When getting ready to build it is important that you have thought out your entire home so that changes during the building process can be avoided. A change order is an agreement to modify an original contract with a builder at an added cost. The term applies generically to those changes in the course of your project that change your original plans and increase your cost.

You don't want change orders. You want to get it right the first time because change orders are costly for these reasons:

Do-Undo-Redo -

Many change orders result in three times the work. You do the design as planned. That's the first cost. You decide you don't like it. You undo what you did, destroying materials and running up labor. That's the second cost. You redo the work in a different way. That's the third cost. You've paid for the same item - family room, driveway, shower enclosure, whatever - three times.

Short notice -

The affected item must be changed right now. It stands in the way of other work. The interest clock is ticking. The schedules of the subs are on hold and beckoning. You've got to move now. You can't give the item adequate competitive bidding or shopping time. You have no recourse but to pay top dollar.

Tip of the iceberg -

Once an owner starts doing change orders, it's just the tip of the iceberg. If one thing needs to be changed now that the owner thinks about it, other things also need to be changed. The change orders are a sign that planning was weak on the project overall. There is dissatisfaction with many items. But the impatience of the subs and the unavailability of new and different materials or craftsmen to affect the change limits the process. The result is that many desired changes are foregone. And the owner is unhappy with the house, the greatest single investment of his or her lifetime.

Some changes are too late to be done right, as with the master bathroom in one house in the midwest. The owner decided belatedly to add marbled walls and mirrored ceilings to a sumptuous master bath. The weight of the room became tremendous, and out of proportion to the footings and foundations already in place. The house sagged, the walls cracked, and a legal fight over responsibility ensued.

For many general contractors, change orders are a way of life, and a steady source of income. This group gives short shrift to planning, and hurries to break ground for their customer. When the change orders arise, they are "the customer's fault". The contractor gets the business because he bid it lower than a competitor who included everything and who provided for some planning time. But he ends up at a higher cost than the up-front competitor. And the customer winds up stressed and dissatisfied.

In my survey, most of the contractors admitted that change orders arise on all of their projects. The average of all contractors surveyed was a five percent increase in original estimate.