Product update
Change events in construction: find every affected trade and their scope
The Change Agent in TrunkChange traces a change to every affected subcontractor and drafts the change event for Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC for review.
Nov 4, 2026 · By Trunk Tools team · 3 min read
Change events in construction rarely touch one trade, and the change event should name every subcontractor a change affects. The Change Agent in TrunkChange, now with early adopters, starts automatically from a drawing revision or an answered RFI (request for information), traces the change across the project record and lists every affected sub and their scope, including downstream effects, with a rough cost per subcontractor. It then drafts the change event for Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC. Nothing is written to either system until your team reviews it and submits.
The short answer
the Change Agent builds the first draft of each change event, with every affected sub on it, and your project manager reviews and submits it.
01 — The problem
Why do change events miss trades?
Picture a project manager on a hospital job. A bulletin lands with an electrical change in a corridor where drywall and paint are already finished. The wall comes down, the electrician reworks the circuit, the carpenter patches and the painter comes back. Three subs remobilize, and the change event has to name all three.
To build it, the project manager opens the drawings and works page by page through the specs, submittals, subcontracts and schedule. That work competes with every other change on the job. The industry expects a letter of impact within days of a change, and most projects miss that window on volume alone.
Miss a trade and it comes back months later as a dispute with a sub or a hit to contingency. That is where money and time leak.
02 — Change Agent
What does the Change Agent in TrunkChange do?
It starts on its own once a change lands and does the tracing a project manager does by hand.
- It starts from a new drawing revision flagged by TrunkReview, or an answered RFI flagged by TrunkRFI Impact Analysis.
- It links the change across specs, submittals, subcontracts and the schedule.
- It checks whether the affected work is already done, using the schedule and daily logs.
- It lists each affected subcontractor on its own line, with the scope and a rough cost.
- It drafts the change event for Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC.
Not every change becomes a change event. If an RFI answer has no cost, schedule or scope impact, the agent marks the change as not recommended and shows you why, so you can still see what it reviewed.
The first step is already fast. TrunkReview finds the changes in a 20-sheet bulletin in under 10 minutes, against about 6 hours by hand (TrunkReview webinar, May 2026). The Change Agent carries each of those changes through to the trades it touches.
03 — Work in place
Why does it check work that is already built?
A change to work that has not started is a drawing update and a note to the sub. The same change to work already in place means demolition, rework and a return trip for every trade behind it. Flagging finished work early tells the project manager which changes will cost the most, so those get priced first.
04 — Your review
Does it write to Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC on its own?
No. The Change Agent prepares a draft. Your team reviews every line, edits what needs editing and submits. Nothing reaches your project management system until someone on your team does that.
The rough cost on each line is there for triage. It shows where the exposure sits and which sub to call first. Hover over the cost to see how it was calculated, so you can check the assumptions against what you know of the job. Figures are rounded. Treat the estimate as low confidence and check it before you submit.
05 — Limits
What doesn't it do yet?
- It does not run the commercial process: requesting pricing, vetting sub quotes and owner approval stay with your team.
- It does not write change orders.
- Its cost figure is a rough triage signal. Never share it as a quote.
06 — FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Change Agent for?
Project managers, project engineers and assistant project managers who build change events. Senior project managers and project executives review the drafts before anything goes to subs, the architect or the owner.
Do I have to start it?
No. It starts automatically when TrunkReview flags a drawing revision or TrunkRFI Impact Analysis flags an answered RFI that carries a change.
What does my project need?
Subcontracts or commitments loaded with their scope descriptions, a current schedule linked, and TrunkReview and TrunkRFI Impact Analysis turned on.
Next step
Talk to your Customer Success Manager to check whether your project is ready for the Change Agent.