Change order approval workflow with routing and escalation
Change orders routed to the right approver by amount and project, with reminders, escalation and a logged decision on every one.
The problem
Change orders sit in someone's inbox while the work they cover is already being done. Nobody can say quickly which ones are waiting, on whom, or for how long, and the age of the oldest unapproved change order only surfaces at month end when margin is already exposed.
What we build
We build an approval workflow that starts when a change event or change order is created, routes it to approvers based on your thresholds, and chases them until a decision is recorded. The decision, the approver and the timestamps are written back to the change order record and to a log you can report on.
How it works
- 1
Trigger on the change
The workflow starts from a Procore change event or change order, a SharePoint list item or a form, using an event trigger where the system offers one and a scheduled check where it does not.
- 2
Route by your rules
Approvers are chosen from an approval matrix you own: amount bands, project, cost code or contract type. Changing a threshold means editing the matrix, not the workflow.
- 3
Remind and escalate
Approvers get the request in Teams or email with the amount, the cost code and a link to the record. Unanswered requests are reminded on a set cadence and escalated to a named backup after an agreed number of days.
- 4
Write back and log
The decision and comments go back onto the source record, and each step is logged with timestamps so cycle time and the oldest open item are visible in reporting.
- Procore
- Power Automate
- n8n
- Microsoft Teams
- Outlook
- SharePoint
- Power BI
The value it creates
Time saved
Project managers stop chasing approvals by hand; we compare request-to-decision time from email timestamps before the build with the workflow's own timestamps after.
Early warning
Change orders past the agreed age are escalated while there is still time to price, negotiate or stop the work.
Standardization
Every change order on every job follows the same thresholds and approval path, with exceptions flagged rather than handled differently by each team.
Visibility
A live list shows what is waiting, on whom and for how long, instead of a month-end surprise.
Proof
Related use cases
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Weekly owner update reports assembled from live project data
A weekly owner update built from live project data, with an optional AI-drafted narrative that a project manager reviews before it is sent.
Frequently asked questions
Procore already has change order statuses. Why add a workflow?
If your Procore setup already routes approvals the way you want, we build around it rather than duplicate it. The workflow adds what is usually missing: thresholds you control, reminders, escalation to a backup, and a decision log you can report on across every project.
Can approvers decide from Teams or email?
Yes. With Power Automate, approvals can be answered in Teams, Outlook or the approvals app, and the decision is written back to the source record. Anything that changes contract value still lands on the change order itself, so the system of record stays correct.
How do you measure whether it worked?
We capture request-to-decision time and the age of the oldest unapproved change order before go-live, then compare them with the timestamps the workflow logs afterward. Our production reporting build already scores projects on the age of the oldest unapproved change order, so the measure can sit next to your other project health figures.
Next step
Which report or workflow would you like to improve?
Tell us what your team does today, which systems are involved, and what you want to change. We'll discuss whether there is a practical fit.
Prefer email? charley@buildflows.ai