*INDICATES DATES FOR DELIVERY OF SPECIFICATIONS, PLANS, ELEVATIONS, SECTIONS, AND SCALE DETAILS

STARTING DATES ARE PREDICATED UPON SHOP DRAWINGS BEING APPROVED BY ARCHITECTS
WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS AFTER DATE OF SUBMISSION,

FINISH

Form 4. Working Time Schedule

This schedule must be planned so that the different trades can be executed at the job site in sequence and without interference with other trades or increase of cost. The letting of contracts and securing of drawings by the office force must be done sufficiently in advance to allow time for the preparation of the material which is to be used at the building site.

be likely to fail of completion on contract time, because of some unforeseen delay or other. A reasonable margin should therefore be allowed between the schedule and the contract dates.

Changes in Plans or Specifications

Changes in the layout or in materials called for by the original plans or the original specifications are frequently made. The architect representing the owner notifies the contractor of the character of the change contemplated. The contractor estimates the value of this change and submits to the architect his proposal for doing the work. The owner then decides whether he will make the change or not.

When the change is ordered, the architect sends the contractor a formal order, termed "extra order," increasing the price named in the original contract.

When changes involve the omission of work or the substitution of one class of material for another, the omissions or substitutions generally effect a reduction in the sum to be paid the contractor, the architect issuing a "deduction order."

When changes delay the completion of the work as called for by the original contract, or are ordered at such a time as to make it impossible to perform the work included in the changes by the date named in the contract, an extension of time is frequently granted. The contractor requests the additional time in his proposal and the architect grants it in his order directing the change to proceed. A prominent firm of architects uses Form 5 for lump-sum contracts. The order for cost-plus contracts is not signed by the owner, his approval being obtained by the architect before the order is prepared. "Statement of Contract" is changed to "Statement of Working Estimate."

Where the changes are ordered on work that is being executed under a cost-plus contract, the extra orders act as additions to the guaranteed maximum price and the deduc

On behalf of the (Here insert full name of owner or owners) and agreeable to the terms of your contract, we hereby accept the following:

Date of completion of contract not changed by this order.
(Unless time is specifically changed in
estimate and change accepted.)

STATEMENT OF CONTRACT

Amount of contract.

$.

Change orders I to # (insert number of last change order issued) incl. add'l. or credit $.

tion orders as reductions. The actual cost of doing the work included in the change is merged with the actual cost of the original contract.

It is physically impossible to determine accurately the actual cost of changes without a prohibitive overhead expense in salaries paid to timekeepers and material men. If a room appeared originally on the plans as 30 x 20 feet and a change was ordered requiring a partition dividing it into two smaller rooms, it would be difficult to tell how many actual minutes a plasterer, for instance, spent on the wall of the partition and how many minutes on the walls which were contemplated by the original plan. Mechanics in the building trades do not carry time cards, as is done in factories, showing how much time they spend on each piece of work, and it would be impracticable to have a timekeeper watching them to determine just when they stopped work under the original plans and began work on the change.

Sometimes the change is of such a character that its separate cost can be ascertained, but this applies only to instances where work on the original contract and on changes is not being done in the same place, at the same time, by the same mechanics.

Occasionally the character of the change ordered by the architect or owner is such that it is not possible to determine definitely its probable cost in advance of the work being done. Such changes are generally ordered done on a time and material basis, and as accurate a statement of actual cost as possible is obtained. To this actual cost is added the fee allowed the contractor.

Record of Changes

The contractor should keep a careful and complete record of all changes in plans and specifications proposed by the architect. This record should show the changes which the

architect has informed the contractor are in contemplation, those for which the contractor has submitted proposals to the architect, together with the amount of the proposals and any requests for extension of time, those which were rejected or abandoned, and finally those which were accepted and ordered made.

When changes are ordered by the architect, the formal order received by the contractor should be filed with the original contract.

Progress Payments

Contracts generally provide for monthly payments being made to the contractor on the basis of the estimated value of work completed during the preceding month. To aid in determining the value of the work completed from time to time, the total of the contract price is allocated to the different lines of work included in the contract. Form 6 illustrates the segregation of the contract price into different trades. These are variously called "applications" or "requisitions for payments," or "monthly estimates."

As work at the site progresses, the value of the completed work is determined by taking that proportion of the value allotted to the entire line of work which is represented by the percentage of the physical work finished. If an allotment for structural steel was $50,000 and the work at the site was onehalf finished, the value of the completed part would be $25,000. When the value of all work completed is ascertained, the applications are added and are sent by the contractor to the architect. The architect verifies the percentage of work completed, determines its value, and issues a certificate stating the amount to which the contractor is entitled. This certificate is sent to the owner and payment of the amount shown thereon is made by him to the contractor at such times as are provided in the contract. (Form 7.)