Bismarck, North Dakota Development News

City Adopts Updated Change Order Policy to Enhance Flexibility

The City Commission considered and adopted an updated change order policy for the engineering department. The original policy, adopted in 2009, was deemed too restrictive for modern construction timelines and costs. The proposed update introduces a more flexible, percentage-based scale tied to project costs, allowing for larger change order approvals on bigger projects and smaller approvals on smaller projects. The new policy aims to provide greater flexibility and reduce the number of impactful change orders requiring commission approval. Specific thresholds include a cumulative percentage cap of 5% for projects up to $1 million, 4% for projects between $1 million and $2.5 million, and 3% for projects over $2.5 million. The previous limit for an engineer's approval was $25,000.