Case: the change order never written
In one paragraph
A sole owner on a $9,600 kitchen remodel finds aluminum branch wiring behind the wall, tells the homeowner it has to be dealt with, hears 'do what you have to do,' and spends two extra days and $1,900 in materials fixing it. At the final, the homeowner pays the contract price and disputes the extra. There is no signed change order, the release the homeowner asked for did not list the extra as an exception, and the contractor's only path to the $3,400 is a lawsuit on an equitable theory. The names are invented; the statute is quoted.
The rule
A change order becomes part of a home improvement contract only if it is in writing and signed by the parties before the changed work begins (B&P 7159(c)(5), (d)), and it is not enforceable against the buyer unless it identifies in writing, before the work, the scope, the amount added or subtracted, and the effect on progress payments or completion (7159(e)(3)(B)); the contractor's non-compliance leaves only legal or equitable remedies against unjust enrichment (7159(e)(3)(C)). A statutory release waives rights for change-order work only if the change order was fully executed before the release was signed, unless listed as an exception (Civil Code 8132, 8136).
Why it matters
The two-minute form is the difference between an invoice line the customer already agreed to and a $3,400 argument the contractor has to take to court to make. The case shows the exact conversation where the form should have appeared, and why the customer's 'do what you have to do' is not the authorization the statute requires.