FAQs PCO, CO and CDs

Q: Cancel the accidental approval of a PCO and revert back to allow for editing. 

A: If any of the project team members (Prime, Owner or Contractor) accidently approve a PCO before it should have been then the easiest way is for the Prime consultant to decline the PCO on behalf of the Owner and Contractor, and then re-open the PCO. 

However, if the PCO was accepted by all parties and became a CO, as long as it has not been included on a Certificate for Payment, the Prime can still re-open it and edit it again.  Please note, that once the CO is re-opened it will need to be re-issued and all approvals made again.

Q: How do I create a Change Directive (CD)? 

A: To create a Change Directive, start by first creating a proposed change order. Once you do you at the top of the form on the left hand side, either Proposed Change Order or Change Directive can be selected.  By doing so the title and terms & conditions for your change directive will change to match. Watch this video on how to create a change directive.

Q: How does a Proposed Change Order (PCO) become a  Change Order (CO)?

A: In order for a PCO to become a CO, 3 approvals are required in the following order:

1. Prime Consultant
2. Owner
3. Contractor

Once all 3 people above have approved, the PCO becomes a CO with the same numbering, and will appear on the Certificate for Payment (CP).

The Prime also has the ability to accept on behalf of the Owner and Contractor.  If this is the case, if a separate record of this is needed, then the Prime can add a note to the  "Comments & History". For example: "CO was approved by the Prime on behalf of the Owner"

Q:  How to create a quote that is a credit to the contract.

A:  To create a CO that will provide a credit to the contract, enter a negative (-) quote.  For example  -100.

Q: How to cancel, delete or decline a PCO.

A: Anyone in the approval process (Prime, Owner, Contractor) can cancel a PCO by clicking on the “Decline” button.  When Declining you there is also an option to notify others on the project team that the PCO was cancelled and comments can be added for records in the Comments & History section of the form.  

Once declined, there is still the opportunity to re-instate the PCO by clicking the "Reopen " button.  This short video on Declining a PCO also has additional information.

Q: Can an approved CO be reopened?

A: Please refer to this short video to help explain the process of re-opening a CO and how rform links the CO's with the Certificates for Payment.

Q: Does RForm Email Attachments?

A: No RForm does not email any attachments. Whenever you attach a file to a form or upload a file to the project files area, the notification email issued will only provide a link for the team member to log into RForm and access the file there. 

Q: Is tax included in a PCO quote?

A: The Contractor’s PCO quotation should not include any value added taxes.  When the Certificate for Payment is created, and the CO is included in the totals, RForm will calculate the Value Added Taxes based on the amount of the Contract Price payable in the current period.

Generally, industry standard is the value added taxes are not included in quotations, and are instead levied on the CONTRACT PRICE and computed as a percentage.  The Contract price is usually defined as the amount stipulated in contract which is exclusive of Value Added Taxes.

Q: How to Edit a Quote without deleting or removing the PCO? 

 A:  There are multiple ways to edit a Proposed Change Order if a change needs to be made without having to delete the PCO. The first example is if a change needs to be made to the PCO itself.  Clicking the edit button, you can go back in, change any of the information that you want and you can save it again, and then issue it. 

If it the PCO has been “Issued” and (not draft), the PCO can still be edited.  Click the edit, make changes, and save again.  At this point the PCO with changes can be resent to the project team.  Alternatively, if a quote has been added and you would like a record of the change to be kept, click the "Make Revision" orange button, and a new PCO will be created and the same number will be used with R1 suffix added.

Lastly, if the PCO has been approved as is now a CO, and it has not yet been processed on a certificate, it can be re-opened.  However, by re-opening a CO, reverts it back to a PCO that needs to be issued and approved again.