# Signed change orders

A term used when buying electrical contracting.

Extra work agreed in writing after a job is priced, where a contractor's real margin is won or lost.

A [backlog](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/backlog) number means very little without knowing how changes are handled, because the original bid is a guess and the changes are where a disciplined shop recovers cost. Look for signatures rather than verbal agreements, and look for a pattern: a shop with almost none is either bidding generously or absorbing scope, and a shop with a great many on every job may be underbidding to win. Ask to see the last ten completed jobs at bid and at final.

Part of: Buying an Electrical Contracting Business (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-electrical-contracting-business)

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-an-electrical-contracting-business/terms/signed-change-orders
Not dated: The same editorial definitions as the glossary, inside a trade.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt