Almost everyone who’s built a custom home has met the change order — an industry practice that’s been around for about a century and exists to protect both homeowner and builder. Bob, HomeWrights’ owner, puts it plainly: “The change order process basically protects both the home owner and the builder from runaway costs or runaway changes.” It’s not a punishment; it’s a tool to keep surprises from becoming disasters.
Why Surprises Happen on Every Build
No amount of planning captures every reality on site. Sometimes excavation turns up a 100 year old dairy barn foundation three feet down that must be removed, and sometimes an owner, standing in a nearly framed living room, decides a much larger window is needed to frame Pikes Peak. Bob says it simply: “Stuff happens. We learn. We discover surprises. Our tastes change. New products become available.” Those moments change the scope of work and the schedule, and change orders formalize the adjustments.
The Typical Way of Handling Change Orders
With many builders, changes flow through a formal administrative process: you submit a request, a fee is assessed for processing, vendors and engineers are consulted, and approvals precede the work. That administrative layer is real work, and Bob warns about the math: “Just 20 changes at $250 per change can start to add up.” The process protects the project, but it can also slow things down and increase cost in ways owners don’t always expect.
HomeWrights’ Change Orders Process
HomeWrights takes a different tack. For clients who choose the owner builder path, the owner becomes the project manager and drives changes directly, and HomeWrights does not charge a change order processing fee. “HomeWrights clients do not pay a change order fee. Period!” Bob says. The owner still checks feasibility with HomeWrights, but then coordinates with the framer, engineer, architect, and vendor, orders the materials, and updates plans — removing the extra administrative layer.
When owners are empowered to coordinate changes, decisions move faster and often cost less because there’s no middleman fee or extra paperwork backlog. You talk with the framer, the window vendor, or the engineer and set the change in motion. HomeWrights stays involved for technical guidance and permitting, and if an owner decides to reverse a big decision, Bob makes it clear they’ll be supported: “If they want to back the train all the way to the station, well…we might discourage it, and we might try to help them find another way, but if that’s what they want, we’re going to help them do it.”
Not everyone wants to be an owner builder, and HomeWrights offers turnkey construction with a non traditional fee structure that likewise avoids per change administrative fees. That means whether you want to be hands on or prefer full service, you won’t be surprised by a stack of small processing charges every time you make a reasonable change.
A Simple Decision
Change orders are not the enemy; they’re the mechanism that lets projects adapt to reality. As Bob asks: “The question is, who are you gonna pay?” Think early about whether you want to manage changes directly or have your builder do it, and choose a partner whose fee structure matches how you want control, speed, and cost to be handled. HomeWrights’ approach shifts the conversation from paying for paperwork to focusing on the choices that make your home yours.
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