Change Order Evaluator
Decide on a mid-project change order: who pays, what it does to the loan, the memo
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with The Helvetica Group. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
When a contractor or borrower submits a change order mid-build, this works out whether the change is real, who should pay for it, and whether the loan is still whole afterwards — then drafts the decision memo before the work goes ahead.
What it does
- Sorts the change into a category — unforeseen condition, code requirement, design error, owner upgrade or contractor overrun — and says who normally bears the cost
- Measures the cost and schedule impact, including what extra months do to the interest reserve and maturity
- Decides the funding source: remaining contingency, genuine savings on other lines, or new borrower cash
- Re-tests loan-to-cost, loan-to-value on completion and whether the as-complete value still holds
- Flags whether the loan documents appear to require lender consent, and drafts an approve, approve-with-conditions or decline memo
When to use it
- A change order or revised bid arrives mid-project
- A borrower wants to use contingency
- The schedule is slipping because of a scope change
- Before the next draw, when a change is still unapproved
What to have ready
- The change order and its supporting documents
- The current budget with contingency used and remaining
- The construction contract type
- The change-order section of the loan documents, and the loan terms
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"Change order #[N] on [ADDRESS]: the GC wants [AMOUNT] and [DAYS] more days for [REASON]. Contingency left is [AMOUNT]. Should we approve it, and who pays?"
What you get back
A decision memo with the change's category, cost and time impact, a before-and-after leverage table, the cash deposit the borrower must make to keep the loan in balance, a consent check, and numbered approval conditions.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- It never treats a change order as new loan money, and it flags contract and loan-document questions for counsel rather than deciding them.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
Change Order Evaluator
A change order is where a construction loan quietly changes shape. The cost goes up, the schedule goes out, the contingency disappears on month three, and the draw reviewer only finds out when the loan is out of balance. The lender's questions are simple — is this change real, who pays for it, and is the loan still whole afterwards — but they have to be answered before the work is done, not after. This skill answers them and writes the memo.
Works for: ground-up and rehab loans with a holdback and a contingency, at any stage of the build. It evaluates one change (or a bundle submitted together). Line-by-line draw review stays with construction-draw-reviewer; the month-by-month reserve math stays with interest-reserve-calculator.
Step 1 — Intake
| Input | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The change order | ✅ | Description, dollar amount, days added, who initiated it, signatures |
| Reason and support | ✅ | Engineer's or inspector's letter, code official's notice, revised bid, photos |
| Current schedule of values | ✅ | Budget by line, funded to date, remaining |
| Contingency | ✅ | Original, used to date, remaining — and every prior change order |
| Construction contract type | ✅ | Fixed price, cost-plus, or cost-plus with a guaranteed maximum — decides who bears overruns |
| Loan documents' change-order provisions | ✅ | Consent thresholds, what counts as a material change, balancing requirements |
| Loan terms | ✅ | Commitment, rate, maturity, interest reserve remaining, as-complete value |
| Latest inspection and cost-to-complete | Helpful | To test whether other lines are also running over |
| Plans and permit status | Helpful | Whether the change requires revised plans or a permit revision |
Minimum viable: the change order, the schedule of values with contingency remaining, and the contract type. Without the loan documents' consent provisions, the memo says "consent requirement unconfirmed — read section [__] of the loan agreement" rather than guessing.
Step 2 — Classify the change
The category decides who should pay.
| Category | Example | Usual funding answer |
|---|---|---|
| Unforeseen site condition | Rock, poor soils, buried debris, hidden rot in a rehab | Contingency first; contract may shift it to the owner |
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
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