Record variations to a contract

Once a contract is active, its bill of quantities changes only through variations (change orders). A variation lists what changes and what it is worth; when it is approved, the bill is updated and the contract's current value grows by the variation's amount. Certificates then measure against the new quantities.

Before you start

• The contract must be active. See Add a client contract and its bill of quantities.

• Raising a variation needs permission to manage contracts; approving it needs permission to approve variations.

Raise a variation

1. Open the contract and its Variations tab, then select New variation.

2. Enter the Title of the change.

3. For an existing item, select Change an item, choose the Item, and enter the New quantity. Enter a New rate only if the rate changes too.

4. For new work, select Add a new item and enter its code, description, unit, quantity and rate.

5. Check the Value of the variation, worked out as you type, and select Save.

6. When it is ready, submit it for approval.

Price it

Select Request pricing to send the change order to the pricing system (for a contract that came from a CRM award). The variation shows Pricing requested, and the pricing team sees a quote request marked Change order. It is priced on the same price list as the awarded offer; when the answer arrives, the variation shows Priced with the estimate reference (and the amount, for a variation without lines yet).

Without the pricing system, select Record price to note the estimate reference yourself.

Approve or reject

Someone with approval permission, other than the person who raised it, selects Approve or Reject (with a reason). The author can take a submitted variation Back to draft to change it.

When your company has a change-order approval route (see Approval routes), a submitted variation shows Waiting on its approval route and is decided by the people of that route, in the Approval Centre too. When your company turns on Change orders need their source document, attach the customer's request or the site instruction before submitting.

Send it to the customer

After approval, select Send to customer, then Record customer answer with the Customer name and their written approval. The variation shows Customer approved or Customer rejected.

What happens on approval

• Each changed item takes its new quantity and rate; new items are added to the bill, marked as coming from a variation.

• The contract's Current value includes the variation.

• A quantity cannot be cut below what certificates have already billed.

• With Bill from the billing plan, the billing plan gains a milestone for the variation, due at once; with Bill change orders after the customer approves, only after the customer's approval.

Common questions

Can I approve my own variation? No. Separating who raises and who approves a change is a basic control on contract value.

Does a variation bill the client? No. It changes what can be measured. The work is billed by the next certificate.