Variation
Also called: Change order, variation order
A formal change to a construction contract’s scope, price or time, usually instructed by the client or its representative.
Variations, called change orders in the US, cover added, omitted or changed work. Most contracts require the change to be instructed in writing and valued, often against an agreed schedule of rates.
Owner-directed changes are the second most common cause of construction disputes in the US, according to Arcadis’s 2026 disputes report.
Where it goes wrong
Work agreed on a site walk with “rates later” gets built and billed without a variation, and the quantity surveyor rejects it as in scope.
What Spurby does
Turns each instruction into a record of who asked, where and when, and checks it against the variation register before it’s billed.
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Free template: Decision log template