Change order approval process map
A swimlane map of an additional finding during repair work, from discovery to a closed change order, across the workshops, the project manager, QA/QC and the customer. The map's first decision is the one that matters most commercially: whether a finding is already covered by the existing scope or is genuinely additional work.
Opens a copy in the editor and saves it in this browser. No account, nothing sent anywhere.
What is in this map
18 steps across 4 swimlanes and 5 phases, with 3 decision points.
- Swimlanes (who does the work)
- Workshops, Project Manager, QA/QC and Customer
- Phases (left to right)
- Identification, Assessment and estimate, Approval, Execution and Documentation
Why map this process
The within-scope-or-additional decision is where most billing disputes on a repair project actually start, and the map forces it to be an explicit, logged decision rather than a workshop's private judgement call. Getting it wrong in either direction has a real cost: calling additional work 'in scope' gives it away for free, and calling in-scope work 'additional' is the kind of padding that damages a customer relationship the yard needs for the next job.
The map ends every additional-work path in a second inspection and a filed record that references the original job number — additional work does not just get approved and executed, it gets the same quality control as the original scope and a paper trail that ties it back to the job it grew out of. A change order that skips re-inspection is a change order the yard cannot later prove was done to standard.
Every step in the map
This is the spreadsheet behind the diagram. The numbers in “Goes to” are row numbers, which is exactly what the editor’s “Line to” column holds — so you can read the flow here and retype any part of it.
| # | Step | Shape | Swimlane | Phase | Goes to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Additional defect found during repair work | Start | Workshops | Identification | 2 |
| 2 | Log finding with photos and location on the vessel | Process | Workshops | Identification | 3 |
| 3 | Technical assessment of cause and required repair | Process | Workshops | Assessment and estimate | 4 |
| 4 | Finding is within original scope or **genuinely additional**? | Decision | Project Manager | Assessment and estimate | 5 (Within scope), 7 (Additional work) |
| 5 | Proceed under the existing work order, no change order needed | Process | Project Manager | Assessment and estimate | 6 |
| 6 | Work proceeds under existing scope | End | Project Manager | Assessment and estimate | End |
| 7 | Estimate cost and schedule impact of the additional work | Process | Project Manager | Assessment and estimate | 8 |
| 8 | Prepare **change order** for customer approval | Document | Project Manager | Approval | 9 |
| 9 | Submit change order to customer | Process | Customer | Approval | 10 |
| 10 | Customer **approves** the change order? | Decision | Customer | Approval | 12 (Approved), 11 (Rejected/Disputed) |
| 11 | Negotiate scope or price with the customer | Process | Project Manager | Approval | 9 |
| 12 | Update project scope, budget and schedule in the system | Process | Project Manager | Execution | 13 |
| 13 | Perform the additional repair work | Process | Workshops | Execution | 14 |
| 14 | QA/QC inspects the additional repair | Process | QA/QC | Execution | 15 |
| 15 | Additional work passes **QA/QC acceptance**? | Decision | QA/QC | Documentation | 17 (Pass), 16 (Fail) |
| 16 | Rework and re-inspect | Process | Workshops | Documentation | 14 |
| 17 | Document the change order and file signed record | Stored data | Project Manager | Documentation | 18 |
| 18 | Change order closed and filed | End | Project Manager | Documentation | End |
The decision points
Every branch in the map, with the label on each outgoing line. These are the questions the process has to be able to answer.
-
4. Finding is within original scope or **genuinely additional**?
Owned by Project Manager · Assessment and estimate
- Within scope → step 5
- Additional work → step 7
-
10. Customer **approves** the change order?
Owned by Customer · Approval
- Approved → step 12
- Rejected/Disputed → step 11
-
15. Additional work passes **QA/QC acceptance**?
Owned by QA/QC · Documentation
- Pass → step 17
- Fail → step 16
Notes on specific steps
These notes travel with the map. In the editor they live in the Notes column and appear when you open a box.
- 17. Document the change order and file signed record
- Filed against the original job number with its own **change-order ID**, so the final repair dossier shows exactly what was added, when, and who signed for it.
Making it yours
The 'work proceeds under existing scope, no change order needed' box is a genuine terminus for findings that stay in scope, and it is worth keeping as its own End rather than routing back into the main repair flow, because the reader adapting this map needs to see that 'within scope' is a real, common, and cheap outcome, not a footnote. The note about filing under the original job number with its own change-order ID is the detail to preserve if your yard's numbering scheme differs — the specific format matters less than the fact that the two numbers are linked.
What to watch out for
- Do not skip re-inspection for additional work just because it is smaller than the original scope. A missed weld or an under-torqued fitting does not become less dangerous because it was found and fixed as a change order rather than as part of the original job — QA/QC applies to the work, not to which document authorized it.
- The negotiation loop returns to submitting the change order, not to the estimate. If a customer disputes price or scope, the response is a re-submitted change order reflecting the negotiation, not a re-estimate from scratch — treating every dispute as grounds to re-estimate slows the loop down for no benefit.
- Photos and location belong on the finding itself, before assessment. A change order process that jumps straight to cost estimation without first documenting what was actually found and where is a process that cannot defend the estimate later if the customer questions it.
Frequently asked questions
What actually makes a finding 'additional work' versus 'within scope'?
The map leaves that judgement to a technical assessment, but the practical test most yards use is whether the finding was reasonably discoverable from the original specification and survey. Put your own yard's specific rule in the Notes column on that decision — 'anything not visible without opening the item counts as additional' is a common one — so the decision is not made fresh, differently, on every project.
Do we need a change order for work that costs almost nothing to fix?
Technically yes if it is genuinely additional scope, but many yards set a dollar threshold below which minor additional work proceeds under a simplified approval — a phone call and a Notes-column record rather than the full submission-and-approval cycle. If you adopt that, add a decision after the estimate step that branches on estimate size, with the low-cost branch skipping straight to execution.
Should the customer see the technical assessment, or just the change order document?
Most yards share only the change order — the assessment is internal working material that becomes the change order's justification section. If your contract requires transparency into the assessment itself, that is a Notes-column policy on the submission row rather than a new customer-facing row, since it changes what accompanies the submission, not the process's shape.
Open the map and start editing
The editor loads this chart with the spreadsheet underneath it. Change a cell and the diagram redraws — no drawing, no signup.