Client change request form: assess new work before starting

A client change request form separates a new request from the work already agreed, records its impact and asks the right person for a decision. Use this guide to produce one decision-ready request and a small change log without treating a conversation as permission to start.

Content last updated: 21 October 2026.

When should you use a client change request form?

Use it when a client asks for something that might alter an agreed deliverable, deadline, input or responsibility. The useful question is not whether the request sounds small. It is whether the requested result belongs inside the current agreement. A single sentence can add an entire deliverable, while a lengthy comment might simply identify an error.

Start with the existing business proposal or other written agreement. Find the version that both sides actually accepted. A draft in your working folder is not necessarily that version. If there is no clear baseline, meaning an agreed reference for the work, record that uncertainty before estimating the change.

APM describes change control as recording and evaluating requests before making a decision and updating the plan. The worksheet below is an original practical design for a small service business, not an official APM form. Its examples are hypothetical. They are not client results, a legal instrument or a guarantee of payment.

Write the original result before describing the request

Imagine an independent consultant reviewing how a small retailer receives stock. The agreed output is a short findings report based on interviews and sample records. During the assignment, the client asks for a staff training session and a reusable receiving checklist. This is a constructed example for practicing the decision, not an account of completed consulting work.

Create two request rows. Training and a checklist may address the same business problem, but they require different preparation and acceptance checks. Bundling them into “finish the stock process” would conceal what the client is choosing. Copy the original wording about deliverables into the reference field so another person can trace your classification.

The result of this step is a comparison, not a quotation. Do not invent missing details to make the form look finished. If the original report format was never agreed, write “format needs confirmation.” That is different from claiming the client has requested a new format.

Is it a correction, an addition or an unresolved question?

A correction brings the agreed result into line with its existing criteria. If the report uses the wrong store name, fixing it is not automatically a chargeable addition. A new training session, however, is a different activity when the agreement only covered a report. Record the reason rather than relying on your preferred commercial outcome.

Sometimes you cannot classify a request immediately. “Make this more practical” could mean adding an example to an agreed report or building an operational tool. Ask what the client wants to be able to do afterwards. Record the answer in plain language and distinguish it from your interpretation.

A commercial gesture can still be included voluntarily. If you choose to add a small item without increasing the fee, document exactly which item is included and check the timing. “No extra charge” does not mean unlimited revisions or that every future request has been accepted.

Assess impact without pretending an estimate is approval

Ask the person who will do the work about effort, required inputs and dependencies. A dependency is something that must be available before another activity can happen. Training depends on staff availability; a usable checklist depends on somebody confirming the real receiving steps. Neither can safely be inferred from the client's enthusiasm.

Keep fee impact, schedule impact and missing information in separate fields. “Not assessed” is a valid fee entry. Zero is not a neutral substitute, because a reader may interpret it as a free addition. Similarly, do not copy the original deadline into the new request unless the delivery team has checked what accepting the addition would change.

APM's practical guidance recommends considering the consequences of making a change and of not making it. Keep that comparison brief in your own worksheet. For the hypothetical retailer, postponing training leaves a report-only assignment. Adding training introduces preparation and attendance requirements. That statement identifies a trade-off without inventing a financial return.

Use the small-business risk guide if a change introduces wider uncertainty. Do not turn the change form into a full risk register. Record the specific issue that affects this decision, who can clarify it and which work must remain unstarted until clarification arrives.

Copy this request worksheet and log

Open Notepad from Windows Start and create a new document. On Mac, open TextEdit from Finder → Applications, choose File → New and, if needed, Format → Make Plain Text. Copy the worksheet fields below; plain-text rows are enough for the log, so no table layout or new subscription is required. Give each request a stable reference so discussions and decisions can point to the same item. Preserve the original entry when updating its status rather than quietly rewriting the history.

Request reference:
Assignment and agreed reference version:
Requested by and date:
Existing deliverable and acceptance criterion:
Requested result and business reason:
Classification and supporting comparison:
Effort impact and estimating assumptions:
Fee impact: assessed / not assessed
Schedule impact and required client inputs:
Recommendation: include / assess separately / defer
Decision owner:
Actual decision, date and conditions:
Permission to start: pending / confirmed
Updated plan reference:

These are proposed states in the practice example. They do not imply that a client has approved either request. Keep the actual decision blank or explicitly pending until the authorised person responds. Use clear task delegation to distinguish the person preparing an estimate from the person allowed to commit the business.

Ask for a specific decision, not a vague acknowledgement

A useful message might say: “Our current assignment covers the findings report. Your requested receiving checklist is recorded as CR-01 and the training session as CR-02. Before estimating them, please confirm who will own the checklist and which staff need training. The report-only plan remains our reference until we agree a change.”

When you have an estimate, describe the options and conditions. Ask the decision owner to identify the request reference and selected option. “Looks good” may acknowledge the message without choosing between proceeding, postponing and retaining the original work. Clarify the ambiguity rather than treating a friendly reply as approval.

For a new advisory business, the consulting startup guide explains how to package the initial assignment. This workflow begins later, when the reference assignment already exists. A better initial offer reduces uncertainty, but it does not remove the need to handle later requests explicitly.

Once a change is approved, update the relevant plan and tell the people affected. Keep the decision linked to the request. A person delivering the work should be able to see what changed, which conditions still apply and which earlier instructions have been replaced. Do not leave the only record inside a private conversation.

Finish one useful record in fifteen minutes

Choose one current request, remove sensitive details and complete the worksheet. First locate the agreed reference. Next write the requested result and comparison. Then identify the missing input, recommendation and decision owner. The output is a decision-ready draft, even if no external decision has arrived yet.

In Windows Notepad choose File → Save As; in Mac TextEdit choose File → Save. Save change-request-log-v1.txt in Documents; add a date if the name exists rather than overwriting it. Close the note, then reopen that exact file from Documents in File Explorer or Finder. Check the request reference, separate recommendation and decision, and any remaining “pending” fields. With an available agreed reference and working editor, fifteen minutes is a planning target, not measured performance. Saving the form does not establish that the proposed work happened.

If the change touches a broader digital initiative, the digital transformation roadmap can help place it among other priorities. Keep today's task smaller: one request, one comparison and one clear next decision. You do not need a new project management system to achieve that result.