Change-order tracking by text

The pattern: COR lookup is most-of-a-PM’s-day

Pick any GC PM running 4-12 projects and time their day. A meaningful slice is spent answering some shape of:

• “What change orders are open against the mech sub right now?”
• “How much aggregated COR exposure on Tower B?”
• “Is COR-118 approved yet?”
• “What CORs has electrical opened in the last 30 days?”
• “Pull the COR log for the executive meeting Friday.”

Each one is “open Procore, click into the project, click the Change Orders tab, filter, sort, screenshot or copy-paste.” 90 seconds of senior-PM time per ask, multiple times a day.

What Forward does for change-order tracking

The PM (or super, or executive) texts the Forward number with the question. Forward hits the Procore change-order endpoint, filters the result, and texts back the cited list:

You: open CORs against mechanical on Tower B

Forward: 7 open CORs against Glen Mechanical on Tower B.
Total exposure: $284,300.
  COR-104  $42,800  open 18d   "added VAV boxes to N wing"
  COR-112  $61,500  open 12d   "ductwork rerouting for clash"
  COR-118  $38,000  open  8d   "additional VFD on AHU-3"
  COR-121  $11,400  open  6d   "exhaust riser revision"
  COR-129  $58,000  open  4d   "isolation valve upgrades"
  COR-133  $42,600  open  2d   "added DDC controllers"
  COR-137  $30,000  open  1d   "added BAS commissioning"

procore.com/projects/.../change_orders

The filters Forward supports today

• By subcontractor / trade.
• By status (open, pending, approved, rejected, executed).
• By date range opened.
• By dollar threshold.
• By specific COR number.
• By project or by aggregating across projects (for portfolio queries).

All of this anchors on Procore’s own change-order data model — Forward doesn’t maintain a parallel ledger. Every answer is a live read against Procore, with the Procore URL cited for verification.

Executive use case: portfolio rollup

For project executives, the texting interface scales differently than the dashboard. A PE running 30 active jobs can text “total open COR exposure portfolio-wide” and get back a single number, broken down by project. No dashboards to learn, no SQL-y filters — just text.

The PM-level workflow stays the same: deep-dive into individual projects via Procore when needed. Forward replaces the “quick look” access pattern, not the full project-management workflow.

What about COR creation?

Forward can draft a change order from a field text, but the draft lands in the approval queue, not Procore directly. A super texts “file a COR for the rebar add we discussed on the slab pour”; Forward drafts the COR with the project + sub pre-filled and queues it in the Forward dashboard. Your PM approves, edits the dollar amount + supporting docs, and confirms — only then does the COR post to Procore.

Writes always require a human approval click. The texting layer is for the half-baked field draft; the dashboard is for the polish + post.

How the audit story holds up

Every COR-related text-message exchange is logged with: the field user’s phone number, the verbatim text, the Procore URL Forward cited, the timestamp. Logs are exportable. Retention follows your plan tier (90d Standard, 365d Pro, 7y Enterprise).

When a COR ends up in litigation or a delay-claim package years later, you have the audit chain showing exactly when the field flagged the issue, when the COR was drafted, when the approval happened, and when Procore was updated.

How to try it

Drop your email above for an early-access conversation. The Procore connection takes about 5 minutes of OAuth + a quick scoping call to pick the right pilot project.

Or text +1 (682) 300-6750 right now — the live demo runs against a synthetic commercial project with open and approved CORs. Try open change orders, CORs against the electrical sub, or total open COR exposure this project.