Available for early adopters starting October 19
In short
A drawing revision or RFI answer lands on your project. The Change Event Agent catches it and triggers automatically, traces it across your project record, finds every affected subcontractor and scope (downstream trades included), estimates a rough cost per line, and drafts the change event for Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC.
You stop building change events from scratch. You review one that is already built, edit it, and submit.
The problem: one change, many trades
Changes are constant. The hard part is assembling the full picture fast enough to act on it.
Today that work is manual. A project manager gets a bulletin, opens the drawings, and reasons through specs, submittals, subcontracts, and the schedule, page by page. It takes four to six hours per change event, under deadline pressure.
The industry standard is a letter of impact in about three days. Most projects miss it on volume alone.
Why it matters: one change rarely hits one trade. An electrical change after drywall and paint means:
Demo the wall, rework the electrical, patch, and repaint
Remobilize the carpenter, painter, and electrician separately
Miss one of those trades and it comes back months later as a dispute, a denied sub claim, or cost absorbed by contingency.
What the Change Event Agent does
It runs on its own. Nothing for your team to start.
Catches the change: a new drawing revision or RFI response comes in. TrunkReview flags drawing revisions. TrunkRFI flags RFI answers that carry a real change in cost, schedule, or scope.
Traces the impact: it links the change across your RFIs, submittals, subcontracts, scopes of work, schedule, and daily logs.
Finds every affected party and scope: the actual subs on your project, not generic trade labels. Downstream trades included.
Sizes the exposure: a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost per affected line, plus a call on whether the change is in scope or out of scope.
Checks for duplicates: flags past change events that may already cover this change.
Drafts the change event: a Change Event for Procore, a PCO for Autodesk, or a PCI for CMiC, prefilled and ready for your review. Once you approve it, you submit the change directly from Trunk Tools.
What makes it different
It follows the ripple, not just the change: add a window where there was none, and the agent looks past the window to the work that opening affects and the trades that own it.
It checks what is already built: it weighs each change against work status from your schedule and daily logs. A change to work not yet started is minor. The same change to work already in place can mean demo and rework.
It names your subs: every affected line maps to a subcontractor on your project, with the scope they need to review or price.
It shows its sources: every line cites the document behind it. No black box.
You stay in control: nothing is written to your project management system until you review and submit.
What you will see
Change Analysis: every change in one list
Find Change Analysis in the left nav. Each row is a change the agent detected.
Origin: the trigger, a drawing revision or an RFI
Trades affected: your triage read at a glance
Cost: the ROM, until a change order exists
External status: whether a record exists in your project management system yet
Summary: what changed, in plain language
Open any row for the full analysis. The summary says what changed, where, and which trades it touches. A "Change event recommended" badge tells you when the agent thinks this needs a change event.
Change analysis: the topline read
Affected trades, estimated cost ROM, in scope or out of scope, change reason, and change type. The agent fills these from the fields your project management system already uses.
Affected trades: the heart of the analysis
One row per affected subcontractor scope, sorted so the biggest exposure sits on top.
Each row has its own ROM and a list of what that sub needs to review or price
Downstream trades are included
Credits show as negative lines
GC costs, like extended general conditions, show as general change work
Thumbs up or down on every row tells us what the agent got right and what it missed
Citations: verify any line in seconds
Every line item ends with a citation marker. Hover it to see the source document and the exact passage behind the line, such as an RFI response. A full list of documents used in the analysis sits below, each with a View link.
Possible duplicates: flagged, never hidden
If a past change event may already cover this change, the agent flags it at the top. You confirm or dismiss each match. The draft is created either way, so nothing gets silently dropped. You decide what to adjust.
ROM: where to look, not what to pay
The ROM is a triage signal. It tells you who to call first and where the exposure sits. It is not a committed price.
Unit costs are grounded in outside construction cost databases
Quantities come from your project documents and subcontracts, when they exist
The math is visible: quantities assumed, unit costs applied, and a low to high range for each line
You can correct it: if a quantity assumption is wrong, edit it in the draft
ROM is the only low-confidence output, and it is labeled that way. Affected parties and scopes are the core output. Verify the ROM before you submit.
Draft and submit: shaped for your system
Click Draft change event. A panel opens beside the analysis with a draft shaped for your system: a Change Event for Procore, a PCO for Autodesk, or a PCI for CMiC.
Every field is prefilled and editable
Per-line ROM carries over
Submit is the only action that writes to your system
Once submitted, the analysis shows the linked record, for example "CE-018 created in Procore," with a link to view it in your system.
What it does not do today
We would rather tell you up front.
No commercial loop: it does not request pricing, manage owner approvals, or close change orders.
No quantity takeoffs: ROM is a rough estimate by design.
What your project needs
Requirement | Why it matters |
Subcontracts or commitments, with scope descriptions filled in | This is how the agent finds the right subs and scopes. |
Change modules enabled (change events and change orders) | This is where your drafts land and how we track the change back to a final executed change order. |
A current schedule (.xer or .mpp) | This tells the agent what is already built. |
Daily logs (recommended) | Sharper read on work status. |
RFIs and drawings connected | The record the agent traces changes across. |
FAQ
Who is it for?
Project managers, project engineers, and assistant project managers who build change events. Senior project managers and project executives use it to review before anything goes to subs, the architect, or the owner.
Do I need to start it?
No. It runs when TrunkReview detects a drawing revision or TrunkRFI detects an RFI answer that carries a change.
Will it write to Procore, Autodesk, or CMiC without me?
No. Nothing is written until you review the draft and click Submit. The record lands as a draft in your system.
How accurate is the ROM?
It is a low-confidence triage estimate, clearly labeled. It shows the quantities and unit costs behind each line so you can check it and edit it before you submit. Do not treat it as a price.
What if it misses a trade?
Tell us with a thumbs down and a short reason. A missed trade is the most important signal we track, and it directly improves the agent.
What if a bulletin and an RFI cover the same change?
The agent flags the possible duplicate at the top of the analysis. You confirm or dismiss it, and decide what to adjust in the draft.
Get started
Talk to your Customer Success Manager to check whether your project is ready and to turn on the Change Event Agent.
Questions? Reach out to support@trunk.tools.