How Robey, Inc. Eliminated Paper T&M Tickets and Error-Prone Change Orders for Massive Efficiency Gains, Streamlined Project Closeouts, and Improved GC Relationships

Robey Inc., a drywall, metal framing, and acoustical ceiling company operating across Maryland, DC, and Virginia, faced a common but critical challenge in the commercial construction industry: tracking Time and Material (T&M) Tickets and managing Change Orders efficiently.

Fifteen years ago, Robey transitioned from residential stucco to commercial construction. In this new environment, dealing with Change Orders and out-of-scope work was unavoidable, but the processes to capture and manage this work were outdated and cumbersome. Mike Lauer, a project executive at Robey, described their previous system:

• T&M Tickets were handwritten on paper by superintendents in the field and needed to be physically signed by General Contractor (GC) superintendents, creating inefficiencies and delays.
• Change Orders were managed in Excel spreadsheets, with tickets scanned and logged separately. This disjointed workflow made locating and tracking critical documentation, such as photos and email approvals, a significant burden.
• Field Variability meant inconsistent practices and processes across jobs. Some superintendents were diligent about submitting tickets promptly, while others fell behind, leaving the team scrambling to collect and verify documentation.

“It was a lot of chasing,” Lauer says. Superintendents were spending hours not only writing tickets but also searching for supporting documentation like photos. “That was a big piece of the pie too. It was an hour to write your tickets, but it was three more hours to go back through your phone, and try to track down and organize the pictures and documentation, too.” 

The Pain: Wasted Time and Negotiation Headaches

The inefficiencies with traditional Change Order and T&M Ticket workarounds led to wasted hours and frequent headaches at project closeout. Without a centralized platform:

• Superintendents spent three to four hours a week writing tickets and trying to locate supporting photos and documentation. 
• Office teams spent hours chasing paperwork, scanning documents, and logging data into Excel to compile Change Orders
• Project closeouts were chaotic. Lauer recalled situations where tickets referenced old emails or photos that no one could locate, leading to lengthy email searches and strained relationships with GCs.

“At project closeout, we were sometimes dealing with Change Orders that were six months to a year old,” Mike explained. Without solid documentation, Robey often had to negotiate the value of change orders to maintain good-faith relationships with GCs, sacrificing potential revenue.

The Solution: Centralized and Streamlined Change Order Management

Robey adopted Clearstory’s Change Order Communication Tool to address their challenges, first rolling out the shared, cloud-based T&M Ticket app and later expanding to the full Change Order Request Log. Initially hesitant to move away from their traditional processes, Lauer says project teams quickly realized the benefits:

• Ease of Use in the Field: Clearstory’s app gave field teams an easy-to-use tool to write T&M Tickets digitally, eliminating the need for carbon copy paper tickets, manual workflows, and hunting down GC superintendents for signatures. “The ability to instantly create a solid T&M Ticket was a game-changer,” Lauer says. “With a phone or iPad in hand, we can create tickets as we walk the jobsite.”
• Centralized Documentation: Since Clearstory allows photos and notes to be attached directly to digital T&M Tickets in real time, it eliminates the time-consuming process of tracking down supporting documentation later. “There’s no more, ‘I wrote the ticket, now I need to send an email, and I need to go hunt somebody down,’” Lauer explains. “It’s all in one spot.”
• Transparency and Accountability: Clearstory created visibility across Robey’s teams. Project managers could see T&M Tickets as they were written, matching them to daily reports and ensuring no work slipped through the cracks. 
• Time Savings and Efficiency: By centralizing all T&M Tickets, photos, and Change Order details, Clearstory reduced the time spent on documentation and follow-up. “It took my life from tracking down paper tickets, scanning them, typing out Excel spreadsheets, and finding pricing to putting everything together in a couple of clicks,” Lauer says. “It saves me a tremendous amount of time.”

“The transparency aspect is really important. We’re constantly seeing tickets come in, matching them to daily reports, and ensuring everything lines up.”

Mike Lauer

Project Executive, Robey, Inc. 

The Results: Improved Processes and Greater Confidence

Clearstory transformed how Robey handles T&M Tickets and Change Orders:

• Hours Saved Weekly: Superintendents no longer spend unnecessary hours chasing photos, signatures, or paperwork. Project managers can process T&M Tickets and Change Order Requests in minutes, not hours. 
• Improved Closeouts: Centralized documentation ensures that all T&M Tickets, supporting photos, and approvals are organized and accessible. This eliminated the frantic email searches and documentation gaps at project closeout.
• Easy Negotiations: With solid, well-documented T&M Tickets and Change Order Requests, Robey now avoids the need to negotiate Change Order values due to late or missing or incomplete information.

“The consolidation of everything we needed into one app is what really grew on everybody,” Lauer explains. “Having everything in one place—that’s a big deal.”

Looking Ahead: Full Adoption of Clearstory’s Change Order Platform

After using Clearstory’s T&M Ticket feature for about a year, Robey recently transitioned to the full Change Order solution. The move has already proven valuable, as project managers can now track T&M Ticket work, Change Orders, and supporting documentation seamlessly within a single tool.

“The transparency aspect is really important,” Lauer says. “We’re constantly seeing tickets come in, matching them to daily reports, and ensuring everything lines up. Clearstory and transparency: they’re hand-in-hand for me and that's super important."

For Robey, Clearstory eliminated the chaos of paper tickets, Excel spreadsheets, and scattered documentation. By streamlining the entire T&M Ticket and Change Order process and providing a centralized platform, Clearstory has saved Robey countless hours, improved team accountability, and ensured that every T&M Ticket and Change Order is backed by solid documentation.

“It’s a tremendous time-saver and gives us confidence that everything is documented and accounted for,” Mike concluded. “Clearstory eliminates the multiple workflows necessary to put together a solid change order. I can go straight in there to get the T&M Ticket I need, it’s got all the photos documenting it, it’s got all the signatures with it. Clearstory has truly streamlined our process and made our jobs easier.”