Your contractor handed you a change order. How to tell if it's fair.

1. A description of the work, in enough detail that someone else could price it.

"Additional electrical" is not a description. "Add four recessed fixtures and one switch leg in the primary bedroom, per the markup dated the 12th" is.

2. The price change, itemized.

Materials and labor separated. A single lump number is not itemization, and asking for the breakdown is an ordinary request, not an accusation.

3. Any credit for work that's no longer happening.

This is the most commonly missing line on any change order. If the change removes something that was in the original scope, that removal has value and it should appear as a credit. A change order that only adds is worth a second look.

4. The schedule impact, in days.

Almost always omitted, and it matters twice: once because you want to know when you'll have your house back, and again because "the change orders caused the delay" is the most common explanation for a late project. Days agreed in writing at the time are far more useful than days reconstructed from memory afterward.

5. A reference to the original contract.

The change order should identify what it's modifying and what the contract sum becomes afterward.

6. Signatures and a date — before the work happens.

Most contracts require written approval before a change proceeds. A change order presented after the work is complete isn't automatically invalid, but it's a different conversation, and you should know which one you're having.

What did the original bid include for this?

The single most skipped question, and the one you can't judge a price without. You are not evaluating a number in isolation — you're evaluating the difference between two numbers, and you've only been shown one.

Which kind of change is this?

Something you requested, something nobody could have seen, something missing from the original scope, an allowance running over, or work being redone. Ask directly. The answer changes how you feel about paying for it.

Is any of this already covered elsewhere in the contract?

On a long project with several changes, overlap happens. It's worth checking rather than assuming.

Does this change anything downstream?

Moving a wall can affect flooring, trim, electrical, and the finish schedule. A change order priced for only the visible piece can be genuinely incomplete without anyone intending it.

Where does this put the total?

Not just this one — everything approved so far, against the original contract sum. People track change orders one at a time and lose the aggregate, then get a shock at the end.

What happens if I decline?

Sometimes the honest answer is that the work genuinely can't proceed. Sometimes there's an alternative nobody has mentioned because nobody was asked. Worth finding out before you assume.