ArtBuild template ArtBuild checklist · All of Canada
Change order dispute checklist
Find exactly what is disputed: scope, authority, quantity or price.
- Version
- 2026.1
- Last updated
- October 24, 2026
Prepared by ArtBuild to help you organise your paperwork. It is general information, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Check the rules for your province or territory before you act.
Part of the Change Orders and Extra Work Kit: start with its guide, and download the whole kit there.
Locate the exact disagreement
Work through one change ID at a time. A disagreement may concern scope, authority, valuation, quantity, timing or payment allocation. Separating these questions makes a factual response possible without deciding legal entitlement automatically.
- Project contract change ID and revision
- Dispute received date and original record
- Requested approved and disputed amounts
- Reviewer and next internal target
- Identify the original contract scope and governing document version.
- Record the proposed change and any omission or substitution.
- Identify the instruction giver and evidence of authority.
- Keep requests, approvals, objections and verbal confirmations in sequence.
- Separate price approval from approval of work method or access.
- Record completed quantity, invoice and payment status independently.
Reconcile evidence before escalation
- Recalculate quantity times rate, overhead base, markup base and tax.
- Check duplicate tickets, superseded estimates and labour included in subcontract charges.
- Keep negative adjustments linked to the original item.
- Compare schedule impact to activity dependencies and concurrent events.
- Request specific missing documents and identify contrary evidence.
- Check notice, invoice and dispute clauses with a qualified reviewer.
- Preserve all originals and the exact version sent to the other party.
| Finding | Next operational action |
|---|---|
| Quantity difference | Compare daily records and agree or list disputed measurements. |
| Authority unclear | Request written confirmation of role and instruction. |
| Pricing basis disputed | Exchange a line-by-line reconciliation and assumptions. |
| Procedural deadline uncertain | Obtain prompt jurisdiction-specific review; do not invent a date. |
- Agreed facts and remaining issues
- Proposed meeting or reconciliation
- Adviser questions and source references
- Owner and next action
No conclusion about payment follows solely from an unsigned form, a completed task or an unanswered email.
Before you act: this document is general information prepared by ArtBuild to help you organise facts and paperwork. It is not legal advice and has not been reviewed by a lawyer for your situation. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time. Check the official source for your project, and for deadlines, liens, court or insolvency steps, speak with a lawyer licensed where the project is located.