Change orders and the daily work log
Say the client wants a loft added or a wardrobe dropped after the price is agreed. A change order goes to them as a link to approve. Agreed, the project value and the payments still to come follow. The site team keeps one work log a day with photos, and the client sees it on their feed.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Extra work is agreed on a site visit, and at the final bill the client says they never asked for it.
- The remaining instalments are worked out again by hand after every change.
- The office does not know what happened at site today until someone calls.
How it works
- Open Interiors > Projects > Projects > Projects > Change Orders and press New. Give the project, who raised it and why (asked by the client, found at site).
- Add lines: Add or Remove, the room, a description, quantity and price. Removed lines count negative, and Change in Value is the total.
- Press Send to Client. The client gets "A change to your project" by email and WhatsApp, opens the page and presses Approve or Ask for changes with a note.
- Approved, the project value moves by the change and the % payment milestones still to come follow. Not agreed, whoever raised it gets a to-do with the client's note.
- On site, the supervisor fills the day's work log: people on site, work done per room with % done, photos and issues. Then Submit the day.
- The submitted log goes on the project feed as "Work today" for your team, and for the client when Client Sees It is on.
Everything it does
Change orders
- Number, project, Raised By, Why, lines and Change in Value
- Lines: Add or Remove, room, description, quantity, price, amount
- Statuses: Draft, With the Client, Approved, Not Agreed, Cancelled
- Send to Client needs at least one line
- Agreed in Person records the client's paper signature as an approval
- An agreed change order is never cancelled: raise another one that reverses it
The client's decision page
- No login: a signed link, opened from the message or from Waiting for you in the Client app
- Shows why, every line with its room and amount, and the change in value
- Approve, or Ask for changes (a note is needed), with the client's name
- The person who raised it is told as soon as the client decides
Daily work log
- One log per project per day; a second one for the same day is refused
- Date, By, People on Site, Work Done lines (room, work, % done), Photos, Issues
- Client Sees It: on to start with
- Submit needs some work or a photo. A submitted log is not changed (write a note in its chatter; only Client Sees It can still be switched)
- Interiors > Projects > Site > Work and Handover > Work Log, filters Today and Draft
On the phone
- The SmartMy Interiors Site app: Today tab with the day's work plan and the work log, Submit the day
- Works without signal: the log waits on the phone and is sent in order when the signal is back
- The client sees change orders waiting for them in the Client app
Who uses it
Designer or project managerRaises the change order, sends it and follows up when it is not agreed.
Site supervisorFills the daily work log with photos from the Site app.
HomeownerApproves or asks for changes on the decision page, and reads the work log on their feed.
Where you use it
- Web: Interiors > Projects > Projects > Projects > Change Orders; Interiors > Projects > Site > Work and Handover > Work Log
- The client's decision page for change orders, with no login
- The SmartMy Interiors Site app (work log) and the Client app (change orders waiting, work log on Updates). Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not built: a change order turning into its own invoice; it is billed through the payment milestones
What you control
Settings
- Client Sees It per work log: on to start with
- Who is told of the work log follows the feed's audiences
Notifications
- Please Decide: the change order, to the client and the client's people on the team, by email and WhatsApp, with the link
- Client Decided: to the person who raised it, in the app
- Project Update: the submitted work log, to the client when Client Sees It is on, with their link
- Sent at once, at any hour: these are work messages, so quiet hours do not hold them back
Questions
How is a change order billed?
Agreed, it moves the project value. Payment milestones by % that are not received yet take their share, so the change is billed with the next payments. Fixed-amount milestones do not move.What if the client agrees on paper at site?
Press Agreed in Person. It is recorded as approved with your name and the note "Agreed in person".Can the client approve part of a change order?
No. They approve it all or ask for changes. Split it into two change orders if parts may be decided apart.Does the work log need signal at site?
No. The Site app keeps the log on the phone and sends it when the signal is back.Which plan has it?
Every plan, Starter included.Related features
PROJECTSPayment plans that stop the job until paidGive each project a payment plan, such as the ready 10 / 50 / 35 / 5. Milestones fall due when a stage starts: the client is asked for 50 % as production begins. The job does not move on until that money is in. Payments Due shows what every client owes.PROJECTSProject feed and key eventsOne feed per project where updates, the daily work log, payments and stage changes land, each marked with who may see it. Key events such as the design presentation, site marking, installation and handover carry their own readiness checks. They also carry invitations the client answers from a link, reminders and follow-ups.ESTIMATING AND SELLINGEstimates with rooms as sectionsThe detailed quote, laid out room by room. Modular boxes are priced from your materials, work such as false ceiling or painting comes from your rate library, and other lines are typed. The client approves it on a web page, and each new version tells them what changed.PROJECTSWork plan and subcontract work ordersPlan the site work from your template and the approved estimate, with dates, the critical path and a Gantt. Give carpentry, false ceiling or painting to subcontractors on work orders at their rates. Pay them only on measured work your manager certified, and charge back the snags they caused.APPSThe SmartMy Interiors appsThree phone apps on the same data as the web. SmartMy Interiors for sales, designers and managers; SmartMy Interiors Site, which works without signal; SmartMy Interiors Client for the homeowner. Built and tested against a test server; not yet run on a phone and not in the app stores.
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