Every undocumented scope change is potential revenue you'll never recover. Here's how to manage variations properly.
The client changes their mind. The builder adds a door. The architect revises the drawings. You do the extra work, assume it'll sort itself out, and invoice at the end. Then spend three weeks arguing. This is how profitable jobs become unprofitable ones.
Issue a variation notice before you do the additional work. Not during. Not after. Before. A written notice — even a brief one sent by email — creates the paper trail that makes payment straightforward and dispute resolution simple.
At minimum: reference to the original quote number and date, a clear description of the scope change, the additional cost (itemised if possible), any impact on the timeline, and an explicit request for approval before work proceeds. The joinery.io variation template covers all of these.
Builders who push back on variation notices are usually testing whether you'll do it anyway. The professional response is consistent: work proceeds once the variation is approved in writing. This is not inflexibility — it's the behaviour of a business that knows its costs and protects its margin.
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