A change order and a change directive both modify a construction contract mid-project, but only one of them requires agreement before the work starts — the other lets the owner order the work done and settle the price afterward.
Treadstone Law’s own definition, written for Ontario construction and renovation disputes generally, describes a change order as "a documented agreement (formal or informal) to add, remove, or modify part of the original scope, usually at an adjusted price" — agreement first, work second. Its practical guidance for protecting that agreement is direct: "get change orders in writing whenever possible, even a brief confirming email," and "keep dated notes of verbal instructions if a written change order isn’t practical in the moment." Standard-form prime contracts like CCDC 2 build procedures for exactly this kind of change into the contract itself, which is what CCDC’s own description of the document flags as "procedures for changes in the work."
A change directive exists for the case a change order doesn’t cover: the owner needs the work started now, but the parties haven’t agreed a price or time adjustment yet. Under the standard CCDC contract forms, a directive lets the consultant instruct the contractor to proceed with the change regardless, with the value and schedule impact worked out afterward through the contract’s own valuation and claims mechanism — the same mechanism CCDC’s guide to changes describes as covering "the change process, methods for adjusting the contract price, and claims." The trade-off is the mirror image of a change order’s: certainty of proceeding, in exchange for deferring certainty on price.
A hospital renovation hits an unforeseen structural condition mid-project. The owner wants the fix started immediately rather than losing weeks to price negotiation, so the consultant issues a change directive instructing the contractor to proceed. The contractor tracks its costs on the directed work separately from the base contract, as it would for any extra, and the two sides negotiate the final price adjustment once the scope is clear — the same negotiation that would have happened before the work on a smaller, less urgent item handled by an ordinary change order instead.
See also: Contemplated change notice · CCDC 5B construction management · Change order management that avoids disputes.
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