Change request
Also called CR, change order, variation.
A written request to change the agreed scope of a project, with its effect on cost and timeline agreed before work starts.
Last updated
What it is.
Once a 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 it matters
Change requests are how a project stays flexible without losing control. They turn scope creep into explicit choices. On a fixed-price contract contract they are the only fair way to add scope. On time and materials they keep a record of why the budget moved.
In a product build
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.
Common mistakes.
- 01
Agreeing changes on a call and never writing them down.
- 02
Only pricing the new screens and not the knock-on work in testing, data and integrations.
- 03
Making the process so heavy that people avoid it and changes slip in anyway.
Work it out with a tool.
Related terms.
- Scope creepThe slow growth of what a project must deliver, without a matching change to its time or budget.
- Statement of work (SOW)The document that sets out what a supplier will deliver, by when, for how much, and how the work will be accepted.
- MilestoneA checkpoint in a project where an agreed piece of work is delivered, checked and, often, paid for.
- Fixed-price contractA contract where the price for an agreed scope is set up front.
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