Why Changes Are So Costly

Change orders almost always lead to budget increases and schedule delays, especially now

With inflation showing up in the news and at the grocery store, some homeowners are asking what they can do to keep construction costs from escalating. Part of the answer is to choose the features and products you want before the work begins, and then keep changes to an absolute minimum.

This has always been sound advice, but supply issues and price trends make it especially important now.

There are good reasons that builders don’t like change orders. For one thing, a product or design that’s altered after work starts will nearly always cost more than one that’s chosen and planned for at the design stage. That extra cost doesn’t make the homeowner happy. Changes can also wreak havoc with the schedule.

Say you want to add a couple of decorative beams to the family room ceiling. They’re nonstructural and won’t need to support the floor above, but they still need to be supported, so the framers will have to come back and add blocking to the ceiling cavity above the drywall. The electrician may have to move recessed lights or other fixtures so they’re centered between the new beams.

Or imagine that you tour the house after the plumbing and electrical have been roughed in and decide that you prefer a counter-mounted faucet to the originally specified wall mount. It may seem like a simple change, but the plumber will need to be called back. Electrical wires and fixtures may need to be moved. If the building inspector has already signed off on the rough plumbing, another inspection has to be scheduled. All this can potentially take weeks, delaying the drywall and cabinet installation.

These kinds of changes are more difficult than ever. Most subcontractors are overbooked and can’t find enough skilled workers to meet their needs. The plumber will likely have moved on to another job with its own schedule demands and may not be able to get back to your house on short notice.

And the supply chain remains a source of frustration. Due to shipping and production uncertainties, some items can take a long time to arrive, especially if they’re imported. That new faucet may be coming from a factory in Mexico or China and may not be available for a while. The builder isn’t going to delay job completion for a faucet, so our clients need to be flexible.

Finally, costs for residential building materials continue to climb, according to the National Association of Homebuilders. The Producer Price Index (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) shows that price growth for products used in residential construction has remained above 3% since June 2025. In today’s market, making selections early is still one of the best ways to help keep a project on budget and on schedule.

Your builder puts a lot of effort into scheduling a project that uses labor and materials as efficiently as possible, so making product and design decisions before work starts is ultimately in your best interest.

Don’t get us wrong: we’re not against all changes. It’s your home, and if getting what you want requires a change, then make it. We’re just trying to help our clients understand the implications.