What to include in a variation: a five-point checklist
Five details that turn a vague extra into one nobody can argue with later: what changed, why, the price, the time, and the yes.
· 4 min read
A variation that says “extra work — €300” is a variation waiting to be argued about. Extra work on what? Why? Is that with VAT? Did it add a day? Did anyone actually agree to it?
Five details answer all of that. Get them down every time and there’s very little left to dispute.
1. What changed
Describe the extra specifically enough that someone who wasn’t there would understand it. “Replace the rotten joist under the sink run and sister a new one alongside” — not “joist work”.
2. Why it changed
Extras come from two places: the customer asked for it, or you found it once the job was opened up. Say which. “Customer asked to move the radiator to the window wall” and “only visible once the old units came out” tell very different stories if the invoice is questioned later.
3. The price, split out
One bare figure invites the question “how did you get to that?”. Show the working:
- Materials — €260.00
- Labour — €420.00
- VAT at 13.5% — €91.80
- Total including VAT — €771.80
Being clear about VAT matters most. Half of all price confusion is one person meaning “plus VAT” and the other hearing “including”.
4. The effect on time
If the extra pushes the finish date, say so now: “adds about half a day”. It stops a separate argument about why the job ran over.
5. The customer’s yes — with a name and a date
A variation isn’t agreed until the customer has said so, in writing, before the work is done. Note who approved it and when. A reply of “approved” with a name beats a thumbs-up, and a timestamp beats “some time last month”.
And one more: photos
Not on the five-point list because it isn’t always possible — but when it is, a photo of what you found or what they pointed at is the quickest way to end a “that’s not what I meant”.
Keep it all together
The five details only help if you can find them again. Keep them with the job rather than split between a chat thread, a notebook and your camera roll.
The free approval template has this checklist on one page, ready to use on your next job. Variation Vault builds the same five details into every extra — the description, the price split with VAT, the timing, the photos and the customer’s timestamped approval — and keeps them on the job for you.
