costs that contribute directly to carrying out the directive [3]. The contractor must keep full, detailed cost records, the owner may audit them, and the undisputed value can be included in monthly progress payments while the rest is settled. Disagreement over the time adjustment goes to the Consultant for a finding. When price and time are agreed, a Change Order records them.

Concealed conditions, delays and claims

GC 6.4. A party that finds physical conditions below ground or concealed in existing structures that differ materially from the Contract Documents, or from what is ordinarily found, must give Notice in Writing before disturbing them and within 5 Working Days of first observing them. The Consultant investigates and gives a finding; if cost or time is affected, the Owner proceeds through GC 6.2 or 6.3.

GC 6.5. Delay caused by the Owner, the Consultant or those they are responsible for extends the Contract Time and entitles the contractor to reasonable costs. Delay from a stop-work order by a court or public authority, not caused by the contractor, is treated similarly. Delay from causes beyond the contractor's control, such as labour disputes, fire, unusual delay by common carriers or abnormally adverse weather, earns time but not cost. In each case the Consultant must receive Notice in Writing within 10 Working Days after the delay starts.

GC 6.6. A party that intends to claim a change in Contract Price must give timely Notice in Writing, mitigate, keep records, and submit a detailed account within a reasonable time, with interim accounts for continuing events. The Consultant has 30 Working Days to give findings unless the parties agree otherwise; disputes then go to Part 8. GC 6.6 sets no fixed number of days for the first notice, which is why many owners' Supplementary Conditions add one [4].

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) is a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario, built by Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) under CCDC 2-2020, with Ridgeline Architects Inc. (fictional) as Consultant. See the Northgate fact sheet. The change below, CO-001, is illustrative and is the largest item in the change log used in lesson 14.

Soft soils at grid lines C to D

On Tuesday April 20, 2027, Halvorsen's excavation crew finds soft, wet clay below the design bearing level at the footings on grid lines C to D. The superintendent stops work in that area and records it in the daily log with photographs. Halvorsen gives Notice in Writing the next day, well inside the 5 Working Days of GC 6.4, and before disturbing the condition further.

Ridgeline and the owner's geotechnical engineer inspect on April 22 and find the condition materially different from the geotechnical report included in the Contract Documents. Ridgeline issues a revised footing detail, over-excavation and engineered fill, with a request for price under GC 6.2.1. Halvorsen quotes $214,000 on April 26. The owner's representative's estimate is closer to $170,000, and the footings sit on the path to M4, foundations and slab complete, on May 14. Waiting to negotiate would cost float the job may need later.

So on April 27 the owner signs Change Directive CD-001, prepared by Ridgeline, and Halvorsen proceeds at actual cost plus its fee. The owner's representative counts crews and equipment on site every day and initials Halvorsen's daily cost sheets, which is far easier than reconstructing them later. Halvorsen's April 30 application includes the value of the directive work that neither side disputes. Footings are complete by May 5, and M4 is met on May 14 using float.

With the costs documented, the parties agree $186,400 and no change to the Contract Time. Change Order CO-001 is signed on June 11 and closes CD-001. The money comes from the owner's contingency, which is exactly what it is for.

The change log

Every change, from first notice to signed Change Order, lives in one log with an ID, description, trigger (owner request, design issue, concealed condition), instrument, status, dates, value and time effect. By the end of August 2027 Northgate's log holds three approved Change Orders and two pending changes (Figure 3).

View the data

Change	Status	Value
CO-001 Soft soils, grid C-D	Approved	$186,400
CO-003 Overflow scuppers	Approved	$72,000
CO-002 EV charger rough-ins	Approved	$48,600
PCO-004 Dock leveller upgrade	Pending	$96,000
PCO-005 Sprinkler head moves	Pending	$54,000
Total approved		$307,000
Total pending		$150,000

Illustrative, excl. HST, as at August 31, 2027.

Owner's move

• Route every instruction through the Consultant. No change without a Change Order or Change Directive, and say so at the kickoff.
• Set turnaround targets. Days for the contractor to price, the Consultant to review and the owner to decide, tracked in the log.
• Use Change Directives when time matters, not to avoid negotiation. Then track cost daily and convert promptly.
• Add a notice period to GC 6.6. A fixed number of days in the Supplementary Conditions removes the argument over "timely".
• Feed the log into the cost report and schedule review every month. Pending changes are part of the forecast, and time effects belong in the update.

Common mistakes

1. Owner staff instructing trades directly. It creates changes with no instrument, no price and no record.
2. Leaving Change Directives open for months. The cost record goes cold, payment is delayed and the final number becomes a negotiation; WeirFoulds has warned that this pattern breeds litigation [6].
3. Bundling unrelated work into one directive. GC 6.3 does not allow it, and it makes the cost record unusable.
4. Using a Supplemental Instruction for real scope. If it changes price or time, it invites a claim.
5. Ignoring missed notices. Keep a record of when notices arrived, or did not; it matters if the change becomes a claim.

Quick quiz

1. The owner needs the work to start now but has not agreed the price. Which instrument fits?

   1. Supplemental Instruction
   2. Change Order
   3. Change Directive
   4. Field review report

2. Which of these cannot be done with a Change Directive under GC 6.3?

   1. Add work within the general scope
   2. Change the Contract Time only
   3. Delete part of the Work
   4. Proceed before price is agreed

3. Under GC 6.4, when must notice of a concealed condition be given?

   1. Within 30 days
   2. Before disturbing it and within 5 Working Days of first observing it
   3. At the next OAC meeting
   4. With the next payment application

4. Abnormally adverse weather delays Northgate's roof. Under GC 6.5, Halvorsen is entitled to:

   1. Time and cost
   2. Cost only
   3. Time but not cost, if notice is given
   4. Nothing

5. How is work under a Change Directive paid while the final price is open?

   1. Not until the Change Order is signed
   2. The undisputed value is included in progress payments
   3. The contractor's quotation is paid in full
   4. From the cash allowances

Show answers and explanations

1. C. A Change Directive lets work proceed before price and time are agreed.
2. B. GC 6.3 does not allow a Change Directive for a change in Contract Time alone.
3. B. GC 6.4 requires Notice in Writing before the condition is disturbed and within 5 Working Days.
4. C. Causes beyond the contractor's control earn time; costs are recoverable only when the Owner, Consultant or their people caused the delay.
5. B. GC 6.3 allows the undisputed value to be included in progress payments until the amount is settled.

Key terms

Change Order

A written amendment, prepared by the Consultant and signed by Owner and Contractor, recording an agreed change and its price and time adjustment.

Change Directive

A written instruction, prepared by the Consultant and signed by the Owner, to proceed with a change before its adjustment is agreed.

Supplemental Instruction

A Consultant's instruction consistent with the Contract Documents that does not change price or time.

Concealed or unknown conditions

Physical conditions that differ materially from the Contract Documents or from what is ordinarily found, handled under GC 6.4.

Notice in Writing

A written communication delivered as the Agreement requires; the trigger for most time limits in Part 6.

Change log

The single register of every potential and approved change, with status, dates, value and time effect.

References

1. Canadian Construction Documents Committee, CCDC 2-2020 Stipulated Price Contract, Definitions, GC 2.2.12 and GC 6.1 to 6.6. Clause content checked against a publicly posted tender copy; buy the form from CCDC.
2. Clark Wilson LLP, Changes in the contract work: CCDC 2's General Condition 6 (2006; earlier edition, background only).
3. Clark Wilson LLP, What's new in Canadian construction contracting: new CCDC 2-2020 stipulated price contract (March 2022).
4. BC Construction Association, Member Advisory: Providing Notice in Writing (undated, posted 2025).
5. Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP, New CCDC 2 construction contract: important changes from 2008 to 2020 (February 2022).
6. WeirFoulds LLP, Using change directives to delay compensation and adjustments to the project schedule (December 2017).

Verified on November 6, 2026.

Next lesson in this trackSite instructions, field reports, daily logs