Lexis Lesson · They Want to Add a Sauna

01

Warm-up · 4 min

Your instinct

State your homework instinct — how would you react to a mid-project addition request?

Predict

Before Phase 02, predict:

1. A change request call has three parts. Which comes first?

Acknowledge the request State the cost and schedule impact Write the change order

02

Input · 8 min

A change request has three parts

Handling an addition mid-project

Part	Does what
Acknowledge the request	Confirms you heard it, before saying anything about cost or time
State the real impact	Cost, schedule, or both — honestly, not minimised
Formalise it	A change order, in writing, before the work starts

The real Vancouver Ave. scope already includes an electric outdoor sauna — this is not a hypothetical feature invented for the exercise. Somewhere in that project’s history, a version of this exact conversation actually happened, even though the call itself, here, is rehearsed rather than transcribed.

Discovery Check

Check what you just read.

1. Is the sauna scenario in this lesson invented, or does it reflect something real?

Entirely invented, with no basis in any real project It reflects a real feature already in the Vancouver Ave. scope It is a hypothetical that never happens on real jobs

03

Focus on Form · 8 min

Saying yes, and formalising it

Handling a change request

Listen and repeat.

Which Part?

Match each phrase to the part of the process it belongs to. Click the phrase, then the part.

Acknowledge

State the impact

Formalise

04

Controlled Practice · 12 min

Respond to the request

MCQ Reading

Choose the response that handles the request properly.

1. A client asks mid-project to add a sauna. Best first response?

"That will cost a lot more." "That’s absolutely something we can add — let me work out what it does to the cost and schedule." "I don’t think that’s a good idea."

2. Once cost and schedule impact are known, what has to happen before the sauna work starts?

Nothing — just start once you agree verbally. A change order, signed off, formalising the addition. The original scope of work has to be rewritten from scratch.

05

Rehearsal · 20 min

The call

Live, unscripted, based on a real change.

Task card

A client, mid-project on a job like Vancouver Ave., calling to ask about adding an outdoor sauna

Acknowledge, quantify the real impact, and formalise the change — all three parts, live.

Acknowledge before you quantify anything.
State a real impact — cost, schedule, or both — even if the exact number is invented for the exercise.
End with the change order, explicitly, as the next step.

Teacher note Push a little on the schedule impact — "but can’t you just fit it in?" — and see whether she holds the honest answer or caves into promising something unrealistic to keep the client happy.

Before You Speak

One check before you start.

1. This rehearsal has to include, in order:

Acknowledge, then quantify, then formalise Formalise, then quantify, then acknowledge Only quantify — the rest is optional

06

Feedback · 4 min

Did all three parts happen?

Acknowledge, quantify, formalise — which of the three, if any, did you skip under pressure?

One More Check

One more check before you move on.

1. According to Phase 02’s table, what does acknowledging first actually do?

It confirms you heard the request, before addressing cost or time It commits you to a price immediately It replaces the need for a change order

07

Wrap-up · 4 min

Before the unit task

Homework. Choose the real project for your unit task. Know its scope well enough to write it two ways and add one genuine change to it.

Quick Check

One check before you go.

1. Before the unit task, you need to know your chosen project well enough to:

Write its scope two ways and add one genuine change Draw its full site plan from memory Nothing — the project can be chosen on the day