A general contractor is managing a construction project that will add a new conference room to an existing office building. The project was documented in a fixed-price contract that specified a completion date. The contract includes a damages clause imposing a late completion penalty if the conference room is not ready for use by the due date. One month into the implementation, the customer wants to modify the room's lighting equipment. The requested change will delay the project's critical path by three months.

First of all, since the change was proposed by the customer, any delay in the construction project caused by their new request should not trigger the damage clause.

The contractor should use a change management system so the existing baseline is not altered by the delay. A change management system is responsible for managing all the changes that might occur during the project's inception until its completion. It is important that all changes or alterations to the original schedule are properly recorded and authorized (in this case to prevent the damage clause).

By using the change management system, the organization has a standardized methodology for handling changes in the project's schedule. This way any negative impact can be reduced.