Approve Potential Change Order

project manager discussing plan with a colleague at a site
Use Case

The project manager has asked that all potential change orders be reviewed and approved by him prior to becoming client change orders. The superintendent ensures all PCO updates have been made, then sends it to the project manager. The project manager receives it and after looking it over, approves it to be become the client change order status.

Some organizations may include an approval workflow at the PCO stage, before converting them to client change orders (CCOs). Approval workflows for PCOs are set up under Project Settings. You can then launch the approval process from the PCO record’s Details tab.

approve PCO workflow


Ideas on Site

PCO approval may or may not be required within your organization. Some companies will use the PCO phase for getting formal internal approval, then use the CCO phase for finalizing the change order with the client.

Other companies may not require a formal approval process at the PCO stage. This will depend on what makes the most sense according to your company’s standard operating procedures.


How to Set Up Workflow Assignments for PCO’s

Workflow Assignments are made at the project level. They allow you to specify approval steps and the users/roles responsible to approve. When a new PCO is created, the appropriate employee is notified via email to review and approve or reject the PCO.

Workflow steps added at the Project Settings level cannot be edited in an individual PCO.


Step 1

Within Project Settings, navigate to Change > Workflow Assignments > PCO Approval Setup.

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Step 2

Provide a step title with a threshold amount. This is the amount that will trigger the approval step.

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Step 3

Assign Approvers by user or role, then click Add.

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The step is added, under the threshold you provided.

You can add additional steps under the same threshold, or additional thresholds with their own steps, as needed.

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Approval Process for PCO’s

With approval workflows set up, follow the steps below to approve a PCO.

Step 1

Select the Save and start approval button.

Step 2

The Start approval process consists of three steps:

  1. View assigned approval.

  2. Add messsage (optional).

  3. Attach supporting documentation (optional).

Click Start.

Step 3

The Approval Status field will update to illustrate In Approval.

Step 4

The appropriate user is notified via email to review and approve or reject the PCO.

Access the following link to learn more:

Workflow Assignments topic


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