Change Request Form Template
A formal change request document for capturing, evaluating, and approving project scope changes. Includes impact assessment across schedule, cost, and quality, with a structured approval workflow.
What’s inside
- Impact assessment across schedule, cost, and quality
- Formal approval workflow with sign-off fields
- Blank Template + Filled Example
About this download
The Change Request Form Template is a formal Word document for capturing, evaluating and approving changes to an in-flight project's scope, schedule, budget or quality. In every mature delivery framework — PMI, PRINCE2, Scaled Agile, ITIL — change control is a non-negotiable governance process because uncontrolled scope creep is one of the top three reasons projects fail. This template provides the structured workflow to prevent that.
The form covers every section expected by a rigorous change-control board: change request ID and title, requester and date, type of change (scope, schedule, budget, quality, resource, risk, other), detailed description of the requested change, business justification, impact assessment across schedule (new end date, critical path effect), cost (one-off and ongoing, funding source), scope (what is added, modified, removed), quality (acceptance criteria changes, testing impact), resource (people, skills, vendors), and risk (new risks introduced, risks mitigated). A decision section captures approved/rejected/deferred, approver names and signatures, date, and any conditions attached to the approval.
This template is used by project managers submitting requests, by change-control boards and steering committees evaluating them, by PMO staff administering the process, and by sponsors making final approval decisions. It is equally suitable for software projects, construction, manufacturing change orders, marketing campaign pivots, research programme adjustments and organisational restructures.
A disciplined change-control process runs like this: any proposed change is written up on the form (no informal verbal agreements, no email-only approvals), the project manager completes an initial impact assessment within 48 hours, the change board reviews within 5 working days, decisions are published, and approved changes update the baseline plan, budget and risk register the same day. Keeping a complete change-request log is essential for post-project reviews and audits.
The filled example inside the download shows a realistic mid-project change — a scope addition driven by regulatory requirements — complete with a credible impact assessment and a conditional approval. It demonstrates the level of detail and honesty that makes change control effective rather than theatrical.
When a change is approved, Vizually lets you update the visual project board in minutes — new tasks, revised dependencies, updated dates — so the approved change is immediately reflected in the live plan every team member works from.