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The short version. A change order is a proposed change to the contract — money, time, or both. It’s the end of a trail that usually starts with an RFI and a stack of T&M tickets.

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Two impacts, tracked separately

Cost impact

What the change costs. Built up from labor, material and equipment — the same things on your T&M tickets.

Schedule impact

How many days it adds. Often genuinely unknown when you write the change order.

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Why schedule impact sits at TBD

Because it honestly often is. You know the extra work costs $14,000 on the day you price it; whether it costs you eight days depends on weather, on the crew you can get, and on three other trades.
TBD is a placeholder, not a waiver. Leaving schedule impact at TBD keeps the claim open — but only if you come back and fill it in. Get a habit: review every TBD change order weekly and put a number on it as soon as you have one.

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The paper trail behind it

A defensible change order points at the documents that created it:
1

The RFI that revealed the change

The answer that changed the work. → Answering an RFI
2

The T&M tickets for the work already done

Signed on site, the day it happened. → T&M tickets
3

The drawing revision, if there is one

Which sheet superseded which, and on what date. → Revisions
The change order is where you get paid. The RFI, the ticket and the revision are what make it stick. Do those three well and the change order writes itself.

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T&M tickets

The six-step ticket.

Cost Code vs. PCO

Which number does accounting need?