Electrical change orders have a flavor the other trades don’t: half of them are safety and code obligations you can’t walk away from once you’ve seen them. That makes clean documentation doubly important — you’re not upselling, you’re refusing to leave a hazard.
Where electrical extras come from
- The panel reveal: the “add a circuit” job meets a full panel, double-taps, or scorch marks
- Legacy wiring: aluminum branch circuits, knob-and-tube, cloth insulation — connecting new work triggers remediation
- Code corrections: missing GFCI/AFCI protection, no grounding, junction boxes buried in walls
- Scope creep with a cord: “While you’re here, can you add an outlet in the garage?”
- Inspection findings: the inspector requires something the plans didn’t show
The safety-obligation angle
When you find a hazard, the change order is also your record that you disclosed it. If the customer declines the fix, a written, dated record showing what you found, what you recommended, and their decision protects you far better than memory. Write the change order either way — signed approval or documented refusal.
A real example
A garage-outlet job uncovers a panel with no free slots and two double-tapped breakers. In ScopeProof: photo of the panel interior, line items — Tandem breakers 2 × $68 · Correct double-taps, labor 1.5 hr × $110 — reason: “Panel at capacity; double-tapped breakers found during circuit addition. Correction required by code before new circuit.” Customer signs on your phone; the garage outlet proceeds; everyone has the PDF.
Price the panel surprise on the spot
Photograph the scorched breaker, add the line items, and get the sign-off on your phone before the extra work starts. ScopeProof keeps every signed change order — searchable, provable, and exportable to QuickBooks.
