According to the latest court of appeals opinion in Aspen Builders v. Raisch, the answer is No.
Residential contractors in all of Minnesota, Hugo, Duluth, or otherwise, must reduce their contracts to writing. Change orders are also required to be in writing. The exact form of the writing is not mandated.
In Aspen, an initial contract was written and agreed to by the parties. As is customary, changes ensued. The sworn construction statement prepared by Aspen was two months after the written contract, but also included language that it was a comprehensive list of materials, suppliers, and the like. Lacking was any evidence necessary to amend a contract: acceptance. Even if the scope of work on the written construction statement is not the same as that in the contract and even if all the work was done, it does not modify the contract.
Aspen highlights a very critical error made by essentially every contractor: failing to get change orders in writing, with a price, and signed off on by the client. I cannot urge builders and contractors enough to take the time to tidy up this paperwork. It is not fun, but it covers you in a dispute.
