Variation pricing
A variation is a change to the contracted scope, and it gets paid on the strength of its paperwork rather than the fairness of the claim. Tendr measures the change, prices it to your own rates and documents it against the instruction that caused it, before the work is done and the leverage is gone. Fixed fee, quoted up front, on your jobs or ones you tendered yourself.
Price it before you build it
Variations should be priced before the work is done. Once the change is built, the leverage is gone and you are asking to be paid for something the builder already has. Notice first, price second, work third. That order is usually written into the contract as a time bar, and missing it can be fatal to the claim no matter how good the numbers are.
Why variations get rejected
Usually because the paperwork does not stand up rather than because the claim is wrong. No written notice inside the time bar, no measured quantities behind the number, no reference to the instruction or drawing revision that caused the change, or a lump sum with nothing underneath it. A builder can reject any of those without ever disputing that the work happened.
What you get
The change measured off the revised drawings, priced against your own supplier and labour rates, and set out so it reconciles line for line with the original bill of quantities. Where the instruction is ambiguous about what changed, that goes in writing rather than into a rate.
If the original tender was priced on a bill of quantities, the variation is measured and priced the same way so the two reconcile.
Frequently asked questions
When should a variation be priced?
Before the work is done. Once the change is built, the leverage is gone and you are asking to be paid for something the builder already has. Notice first, price second, work third.
Why do variations get rejected?
Usually because the paperwork does not stand up rather than because the claim is wrong. No written notice inside the time bar, no measured quantities behind the number, no reference to the instruction or drawing revision that caused the change, or a lump sum with nothing underneath it.
What do you need to price a variation?
The instruction or revised drawing that caused the change, the contract or scope it varies, and your rates. If the original tender was priced on a bill of quantities, the variation is measured and priced the same way so the two reconcile.
Can you price a variation on a job you did not tender?
Yes. A variation can be a standalone piece of work on a contract you priced yourself, quoted as a fixed fee once we have seen it.