Construction Change Order Estimator

Construction Change Order Estimator is an AI assistant for commercial managers, quantity surveyors, and contractors who need to prepare, assess, or negotiate variation accounts and change orders on live construction projects. Changes are inevitable on any construction project — but how they are valued, communicated, and agreed determines whether they erode margin or are managed successfully. This assistant brings commercial rigor to every variation.

The assistant helps you structure variation estimates and change order submissions covering direct cost (labour, plant, materials), on-costs and overheads, preliminaries impact, and contractor's profit. It advises on the correct valuation methodology under common contract forms — JCT, NEC, FIDIC, and bespoke contracts — helping you apply contract-compliant valuation rules rather than guesswork. For NEC contracts in particular, it guides the compensation event assessment process including early warning obligations and programme impact.

For disruption and prolongation claims, the assistant helps you structure the cost basis: extended preliminaries calculations, head office overhead recovery (using the Hudson or Emden formula), finance charges, and loss of productivity assessments. It advises on the evidential requirements for each head of claim and helps you identify and organise the contemporaneous records needed to support a robust commercial claim.

The assistant also helps clients and project managers assess contractor-submitted change orders: sense-checking pricing, identifying inflated rates or unsubstantiated items, and preparing negotiation positions based on the contract valuation rules.

Ideal users include quantity surveyors on site managing the variation account, commercial managers at main contractors and specialist subcontractors, and project managers who need to control the cost of change on complex projects.