Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Total change order price
$16,872
Self-perform portion (marked up)
$10,285
Sub portion (marked up)
$6,420
Bond premium adder
$167
Effective blended markup
16.4%
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How to use this
- 1Enter self-perform direct cost ($).
- 2Enter subcontractor quoted cost ($).
- 3Enter overhead on self-perform (%).
- 4Enter profit on self-perform (%).
- 5Enter markup on sub cost (%).
- 6Enter bond rate adjustment (%).
- 7Read your total change order price on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Change orders get disputed more than any other line item on a job because owners see them as pure profit and contractors see them as compensation for disruption, remobilization, and risk on work that wasn't in the original estimate. A defensible change order price stacks direct costs (labor at burdened rate, material, equipment) then applies markup tiers most contracts allow: overhead and profit on self-performed work, and a reduced markup on subcontracted or already-marked-up cost to avoid markup-on-markup. Many AIA and public contracts cap change order markup at 10-15% overhead/profit combined and often limit subcontractor tier markup to 5-10% on top of the sub's own markup. This calculator separates self-perform cost from sub cost, applies your markup rates to each, adds a bond premium adjustment if the change order increases contract value, and returns the total change order price plus the effective blended markup rate you're carrying.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Self-perform direct cost: 8500 $
- Subcontractor quoted cost: 6000 $
- Overhead on self-perform: 10 %
- Profit on self-perform: 10 %
- Markup on sub cost: 7 %
- Bond rate adjustment: 1 %
Results
- Total change order price: $16,872.05
- Self-perform portion (marked up): $10,285.00
- Sub portion (marked up): $6,420.00
- Bond premium adder: $167.05
- Effective blended markup: 16.4%
What each field means
Inputs
- Self-perform direct cost ($)
- The self-perform direct cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 8500 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Subcontractor quoted cost ($)
- The subcontractor quoted cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 6000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Overhead on self-perform (%)
- The overhead on self-perform used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 10 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–30 %.
- Profit on self-perform (%)
- The profit on self-perform used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 10 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–30 %.
- Markup on sub cost (%)
- The markup on sub cost used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 7 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–20 %.
- Bond rate adjustment (%)
- The bond rate adjustment used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 1 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–3 %.
Results
- Total change order price
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Self-perform portion (marked up)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Sub portion (marked up)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Bond premium adder
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Effective blended markup
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why apply different markup rates to self-perform versus sub cost?
The sub already built their own overhead and profit into their quote, so stacking your full OH+P rate on top double-charges the owner for overhead. Most contracts and industry norms cap markup on subcontracted change order work at 5-10%, versus 15-20% combined OH+P on cost you self-perform, because you're carrying the labor risk and supervision burden directly on that portion.
Should overtime premium be included in change order labor cost?
Only if the change genuinely requires acceleration to hold the schedule; routine changes priced at straight-time rates even if the crew happens to be on overtime elsewhere. Document the schedule impact separately with a time impact analysis if you're claiming overtime, because owners routinely reject overtime premiums on changes they view as sequencing-neutral.
How does a bond premium adjustment work on a change order?
Performance and payment bonds are priced as a percentage of total contract value, so every dollar of added scope technically increases your bond exposure. Many contractors add 0.5-1.5% of the change order value to true up the bond premium, especially on public work where the bonding company recalculates annually based on total bonded volume.
What's a common negotiation mistake with change order markup?
Quoting a single blended markup percentage across the whole change order invites the owner to negotiate that one number down, taking your self-perform margin with it. Break out labor, material, equipment, and sub cost separately with markup shown on each so the negotiation happens on defensible categories instead of one round number.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Change Order Pricing Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/construction-change-order-pricing
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/construction-change-order-pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Change Order Pricing Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Change Order Pricing Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/construction-change-order-pricing) (2026).