Extra work on a T&M basis is where specialty subs quietly bleed margin. The crew does the work, everyone on site agrees it was extra, and then the ticket gets written three days later, signed by nobody, and rejected at billing time as “unsubstantiated.” The work was real; the paper wasn’t. Running T&M tags with discipline is one of the highest-return habits a field crew can have.

The short version

  • The same-day rule: write the T&M tag the day the work happens and present it for signature before the crew leaves site.
  • A complete ticket has a sequential number, the direction it ties to, location-specific work description, labor by name/classification/hours, and materials with quantities.
  • A signature “for time only” is still worth getting — it settles that the hours and materials are real.
  • If the super won’t sign: note it, photograph the work, and transmit the ticket in writing the same day.
  • A signed tag isn’t payment — give the contract’s written notice, log every tag in a register, and keep unresolved tags on the table every pay-app cycle.

The same-day rule

A T&M ticket is credible in direct proportion to how close it was written to the work. The rule that makes everything else work: the tag is written the day the work is performed and presented for signature before the crew leaves site. Not at week’s end, not when the PM gets around to it. A same-day tag signed by the GC’s superintendent is nearly impossible to dispute. A reconstructed one from Friday memory is nearly impossible to collect.

What goes on the ticket

  • Date, project, and ticket number. Sequential numbering shows there are no gaps — and no after-the-fact insertions.
  • Reference to the direction. What triggered the work: the RFI, the superintendent’s verbal direction (who and when), the changed condition. A tag that ties to a change event is a change order waiting to be priced; an orphan tag is just a complaint.
  • Description of the work, by location. Specific enough that someone who wasn’t there can tell it’s outside your base scope. “Relocated 40 ft of installed conduit, Level 2 electrical room, per super’s direction after RFI 114” — not “extra electrical work.”
  • Labor: names, classifications, and hours. Classification matters because that’s what drives the billing rate — and on public work, the prevailing rate.
  • Equipment and material actually used, with quantities. Small tools and consumables are usually covered by a markup, so list the significant items and don’t pad.
  • Signature block with printed name and title. You want the signature of someone with apparent authority — the superintendent or above, not whoever was standing closest.

”Signing for time only” — and what a signature buys you

GC field staff are usually trained not to sign anything that concedes entitlement, so most tickets get signed “for verification of time and material only.” Take that signature — it’s still valuable. It establishes the hours and materials are real, which converts the later fight from “did this happen” (hard to win) into “who owes for it” (a contract argument you can have from a solid record).

If the super won’t sign at all, don’t escalate on the spot and don’t stop papering. Note “presented to [name], signature declined” on the tag, photograph the work, and send the ticket to the GC the same day in writing. A transmitted-but-unsigned ticket with photos beats a signed ticket that doesn’t exist.

From ticket to money

A signed tag is evidence, not an invoice. It still has to travel your contract’s change process:

  • Give written notice of the extra work within the contract’s notice window — most subcontracts make timely notice a condition of payment, and a T&M tag alone usually doesn’t satisfy it.
  • Log every tag in a running extra-work register: ticket number, date, reference, status (submitted / acknowledged / priced / in a CO / paid). Tags that don’t make it into a change order within a billing cycle or two are the ones that die.
  • Bill what’s authorized; carry the rest visibly. Keep unresolved tags on the table at every pay-app cycle rather than saving them for a year-end omnibus claim — the older a ticket gets, the cheaper it settles.

If the work is disputed, do it under protest — on paper

When the GC directs work you believe is extra and won’t issue a change order, most subcontracts require you to proceed anyway. Do it, but say what you’re doing: confirm the direction in writing the same day, state that you consider it a change, and note that you’re proceeding under protest with a reservation of rights. Then run the T&M tags daily as usual. That combination — written confirmation plus daily quantified tickets — is what turns “we’ll work it out at the end” into a number someone actually pays.