Time and sequence
Added work has two costs. Most contractors only charge for one.
The customer asks for one more thing and you price the labor and materials. What almost nobody prices is what that request does to everything else - the trade waiting behind you, the job you were supposed to start Thursday, the second trip because the part is not on the truck. The add-on gets billed at cost while the schedule damage gets absorbed silently, and that is where a profitable week turns into a break-even one.
Direct answer
Price added work as scope, schedule, or both. If the request pushes the finish date, costs a return trip, or displaces other work, say so at the moment of approval - not afterwards. The clearest version is a choice: this can be added and the finish moves to Friday, or it can be a separate visit next week.
01Workflow
Pricing the whole impact
- 1
Ask whether the request can be done inside the time already scheduled.
- 2
If it cannot, decide what actually moves: the finish date, another job, or a second trip.
- 3
Price the labor and materials as normal, then state the schedule consequence separately.
- 4
Offer the swap: this can replace something already planned, or it can be added and the date moves.
- 5
Get the approval to cover both the money and the new date, in the same message.
02Practical notes
What matters in the field.
One contractor's rule: never squeeze it in.
Describing how he handles mid-job requests, one contractor is explicit about it: he never tries to fit additional work into the original timeframe or price. Any added scope results in an adjustment to the schedule, the price, or both. That single sentence is the whole discipline, and it removes the temptation to absorb time in order to keep the peace.
The return trip is the cost nobody quotes.
If the added work needs a part you do not have, the real price includes the supply run, the drive, and the lost half day. Contractors routinely quote the fitting and eat the trip. Naming the trip as its own line is not aggressive - it is the largest real cost in the request.
Offer a swap instead of an addition.
A useful move when the day is already full: offer to replace something planned rather than add to it. One contractor handles priority requests exactly this way - if the new item matters more, it displaces an existing task, which then gets scheduled separately. The customer chooses, and neither of you pretends the day got longer.
Say the date out loud, because they are tracking it.
Customers forgive a price more easily than a missed date, especially when other trades, deliveries, or a move-in are lined up behind you. A change order that quietly moves the finish and does not mention it converts a paid add-on into a complaint.
Delay costs are easier to state before than to claim after.
Adding a schedule impact charge to a final invoice reads as a penalty. Stating at approval time that the finish moves, and what that costs, reads as information. Same money, completely different reception, and the difference is entirely about when it was said.
03Checklist
Before you agree to squeeze it in
Whether it fits inside the time already scheduled, honestly assessed
What moves if it does not: finish date, another job, or a second trip
The return trip priced, if one is needed
The new finish date stated in the approval message
A swap offered as an alternative to adding
Approval that covers the money and the date together
Example
How to say it
I can do the extra outlets, but not inside today - it puts us into Friday for the finish.
Two options: I add it and we finish Friday instead of Thursday, or I come back next week as a separate visit with a $95 trip charge.
Either works for me, just let me know which one and I'll write it up that way.
04FAQ
Common questions.
Isn't charging for a return trip going to annoy the customer?
Presenting it as a choice rarely does. What annoys people is discovering a trip charge on an invoice they never approved. Given the option, plenty of customers will simply say do it now and move the date, which is usually the cheaper answer for both of you.
How do I price a schedule impact I cannot measure exactly?
Most contractors do not compute it, they state it: the finish moves by a day, or the visit costs a trip charge at a set rate. Precision matters less than saying it before the work rather than after, and a stated flat trip charge is easier for a customer to accept than a vague delay claim.
What if the delay is my fault, not theirs?
Then it is not a change order and should not be billed as one. Mixing the two is what makes customers suspicious of legitimate schedule charges. Keep the added scope and your own overruns visibly separate.
See what the approval record looks like.
Open the sample PDF first, then download SiteTicket AI if this is close to how you handle added work, customer approval, and invoice backup.
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