Summary based on the codified FAR text published by acquisition.gov, checked October 2026. Your solicitation may use an agency deviation or a different version; its text controls.
Authorizes specified written changes by the Contracting Officer within the contract's general scope, with an adjustment when those changes affect performance cost or time.
Applicability: Use the version and alternate incorporated in your contract. FAR 43.205(a) prescribes this clause for specified fixed-price acquisitions; the basic clause and service, transportation, professional-service and R&D alternates differ.
FAR 52.243-1 change order checklist
Illustrative supply contract: the Contracting Officer changes the delivery location in writing. Preserve the order and receipt date, compare the original delivery plan with the revised plan, and document any cost or time effects. Check the actual deadline and incorporated alternate before asserting an adjustment.
- Identify the Contracting Officer order, incorporated alternate and authorized change category.
- Record the receipt date and applicable adjustment deadline.
- Separate documented cost/time effects from unsupported assumptions; an adjustment dispute does not by itself authorize stopping performance.
Illustrative guidance, not a determination of your contract rights. Verify the incorporated text and obtain advice for a specific dispute.
Review a new opportunity with the preliminary bid/no-bid checker →Key Requirements
Check that the written order comes from the Contracting Officer and concerns an authorized category of change within general scope
Identify the incorporated alternate: the basic clause addresses specified manufactured-supply, shipment and delivery changes
Assert the right to an adjustment within the contract's deadline; the basic text specifies 30 days after receipt of the written order, subject to its stated exception
Document increases or decreases in cost or time and continue performance as changed while an adjustment is disputed
Common Issues & Pitfalls
Treating a request from someone other than the Contracting Officer as an authorized change order
Assuming the clause permits any change, including work outside general scope
Confusing timely assertion of the right to an adjustment with a fully negotiated adjustment
Missing the incorporated alternate, agency timing variation, or contemporaneous cost and schedule records
Contractor Guidance for Your Bid
Record the written order, receipt date, baseline scope and resulting cost or schedule effects. Check the applicable paragraph and deadline before asserting an adjustment. The clause does not make every additional task compensable, and disagreement over the adjustment does not itself suspend the duty to perform as changed.
Related FAR Clauses
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