The Change-Order Notice Protocol
As soon as a scope change is identified, send a change-order notice to the fabricator and GC before any work begins. The notice should: identify the triggering document (addendum number, EOR design change letter, RFI response), describe the additional scope, estimate the additional fee and schedule impact, and request written authorization to proceed. Proceeding without a notice is proceeding without a contract modification — and the work may not be compensated.
Time Log for Revision Work
Keep time records on revision work separately from original scope. A time log entry should identify: the project, the date, the specific revision being worked on, the driving document, the member or drawing affected, and the hours spent. This detail level transforms a general 'revision work' claim into a traceable, auditable record of specific effort. Most disputes over revision fees are settled in favor of the party with the better records.
Drawing Count Before and After
For addendum-driven revisions, count the number of drawings affected before and after the revision is incorporated. The difference — additional drawings, additional revision cycles — is the basis for the fee. A change that touches 45 drawings at $X per drawing is a provable claim. A general statement that 'the revision took a lot of time' is not. Document the drawing count in the change-order notice and confirm it after the work is complete.
Schedule Impact Documentation
Revision-related costs are not limited to direct labor and materials. When a revision delays the delivery of shop drawings that are on the critical path to fabrication, the schedule impact is also compensable — but only if it is documented. Record the date the revision was received, the number of business days required to incorporate it, the drawing package that was delayed, and the fabrication start date impact caused by that delay. If the revision delayed a package by five business days and that package was on the critical path to a $200,000 fabrication release, the schedule cost dwarfs the detailing cost. Present this schedule impact narrative in the change-order notice alongside the fee estimate, referencing the project schedule baseline that was in place when detailing began.
Escalation Documentation for Disputed Revisions
When the fabricator or GC disputes a change-order notice — claiming the revision is a correction rather than a scope change — the response protocol is straightforward: produce the document trail. The change-order notice cites the triggering document (addendum number and date). The time log shows the specific hours worked after the triggering document was received, not before. The drawing count shows the scope of the change. If the dispute continues, escalate to a formal written claim citing the contract scope language and the triggering document. Projects managed on Procore or CMiC have submittals and RFI logs that provide a timestamped record of when information was received — this is often the most objective evidence in a disputed revision claim.
- Triggering document: addendum number, date, and affected drawing sheets
- Pre-revision scope: drawings previously completed at what revision level
- Post-revision scope: drawings requiring revision and what changed
- Hours worked on revision: from time log, by date and detailer
- Drawing revision issues: new drawing revisions issued and their dates
- Schedule impact: days from revision receipt to revised drawings issued
Establishing a Revision Allowance in the Original Contract
The most efficient approach to revision cost management is to anticipate it contractually. A well-structured steel detailing contract includes a defined revision allowance — a specified number of drawing revision rounds included in the base fee, with additional rounds priced at a per-round rate or per-drawing rate. For a typical mid-size commercial project, an allowance of two submittal cycles and one addendum revision round is reasonable. When that allowance is consumed, additional revision work is billed at the change-order rate established in the contract. This structure eliminates the dispute about whether a given revision is included or extra: the contract defines the included allowance, and any work beyond it is by definition additional scope. AISC CoSP does not dictate revision allowances — these are purely contractual terms negotiated at project kickoff.
How Tectonix Documents Revision Costs
At Tectonix, every scope change triggers a written change-order notice issued through the project's document management system before work begins. We maintain separate time logs for revision work by project, with daily entries referencing the specific triggering document and affected drawing numbers. Drawing counts are confirmed at the start and end of each revision cycle and included in the final change-order invoice with supporting detail. Our U.S.-based project managers review all change-order notices before issuance to confirm the triggering document classification is accurate — a correction is never billed as a change order, and a design change is never absorbed as a correction. This discipline protects both the project budget and the client relationship over the full project lifecycle.