I built three free construction document templates and I’m dropping them all at once. A change order form, an RFI template and a submittal cover sheet. Upload your logo, fill out some boxes, print it out. Done. (Note: these are in Beta, so you know, libale to change. Tell me what you like and what you hate)

These are the three documents that move between owners, architects, engineers and contractors more than anything else on a job. Each one deserves its own post and I will get to that. But for now here they are with some context on why I built them and why you should care about what yours look like.

Free Change Order Template

COs, PCOs, OCRs, (change orders, potential change orders, owner change requests) or whatevery your company calls the equivalent. These are all a formal request to change a dollar amount on a contract. Sometimes they go from subs to generals, sometimes from generals to owners. If you already knew that, good. If you didn’t don’t worry aoubt it, this a place to learn.

Here is why I made this free change order form. I have seen change orders show up as plain emails. I have seen them sent out of QuickBooks as estimates and any number of other random formats. The QuickBooks route is better than an email, sure, at least it is organized. But it is still inconsistent and it still looks like you threw it together in five minutes.

Think about it from the other side. Construction is expensive. Margins are small. Nobody wants to spend more money. Now imagine someone sends you an email asking for another 20K with no backup and no explanation. You would hate that. I would hate that. So why would you do it to someone else?

A change order is your chance to present a case. Not a legal brief, just a clear ask with some reasoning behind it. That is a small thing that separates the contractors people want to work with from the ones they tolerate. I will dig deeper into change orders in a future post. For now just know that looking put together costs you nothing and earns you more than you think.

Use the free change order template here.

Free RFI Template

Request for Information. If you did not know that is what RFI stands for, do not feel bad. I sent probably hundreds of them before I ever knew the formal name for it.

Plans are never 100%. At least, I have never seen a set that was. There are always going to be questions. The ones about design intent, not means and methods, should be asked in a format that makes it easy for the architect or engineer to answer and easy for you to track, everyone will appreciate that, the less time the design team has to spend on an RFI the cheaper it is for everyone. A text thread is not that. An email chain with six people CC’d is not that either.

A clean RFI does two things. It gets you a faster answer because the person reading it does not have to decode what you are asking. And it makes you look like someone who has done this before, which matters when you are sitting across from an architect who works with ten other contractors.

I will spend more time on RFIs in another post. For now here is a free one you can start using today.

Use the free RFI template here.

Free Submittal Cover Sheet

Submittals are how we propose products and materials and how we get sign offs on them. The cover sheet is where you clarify your reasoning and call out anything the reviewer needs to know. It is another interaction with architects and owners and it is another chance to look organized.

I know I sound like a broken record. But this is one of the biggest differences between smaller outfits and bigger ones. The bigger companies are not always better at the work. They are just better at the paperwork. If you can close that gap without spending a dime, why wouldn’t you?

Use the free submittal cover sheet here.

Why These Exist

These templates exist because it would have been nice to have them when I was coming up. It would have been nice just to have the definitions, let alone the forms. Every point of contact with an owner, architect or engineer is either building trust or losing it. Might as well make the paperwork work for you.

Upload your logo. Fill in the fields. Print. Look consistent.

Go use them.