Change Management - Overview

A change order is created when there is a change in scope, an addition to a project that will affect the original contract amount, the timeline needs to be extended due to an unexpected delay, or other change to a project.

The sections below outline the change management process in the PM module.

Workflow Flexibility

Change management is very flexible, allowing your company to choose a workflow that reflects your needs. Even within a company different scenarios may require different functions in the software. For example a change may be billable to the customer or it may affect the project budget.

PCO vs ACO

There are two levels of change orders in the PM module: Pending Change Orders (PCO) and Approved Change Orders (ACO). These are internal processes for managing change, rather than formal customer communications.

Potential / Pending Change Order(PCO)

• "Pending change orders " or "potential change orders" refer to change orders that are in the process of being estimated, or waiting for pricing/approval. Think of a pending change order as a worksheet that stores all of the items that are affected by a potential change in scope. If the pending change order is approved, then these items can be used to change the estimates and contracts affected by the change in scope, as well as create PO change orders (POCOs) and subcontract change orders(SubCOs) for the affected subcontracts and purchase orders.
• Pending change orders define the scope, costs, and pricing of a potential change. The PCO breaks down into items, and each item can contain multiple phases and cost types. Items may also represent pricing options.
• Pending change orders are created and maintained using the PM Pending Change Orders form.
• Pending change orders can be copied using the PM Copy Pending Change Order form - for example if you need to create a new PCO that is similar to an existing PCO, you can copy it and then modify the copy.

Approved Change Order(ACO)

An approved change order(ACO) can represent:

• A pending change order that has been approved - You can create an approved change order(ACO) by approving a potential/pending change order(PCO). The created ACO can consist of items from a single pending change order, or it can consist of the items from several PCOs.
• A change order that is approved but was not created using a pending change order - You can skip creating a PCO and just create an approved change order using the PM Approved Change Orders form . For example, you can create an ACO without first creating a PCO if a change order has already been approved outside of the application.

Basic Workflow

To summarize, the basic workflow steps are the following:

Again, the PCO and ACO reflect the internal process of change management, and not the formal communications with a customer. PCO 1 and ACO 1 might be internal and non-billable, while PCO 2 and ACO 2 are billable.

Approving a pending change order(PCO)

When approving a pending change order, there is some flexibility in how the PCO items are grouped onto the approved change order. For example:

• Multiple PCO items can be grouped together onto a single approved change order item and approved change order
• PCO items from different PCOs can become a single ACO item
• PCO items associated with multiple phases and cost types can be approved as a single approved change order item

These three examples display in the diagram below.

Billable Changes

To formally communicate changes to customers, use the Change Order Request and Contract Change Order. Each has its own numbering sequence separate from the PCO and ACO. They also produce formal change documents.

Change order requests(CORs) and contract change orders(CCOs) are very similar in how they are created and then processed in the application.

Change Order Requests(CORs)

A change order request(COR) is a formal request to an owner/customer for a change in scope, and it is an agreement acknowledging that the customer/owner will pay for the changes.

In the application, a change order request(COR) is just a grouping of pending/potential change orders(PCOs). Once the PCOs have been added to a COR, you can use the Create and Send feature to generate a Change Order Request document, and then email it to the owner/customer. When the COR document is then signed and returned, the PCOs on the COR can be approved.

Contract Change Orders(CCOs)

A contract change order is an official amendment document for a change in scope to a customer/owner contract.

In the application, a contract change order(CCO) is just like a COR, but it is a collection of approved change orders instead of pending/potential change orders. Once the ACOs have been added to a CCO, they cannot be interfaced until the CCO is approved. Use the Create and Send feature to generate a Contract Change Order document, and then email it to the owner/customer. When the CCO document is signed and returned, the ACOs on the CCO can be approved, which changes the status of the ACOs so that they can be interfaced with the accounting modules.

Billable Changes Workflow

The PM module allows you to choose the change management steps that work best for you. At one extreme, a company managing changes outside of Vistamight use only the ACO to update estimates and prices into the system. More likely, a company will use a complete process like below.

Changes for Subcontractors/Suppliers

Subcontract change orders (SCOs) and PO change orders (POCOs) can be created in conjunction with, or separate from the change processes described above.

• Subcontract Change Orders - Subcontract change orders(SubCOs) are used to record a change in scope to an existing subcontract - for example additions or subtractions to existing items, or the creation of new scope items. The subcontract being changed does not have to be interfaced, but it does have to be approved in the PM module.
• PO Change Orders - PO change orders(POCOs) are used to record a change in scope to an existing purchase order. Just like with subcontracts, the PO being changed does not have to be interfaced, but it does have to be approved in the PM module.

Subcontractor/Supplier Changes Workflow

SCOs and POCOs are very similar in how they are created and processed in the application. The diagram below outlines the basic process.

Since a customer or estimate change order often drives SCOs and POCOs, Viewpoint integrates the two processes. For example, the PCO contains the information necessary to generate sub and PO changes. So approving a PCO can automatically create the Subcontract CO and Purchase Order CO.

Scenarios

Several basic scenarios are covered to give you a general overview of the change management process. Once you learn the process, you should be in a good position to determine which workflow should be used to process specific kinds of change orders. The scenarios progress from basic to more advanced.

• Non-billable change that only adjusts the project estimate/budget - Link
• Non-billable change with an impact on vendors - Link
• Project default markups and add-ons - Link
• Billable opportunity, using the full workflow of PCO, COR, ACO, and CCO - Link