Authority guide · Change orders
Jobsite influence is not the same as authority to change the deal.
Verify the contracting party, signer, written delegation, decision type, dollar and schedule limits, identity, conflicting instructions, and approval record before changed work begins.
The operating principle
Verify authority from documents, not confidence or title.
A homeowner’s spouse may be deeply involved but not be the owner or contracting customer. A tenant may request repairs but lack authority to alter the landlord’s contract. A superintendent may direct sequencing while the project executive alone can approve cost. An architect may interpret design intent without authority to bind the owner to a contractor’s price.
Start with the agreement’s parties, notice addresses, change clause, named representatives, signature block, and delegation rules. Then verify identity and the exact boundary: scope, dollars, quantity, quality, schedule, location, duration, and whether joint or additional signatures are required. Do not decide agency authority from this guide for a specific project.
Seven-step verification
Confirm who can bind whom, for what, and up to where.
- 01
Identify every contracting party
Use the legal names in the signed agreement and amendments—not the property name, informal customer label, payer, occupant, or day-to-day contact.
- 02
Read the change mechanism
Find who may request, price, direct, approve, sign, and receive notice; distinguish bilateral changes, unilateral rights, emergencies, and field directives.
- 03
Trace delegation to its source
Obtain the signed designation, entity resolution, management agreement, power of attorney, agency appointment, or contract provision from an authorized source.
- 04
Test the limits
Check project, decision type, scope, dollar/quantity threshold, schedule effect, funding, location, duration, expiration, and required countersignature.
- 05
Verify person and channel
Match name, role, organization, contact, and identity using known project records; avoid relying solely on a forwarded message or unfamiliar phone number.
- 06
Resolve conflicts before work
When instructions disagree or authority is unclear, preserve both, pause the disputed addition, notify named representatives, and request written confirmation.
- 07
Attach authority to the approval
Record delegation reference and limit, approver identity, date/time/channel, exact change/version, amount, schedule, signatures, delivery, and retained copy.
Approval-authority matrix
A role may inform one decision and bind none.
Start with the named customer and ownership structure.
Confirm who signed, whether multiple owners or contracting parties must act, and whether the change complies with the written form and timing required by contract and law.
Occupancy and participation do not prove authority.
Obtain designation from the contracting party for the named project, permitted choices, spending limit, duration, and contact channel. Do not infer unlimited authority from access or prior conversations.
Management or payment authority may be limited.
Review the management agreement, claim role, owner designation, deductible/payment boundary, covered scope, approval cap, and whether owner or lender approval remains necessary.
Technical interpretation may not include commercial authority.
They may clarify documents, review submittals, or recommend a correction. Verify separately whether they may change contractor scope, price, quantity, quality, or completion time.
Field direction and change approval can be split.
Check the subcontract and written delegation for directive, T&M tag, schedule, and cost authority. A signed daily ticket may acknowledge labor without approving contract price.
Title is not the delegation instrument.
Verify entity signing authority or formal appointment, transaction and threshold limits, funding/countersignature, and whether the representative is expressly barred from contract changes.
Four field scenarios
Route the instruction without losing the record.
Spouse selects tile and asks for $4,200 upgrade
Contract names one homeowner as customer and allows selections by either spouse but requires both owners’ signatures for price changes above $2,500. Contractor preserves the selection, sends the priced change to both named owners, and does not order until the required approvals arrive.
Tenant requests a more expensive fixture
Tenant has access and can confirm appointment times; property manager’s written designation permits emergency stabilization to $1,000 but owner approval for upgrades. Contractor prices the requested fixture as an option, proceeds only with already authorized stabilization, and routes the upgrade to the owner.
Superintendent directs weekend acceleration
Superintendent controls site sequencing but subcontract reserves compensation and time changes to the GC project executive. Subcontractor documents the instruction, estimated premium and deadline, gives required notice, and requests executive approval before added shifts unless the contract’s directed-work process applies.
Designer approves layout; owner rejects cost
Designer’s agreement permits design clarification but not owner financial commitment. Contractor attaches the designer’s layout response, keeps the price change pending, notifies both contract representatives, and requests owner approval of the exact revision before fabrication.
Reusable intake sheet
Approval authority check
Attach the authority source to the change record.
Create a change approval with JobSign →- Contracting parties
- [Exact legal names, entity/type, original signer(s), agreement/date/version, ownership if relevant]
- Change mechanism
- [Clause: request/direct/price/approve/sign/notice roles; bilateral/unilateral/emergency process]
- Proposed approver
- [Name, title/relationship, organization, known contact, identity verification method]
- Authority source
- [Contract section, written designation, resolution, management agreement, power of attorney, appointment]
- Decision scope
- [Scope, price, quantity, quality, schedule, T&M ticket, selection, emergency, payment only]
- Limits
- [Dollar/quantity threshold, project/location, funding, duration/expiration, required joint/countersignature]
- Change tested
- [Change ID/version, net amount, days, location, scope category; within/outside/unclear versus limits]
- Conflicts and prior acts
- [Contradictory instruction, prior approval, course of dealing; do not assume it expands written authority]
- Escalation
- [Named contract representatives, notice method/deadline, question asked, work paused/protected]
- Emergency handling
- [Immediate safety authority, stabilization limit, notification, permanent repair approval still required]
- Approval record
- [Approver identity, delegation reference, date/time/channel, exact terms, signature/authentication]
- Retention and delivery
- [Authority document, change, messages, attachments, copy recipients, sent/received timestamps]
This checklist does not establish authority. Agency, entity, marital/property, public procurement, contract, and signature rules vary. Verify the actual agreement and governing law; seek qualified review when authority is disputed or material.
Research basis
Written delegation has boundaries.
Current federal procurement rules provide a clear public-contract example: only contracting officers acting within delegated authority may execute modifications; a contracting officer’s representative can perform assigned technical or administrative functions but cannot change price, quality, quantity, delivery, or other terms. Oregon procurement guidance similarly requires delegation documents to describe powers, limitations, duties, and thresholds.
California CSLB supplies a state-specific residential example: covered price or scope changes require a written change order signed by customer and contractor before the change. California BAR’s 2026 service guidance shows a concrete designation record with the named person, contact information, customer signature, date, and work-order identifier. Apply the actual private or public rules—not these examples by analogy alone.
- FAR: delegated authority and representative limits ↗
- FAR Part 43: authority to execute modifications ↗
- Oregon procurement manual: authority and thresholds ↗
- California CSLB: customer and contractor change signatures ↗
- California BAR: designated additional-repair approver ↗
General documentation guidance only, not agency, entity, procurement, property, contract, signature, or legal advice. Authority is fact- and jurisdiction-specific.
Change-order authority questions
Who may approve a change order?
The contracting party or a validly empowered person acting within the exact authority and limits granted by contract, entity, principal, or law.
Can a spouse, tenant, or manager approve?
Possibly, but not automatically. Verify contracting status or obtain written designation identifying the person, decisions, limits, duration, and channel.
Can a superintendent approve extra work?
Only if the agreement or delegation grants that authority. Field coordination authority may exclude scope, price, quantity, quality, or time changes.
What follows an unauthorized direction?
Preserve it, pause disputed added work when appropriate, notify named representatives, request written confirmation or ratification, and follow notice procedures.
One verified approver
Attach the authority source before changed work begins.
JobSign helps contractors connect a precise change and its approval record in one signed PDF.
Explore change approvals →