{"head":{"title":"What Is a Change Request in a Software Project? | OceanLab","description":"A change request is the written way to add, remove or alter agreed scope, with its effect on cost and dates. What goes in one, an example and mistakes.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/glossary/change-request"},"crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"Glossary","path":"/glossary"},{"name":"change request","path":"/glossary/change-request"}],"slug":"change-request","term":"Change request","aka":["CR","change order","variation"],"category":"Buying software","short":"A written request to change the agreed scope of a project, with its effect on cost and timeline agreed before work starts.","body":[["Once a ",{"href":"/glossary/statement-of-work","text":"statement of work"}," or milestone plan is signed, any change to it goes through a change request. It says what changes, why, what it costs, how it moves the dates, and what it affects that is already built."],["Both sides sign it before the new work starts. Small teams often keep it to a short form or a ticket; what matters is that the decision is written down."]],"why":["Change requests are how a project stays flexible without losing control. They turn ",{"href":"/glossary/scope-creep","text":"scope creep"}," into explicit choices. On a ",{"href":"/glossary/fixed-price","text":"fixed-price contract"}," contract they are the only fair way to add scope. On ",{"href":"/glossary/time-and-materials","text":"time and materials"}," they keep a record of why the budget moved."],"example":["Midway through a marketplace build, the client wants sellers to offer discount codes. The team writes a change request: three extra screens, changes to checkout and payouts, five more days, and the launch date moves by a week. The client approves it and the work goes into the next milestone."],"inBuild":["On a milestone-billed build, a change request either adds a new milestone or changes an existing one, so the payment schedule and the sign-off checks stay accurate."],"mistakes":[["Agreeing changes on a call and never writing them down."],["Only pricing the new screens and not the knock-on work in testing, data and integrations."],["Making the process so heavy that people avoid it and changes slip in anyway."]],"related":[{"href":"/glossary/scope-creep","label":"Scope creep","detail":"The slow growth of what a project must deliver, without a matching change to its time or budget."},{"href":"/glossary/statement-of-work","label":"Statement of work (SOW)","detail":"The document that sets out what a supplier will deliver, by when, for how much, and how the work will be accepted."},{"href":"/glossary/milestone","label":"Milestone","detail":"A checkpoint in a project where an agreed piece of work is delivered, checked and, often, paid for."},{"href":"/glossary/fixed-price","label":"Fixed-price contract","detail":"A contract where the price for an agreed scope is set up front."}],"tools":[{"href":"/tools/change-request-template","label":"Change request template","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/sow-template","label":"SOW template","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/fixed-vs-time-materials","label":"Fixed price vs time and materials","detail":"Free tool"}],"links":[{"href":"/software","label":"Software by industry","detail":"Systems we build per industry, with guides and tools."},{"href":"/embedded-engineers","label":"Embedded engineers","detail":"OceanLab engineers working inside your team."}],"sources":[],"legal":false,"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"}