Change Order Statuses

Overview

Teshis article defines the five statuses associated with change orders in Buildwise, where to find them, and what happens when you change a change order's status.

Status Definitions
View Change Order Status
Change the Status of a Change Order

Status Definitions

Notes

A change order must have either a Manually Approved or Client Approved status for Buildwise to add the costs to your project reporting.
While a project can have only one approved estimate, it can have multiple change orders with Manually Approved or Client Approved status.
The status of a change order is linked to the document Lock functionality. For details, refer to the article Lock an Estimate or Change Order.

Status	Description	Notes
	Draft is the default status of a newly created change order. The change order remains in Draft status until you change it or share it through Buildwise to your client. Your client cannot approve a Draft change order.	Change order is editable Unlocked by default but can be locked at any time Status can be changed at any time
	Status is automatically updated to Released when the change order is shared with clients through Buildwise. Refer to the article Share Change Orders. You can also manually select the Released status if you shared the change order directly through a PDF download or by sharing a web link with your client.	Change order is locked and cannot be edited Changing this status to Draft or Declined requires a warning confirmation. Changing it to Manually Approved does not.
	Manually Approved status is selected to indicate the client has approved the change order. However, we strongly recommend that your client digitally sign the change order through Buildwise to create a legally binding agreement. Refer to the article Change Order Signatures.	Change order is locked and cannot be edited Changing this status requires a warning confirmation
	Status is automatically updated to Client Approved when the change order is digitally signed by the client through Buildwise. Note: You cannot select this status, as it can only be initiated through digital signing.	Automatically locked and cannot be edited This status can only be changed back to Draft, with a warning confirmation
	Declined status is set when your client clicks Decline on the change order, or you can select it manually. This status cannot be updated.	Status is permanent Changing to this status requires a warning confirmation for all statuses except Draft

View Change Order Status

The status of a change order is displayed in three locations: on the Buildwise Change Orders dashboard, the Project Change Orders dashboard, and on the specific change order page.

View statuses on the Change Orders Dashboard
View statuses on the Project Change Orders Dashboard
View status on the Project Change Order

Change Orders Dashboard

In the left sidebar, click Change Orders. The Change Orders dashboard lists change orders for all Active projects. The status is displayed in the Status column for each change order.

Project Change Orders Dashboard

On the project dashboard, click the Change Orders tab. The status is displayed in the Status column for each change order within the project.

Project Change Order

The status is displayed on the project Change Order.

Change the Status of a Change Order

Buildwise will automatically change the status when you share a change order with your client and when they digitally sign the document through Buildwise. You can also manually change the status using the status dropdown.

The change order status can be changed on any of the change order page tabs: Items, SOW, or Share.

Click the status dropdown to select the new status.

Depending on the current status of a change order, a warning confirmation popup may open. The table below shows what to expect when you manually change the status of a change order.

Warning: Once a change order is changed to Declined, the status cannot be updated. If you’ve selected this status in error, you can copy it by creating a new change order and using the Copy From functionality.

From status >>	To status
Draft	Any status	You can manually update the status of a Draft document to Released, Manually Approved, or Declined at any time. Note: If you select Declined, you will not receive a warning confirmation.
Released	Manually Approved	You can select Manually Approved status to indicate approval within Buildwise.
Released	Draft	If you revert the Released status to Draft, a Warning! confirmation popup opens: Warning! This Change Order has been released to your client. Are you sure you want to update? Click Yes to confirm.
Released	Declined	If you change the status of a Released document to Declined, a Warning! confirmation popup opens: Warning! By unlocking you risk changing your baseline estimate for all financial reports Click Yes to confirm.
Manually Approved or Client Approved	Draft or Released	Note: You can only change the status of Manually Approved or Client Approved change orders in projects that have no expenses. A Client Approved change order can only go back to Draft. If you change the status of a Manually Approved or Client Approved document to Draft or Released, a Warning! confirmation popup opens: Warning! This Change Order has been approved by your client. Are you sure you want to revert this to [Draft/Released] mode and re-send? Click Yes to confirm. Moving a change order back to Draft unlocks it and removes the client's signature and the status dates.
Manually Approved or Client Approved	Declined	Only a Manually Approved change order can be changed to Declined. A Client Approved change order cannot. If you change the status of a Manually Approved or Client Approved document to Declined, a Warning! confirmation popup opens: Warning! This Change Order was already approved. You will not be able to edit this once declined. Are you sure you want to proceed? Click Yes to confirm.