Moving Change Orders: Track Added Work

Track added and removed moving work with dated scope records, separate payment credits and the carrier documents required before loading.

Record the event before adjusting the total

Give each proposed change an ID, date, reason and approving person. Describe the actual work: pack four additional cartons, remove a desk from the shipment or add a delivery stop. A note saying price changed by $200 cannot show whether the new amount duplicates an existing service.

Keep the original inventory and accepted estimate. Add a change register beside them instead of overwriting the starting point. In this guide, change order means your operational record of requested work; it is not a substitute for a document the carrier must issue under the governing rules.

Distinguish planning arithmetic from the contract

The figures above are user-entered assumptions, not carrier rates. An inventory reduction does not guarantee a corresponding credit: obtain the carrier's agreement to the actual amount. Minimum charges or a fixed service scope may affect the result. Keep tax on added work as a separate, confirmed line rather than applying an invented tax rate to the entire move.

If $300 has already been credited toward the $1,960 total, planned unpaid charges are $1,660. The deposit does not make the change itself $460. Carry the revised total and the paid balance into separate worksheet columns so everyone can distinguish price from cash still due.

Use the required interstate documents

For interstate household-goods moves, the 2022 FMCSA rule changed the process for added goods or services before loading: applicable changes require a new estimate rather than merely editing the old estimate. Ask the carrier to provide the appropriate new binding or non-binding estimate and retain both versions. Do not assume a text message approving extra work satisfies that requirement.

After loading, new requests and unexpected conditions need their own factual record. Do not backdate an estimate or describe a later request as if it existed at survey time. Delivery collection rules and the final lawful bill are separate questions; the familiar 110% non-binding threshold is not a universal cap covering every addition.

Close each change with evidence

Request written acceptance, the applicable price basis and any effect on dates or equipment. Send the update to the person arranging building access if the scope affects the loading window. At invoice review, match each billed addition to its change ID and identify any unapproved or duplicated item for clarification. Preserve canceled requests as canceled, so the final log explains both what happened and what was never performed.