Turn field changes into paid proof before the job moves on.
ChangeProof helps electrical, HVAC, concrete, drywall, excavation, and other small specialty contractors capture photos, time, approvals, notices, and cost impact into a GC-ready change-order packet.
Change-order packet
Extra work #47 · proof status
Before/after photos
8 images tied to timestamp
Crew time ticket
2.5 hours missing foreman initials
Approval trail
GC text and email attached
Notice deadline
Send by Friday 4pm
Who this is for
Small subs that do the extra work first and reconstruct the proof later.
The narrow customer is a small specialty contractor with field crews and a lean office: electrical, HVAC, concrete, drywall, excavation, roofing, or similar trades where field conditions often create legitimate out-of-scope work.
The day-in-the-life pain is familiar: a foreman texts photos, the GC verbally approves, the crew moves on, the office prices the work days later, and then someone asks for proof that should have been captured while the wall, trench, panel, or ceiling was still open.
Narrow customer
U.S. English-language small specialty contractors with 5-50 field workers and frequent change-order exposure.
Paid problem
Extra work becomes delayed, disputed, or written off when photos, time, approvals, notices, and cost impact are scattered.
Validation offer
Join to get a concierge proof packet assembled from one redacted messy change-order trail before software is built.
Product workflow
Input once in the field. Check missing proof. Export a packet the office can send.
The first version is not another all-in-one construction suite. It is a focused receivables-proof workflow for the moment extra work becomes billable but not yet defensible.
Input
Foreman adds job, extra-work note, photos, crew time, material receipts, who approved it, and any notice deadline from a phone before the site context disappears.
Checks
ChangeProof flags missing before/after photos, no approval trail, no cost impact, stale notice date, duplicate log entries, and packets waiting on office review.
Output
The office gets a dated GC-ready packet: timeline, evidence gallery, labor/material basis, approval trail, and send-ready PDF/link for the change-order request.
Features tied to evidence
Field-first capture
A foreman can create a packet in under two minutes without learning a full project-management system.
Missing-proof radar
Every packet shows what is safe, risky, or blocked before the invoice or change-order request is sent.
Office review queue
Admins see which extras need pricing, notice language, approval follow-up, or accounting handoff.
GC-ready packet export
Export a clean timeline with photos, time, materials, approvals, and plain-language cost basis.
Concierge validation
Early users can send one messy real change-order trail and get a manually assembled sample packet.
Public evidence
The strongest signal is field-to-office proof loss, not generic construction productivity.
GitHub Issues · change-order proof loss
A public problem report describes specialty contractors losing payment leverage when photos, time tickets, notices, cost impact, and approvals are not preserved before crews move on.
GitHub Issues · validation wedge
A related validation plan narrows the wedge to U.S./English-language small specialty contractors and asks whether a focused proof workflow can win adoption without replacing the whole PM stack.
Reddit r/smallbusiness · vendor volume breaks admin
A recent small-business thread asks how operators handle supplier invoices after scaling past a handful of vendors, reinforcing the broader pattern that admin proof workflows break at volume.
GitHub Issues · permit tracker WTP caution
A public permit-tracker experiment flags the key risk for workflow tools: the spreadsheet/calendar workaround is painful, but willingness to switch must be validated with a narrow buyer.
Objections
Why this is not another project-management rollout.
Why not Procore or Buildertrend?
Those systems can be useful, but many small subs either do not control the GC's platform or do not need a full PM rollout. This wedge is contractor-owned receivable proof.
Why not just use texts and photos?
That works until the office has to reconstruct who approved what, which crew was there, what materials were consumed, and whether notice was sent before billing.
Is this legal advice?
No. ChangeProof organizes evidence and highlights missing proof. Contract language and lien/notice rules still require the contractor's own process or adviser.
Why would crews adopt it?
The first validation test avoids complex software. It asks whether a simple packet flow is valuable enough for real contractors to submit a messy example.
Early waitlist offer
Send one messy change-order trail. Get back a proof packet.
Demand is validated only if real contractors share a redacted example and say the packet would help them bill faster, reduce write-offs, or avoid a dispute.