Change Order Template for Freelancers (With Clause and Email Scripts)

At FreelanceAtlas, we help freelancers protect the price they agreed without damaging the client relationship. This guide covers where the term comes from, how a change order differs from a revision, the clause that supports it, how to price it, and how to handle small changes and platform contracts. It picks up where How to Write a Freelance Scope of Work That Prevents Scope Creep and How to Handle Client Revisions as a Freelancer leave off.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Contract law, including the rules on changing a signed contract and on electronic signatures, varies by state and by country. Have a lawyer licensed in your state review your contract and any clause or template in this guide before you rely on it.

What a Change Order Is, and Where the Term Comes From

The term comes from government and construction contracting, where it has a precise meaning. The Federal Acquisition Regulation, which governs US federal purchasing, defines a change order in FAR 2.101 as “a written order, signed by the contracting officer, directing the contractor to make a change that the Changes clause authorizes the contracting officer to order without the contractor’s consent.” The same section defines a contract modification more broadly as “any written change in the terms of a contract.”

Notice the words “without the contractor’s consent.” A federal change order is one-sided, and the price adjustment is negotiated afterward. Under FAR 43.103, that adjustment is made through a bilateral modification, or “supplemental agreement,” which is “a contract modification that is signed by the contractor and the contracting officer.”

In standard construction contract forms, it is a signed agreement among the parties. The American Institute of Architects says “AIA Document G701-2017 is used for implementing changes in the work agreed to by the owner, contractor, and architect.” It adds that signing the form “indicates agreement upon all terms of the change, including any changes in the contract sum (or guaranteed maximum price) and contract time.”

That last version is the one freelancers need. In freelance work, a change order is a mutual amendment: the client asks for a change, you put the new scope and price in writing with any new dates, and both of you approve it before the work starts. Unless your contract says otherwise, your client cannot order extra work for free, and you cannot add a charge the client never approved.

Change Order vs Revision vs New Project

A change order is easier to send when the client already knows the difference between a revision and a scope change. That difference depends on what your contract promised, so define it there. This table shows where each type of request belongs:

A useful test: if the request changes the deliverables or the deadline, it needs a change order. If it only refines something you already agreed to deliver, inside the included rounds, it is a revision. When a client wants to start over with a new direction, a change order is too small a tool. Treat it as a new project, and use your kill fee terms for the work already done, as our guide to kill fees for freelancers explains.

The Contract Clause That Makes Change Orders Stick

A change order is easiest to enforce when the original contract sets the rule in advance: work outside the listed scope happens only after a written change order. Without that clause, it is easier for the client to argue that the extra work was always included.

Why a Written Change Matters Legally

Contract law does not always enforce a promise to pay more for the same work. The Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School describes the pre-existing duty doctrine as “A principle under contract law that states that if a party to a contract is under a pre-existing duty to perform, then no consideration is given for any modification of the contract and the modification is therefore voidable.” In plain terms, if you are already bound to deliver something, a client’s promise to pay extra for that same thing may not be enforceable. A change order that adds new work in exchange for the new price avoids that problem, because both sides give something new. How courts apply this rule varies by state.

Sales of goods follow different rules. Uniform Commercial Code section 2-209 says “An agreement modifying a contract within this Article needs no consideration to be binding.” But section 2-102 says “this Article applies to transactions in goods,” and most freelance work is a service.

Some states give written-change clauses extra force. New York’s General Obligations Law section 15-301 says a written agreement that “contains a provision to the effect that it cannot be changed orally, cannot be changed by an executory agreement unless such executory agreement is in writing and signed by the party against whom enforcement of the change is sought or by his agent.” Other states treat these clauses differently.

New York City adds a practical reason to keep changes in writing. Under the city’s “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” its Department of Consumer and Worker Protection says “All contracts worth $800 or more must be in writing,” including agreements that “total $800 in any 120-day period,” and that “The written contract must spell out the work you will perform; the pay for the work; and the date you get paid.” A change order that updates the work and the pay keeps that written record accurate.

Can an Email Count as Approval?

Often, yes. The federal ESIGN Act, at 15 U.S.C. 7001(a), says a signature or contract “may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.” The law defines an electronic signature as “an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”

The phrase that matters is “with the intent to sign.” A vague “sounds good” in a long thread is weaker evidence than a reply that says “Approved” with the client’s name, sent in response to a numbered change order. An e-signature tool gives the clearest record. Either way, keep the approved change order with the contract, and name email as an accepted way to approve in your changes clause.

The Changes Clause to Add to Your Contract

This wording is a starting point for a lawyer licensed in your state to review and adapt, not a finished legal clause. If you build contracts with our free contract generator, add a section like this one and have it reviewed.

[Starting point for legal review. Adapt before use.]

Changes to the Work. The fees and schedule in this Agreement cover only the deliverables listed in [Section or Exhibit name]. If Client requests work outside that scope, or a change to the deliverables or the schedule, Freelancer will send a written change order describing the change, its price or credit, and its effect on the delivery dates.

Freelancer is not required to start any change until Client approves the change order in writing. Approval by email reply from [Client contact name or role], or by electronic signature, counts as written approval. Each approved change order becomes part of this Agreement. If a change order and this Agreement conflict, the most recent approved change order controls for that change only.

Minor changes totaling up to [number] hours per project are included at no charge. Freelancer will track them and report the hours used. After that allowance, minor changes are grouped into change orders.

Unless a change order states otherwise, changed work is billed at [hourly rate] per hour, and amounts due under a change order are payable [on approval / with the next milestone / on the next invoice].

Pair the clause with a clear list of deliverables and a definition of a revision round, which our scope of work guide covers. A changes clause cannot protect a scope that was never written down.

What a Change Order Must Include

A change order should stand on its own, so someone reading it a year later without the email thread can see what changed and what it cost. Include these items:

• A reference to the original agreement. The contract or proposal name, its date and the parties.
• A change order number and date. Number them in order (CO-01, CO-02) so the total is easy to follow.
• Who asked for it. The client contact and the date of the request.
• A description of the change. What is added, removed or replaced, in countable terms: pages, screens, words, rounds, formats.
• What is not included. The nearest things the client might assume are covered.
• Price or credit. The amount, how you calculated it, and the new contract total.
• Schedule effect. New delivery dates, and which existing milestones move.
• Payment terms. When the change order amount is due and how it is invoiced.
• Assumptions. What the client must provide, and by when, for the new dates to hold.
• Approval. A line for the client’s name, title, signature or email approval, and date.

Keep the description specific. “Add a blog section” invites a dispute. “Add a blog index page and one article template, with up to 3 existing articles loaded” does not.

How to Price a Change Order

Price the change the same way you priced the original work, and say which method you used. Four methods cover most changes:

• Hourly estimate. Estimated hours times your contract rate. State whether it is a fixed price based on the estimate or a cap you will bill against.
• Fixed price per unit. If the contract priced pages, articles or screens individually, use the same unit price.
• Credit for removed work. If the client drops a deliverable you have not started, show the credit and the new total. If you already started it, bill the work done.
• Rush fee. If the change moves a deadline earlier and pushes your other work aside, price that separately so the client can choose the slower, cheaper option.

Here is a worked example with invented figures. Say you agreed to build a five-page site for a fixed $3,600, using the developer packages from our guide to freelance pricing packages, and your floor rate is $95 an hour. Halfway through, the client asks for a blog section. You estimate 7 hours for the index page, the article template and loading 3 articles. At $95 an hour, that is $665. You quote a fixed $700 to cover setup and testing, which brings the contract total to $4,300, and you move the launch date back 4 business days.

Show the arithmetic, so the number looks calculated, not invented, and always include the schedule effect. A change order that quietly keeps the old deadline sets you up to miss it.

Decide in advance when change order amounts are paid: on approval, as a deposit for larger changes, or on the next milestone invoice. For more on deposits and milestones, see Freelance Payment Terms That Actually Get You Paid.

Do You Need a Change Order for Small Changes?

Not always, but you need a rule. A formal change order for a 15-minute tweak can feel petty to the client. Absorbing every small request without a record is how scope creep happens. One middle path:

• Set a small-change allowance. For example, up to [2] hours of minor changes per project at no charge, tracked and reported.
• Confirm in one line. For anything inside the allowance, reply: “Happy to do this. It is a small change, so I will count it against the [2] hours of minor changes in our agreement. You have [1.5] hours left.”
• Batch the rest. Once the allowance is used, collect small requests into one change order every week or at the next milestone, instead of sending one for each.
• Keep a change log. A simple list of date, request, time spent and how it was handled. It is your record if the client later says the project ran long.

The changes clause above includes an allowance line, so the allowance is part of the agreement, not a favor you can be asked to repeat. Whatever the size, anything that changes a deadline or adds a deliverable gets a written change order.

The Change Order Template You Can Copy

Copy this into a document or an email and replace every bracketed item. Like the clause above, it is a starting point for a lawyer licensed in your state to review, not a finished legal form.

CHANGE ORDER [CO-number]

Date: [Date]
Project: [Project name]
Original agreement: [Contract or proposal name], dated [date], between [Your name or business] (“Freelancer”) and [Client name or company] (“Client”)
Requested by: [Client contact], on [date of request]

1. Description of change
[Exactly what is added, removed or replaced, in countable terms. Example: Add one blog index page and one article template, and load up to 3 existing articles supplied by Client.]

2. Not included in this change
[Nearest items the client might assume are covered. Example: Writing new articles, more than 3 articles loaded, design changes to existing pages.]

3. Price
Method: [Fixed price based on an estimate of [X] hours at [rate] / unit price of [amount] per [unit] / credit for removed work]
Amount of this change order: [+ or – amount]
Original contract total: [amount]
Previously approved change orders: [amount, or None]
New contract total: [amount]

4. Schedule
Effect on delivery: [Example: Launch moves from [old date] to [new date].]
Milestones affected: [List, or None]

5. Payment
[Example: The amount of this change order is due on approval / will be added to the invoice for [milestone] / is due within [number] days of the invoice date.]

6. Assumptions
[What Client must provide and by when. Example: Client supplies the 3 articles and any images by [date]. If materials arrive later, the new delivery date moves by the same number of business days.]

7. Effect on the agreement
All other terms of the original agreement stay the same. Work on this change starts after Client approves this change order in writing.

Approval
Client name and title: ____________________
Signature or email approval: ____________________
Date: ____________________

Freelancer name: ____________________
Signature: ____________________
Date: ____________________

Put the change order number on the invoice line when you bill it, so the client’s accounts team can match the payment to the approval.

How to Send a Change Order Without Souring the Relationship

A change order sent before any work starts is a routine request. Sent after the work, it reads like a surprise bill. These habits help:

• Send it before you start, never after. A price that arrives with the finished work gives the client no real choice.
• Send it fast. Reply to the request within a business day with either the change order or a date when you will send it.
• Offer a choice. Offer to do it now for a price or later as a separate phase, so the client stays in control.

Keep the language about the work, not about rules.

Email Script 1: Responding to a New Request

Subject: [Project name]: change order for [short description]

Hi [Client name],

Thanks for the idea about [request]. It would work well with [reason it fits the project].

It is outside the scope we agreed in [contract or proposal name], so I have put the details in the attached change order, CO-[number]. In short:

– What it adds: [one-line description]
– Price: [amount], which brings the project total to [new total]
– Timing: [new date] instead of [old date]

If you would prefer, we can also [do it as a second phase after launch / swap it for [in-scope item] at no extra cost].

If you are happy to go ahead, reply “Approved” with your name, and I will start on it [date]. Until then I will keep working on the original scope, so nothing is delayed.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Email Script 2: When the Client Pushes Back

Use this when a client says the change should be included, or asks you to “just add it.”

Hi [Client name],

I understand. I checked our agreement again so we are working from the same list. Section [number] covers [list the agreed deliverables], with [number] revision rounds. [Request] adds [what is new], which is why I priced it separately.

Here are the options I can offer:

1. Go ahead with CO-[number] at [amount], with delivery on [date].
2. Keep the original scope and launch on [original date], then add [request] later as a separate phase.
3. Replace [in-scope item] with [request] at no change in price, if [in-scope item] is less important to you now.

Any of these works for me. Let me know which you prefer and I will update the plan today.

Best,
[Your name]

If you have been absorbing small changes for a while, acknowledge the shift once (“I have been happy to fold in small changes so far”), then point to the allowance or the scope. Our guide on setting boundaries with clients has more scripts for these conversations.

Change Orders on Upwork and Fiverr

On a marketplace, the platform’s own tools are your change order. Use them, so the agreement and the payment are recorded in the same place.

• Upwork fixed-price contracts. Upwork’s article on adding or editing milestones says “Freelancers and agencies can send requests to add, edit, and delete future milestones,” and the client can accept or decline. “Each milestone must be for a minimum of $5 USD.” Agree the change in the contract messages, then add a milestone for it.
• Upwork hourly contracts. The same article notes that on hourly contracts “billing is based on time logged,” so agree the change and an hour estimate in the messages before you log time against it.
• Fiverr orders. Fiverr’s guide to offering extra services within an active order explains that sellers can use Offer Extras, including a custom extra with “a description, the amount you charge, and the number of days to deliver.” Fiverr adds a timing detail: “the days are added to the original delivery date, not the current date.”

Describe the extra in the same countable terms as an off-platform change order. The platform records the price and the days, but only the description shows what was included.

When the Client Will Not Approve the Change

A client who declines a change order is choosing the original scope, not breaking the contract. Deliver that scope well, and do not let the unapproved change slip in anyway.

• Keep working on the agreed scope. Confirm in writing that you are continuing as originally agreed, so silence does not become approval.
• Do not start the change “to be helpful.” Work done before approval is the hardest work to get paid for.
• Offer the later-phase option. A declined change can become a second project once the first one launches.
• Use your contract’s exit terms if the project stalls. If the client refuses both the change and the original scope, follow the termination and kill fee clauses in your agreement. Our guide to freelance contracts for beginners covers those clauses.

Conclusion

A change order is a short written agreement that keeps the price and the deadline in step with the scope when a client asks for something new. In freelance work it is a mutual amendment: you describe the change and its cost, the client approves it in writing, and only then does the work begin. A changes clause in your original contract, backed by a clear scope, is what makes it routine rather than a negotiation.

Do this next. Add a changes clause to your contract template and have a lawyer licensed in your state review it. Save the change order template above as a document you can fill in within ten minutes. Decide your small-change allowance and your payment rule for change orders, then use the first email script the next time a client asks for something outside the scope, before you start the work.

Key Takeaways

• FAR 2.101 defines a federal change order as one the government can issue without the contractor’s consent, but freelance change orders are mutual amendments that both sides approve.
• The AIA’s G701 construction form shows the standard contents: an agreed change in the work with its effect on the contract sum and contract time.
• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute describes the pre-existing duty doctrine, which is why a change order should add new work in exchange for the new price.
• The federal ESIGN Act says a contract cannot be denied effect solely because it is electronic, so a clear email approval can work if it shows intent to sign.
• New York City’s “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” requires written contracts for work worth $800 or more, including agreements that total $800 in any 120-day period.
• Upwork lets freelancers request new milestones of at least $5, and Fiverr’s Offer Extras adds days to the original delivery date, not the current date.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a change order?

Start with a number, the date and a reference to the original contract. Describe the change in countable terms, list what is not included, and show the price or credit with the new contract total. State the new delivery dates and when the amount is due. End with an approval line for the client’s name, signature or email approval, and date. Send it before you start the work, and keep the approved copy with the contract.

How do I make a change order form?

Copy the template in this guide into a document or a form tool and save it as your master copy. Keep the numbered sections in the same order every time: description, exclusions, price, schedule, payment, assumptions and approval. If you use an e-signature or form tool, make sure it records the client’s name and the date. Have a lawyer licensed in your state review the wording first.

What should a change order include?

It should include a reference to the original agreement, a change order number and date, who requested the change, a specific description of what is added or removed, and what is not included. It also needs the price or credit, the new contract total, the effect on deadlines, payment terms and any assumptions about what the client must supply. Finish with approval lines for both parties so the record stands on its own later.

Do I need a change order for small changes?

Not for every small tweak, but you need a written rule. One approach is a small-change allowance in the contract, such as a set number of hours of minor changes, tracked and reported to the client. Confirm each small change in one line, log it, and batch requests into one change order once the allowance is used. Anything that adds a deliverable or moves a deadline should always get a written change order.

Is an email approval enough for a change order?

Often it is. The federal ESIGN Act says a signature or contract cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and it defines an electronic signature as one adopted with the intent to sign. A clear reply such as “Approved,” with the client’s name, sent in response to a specific change order is much stronger than a casual “sounds good.” Your contract should name email as an accepted form of approval.