QScope

Change control

Manage construction variations from instruction to final account

Recording the amount is the easy half. What matters two years later is which rule you valued it under, who instructed it, and whether it has already been paid.

  • Basis of valuation from the RICS hierarchy, contract rates through to lump sum quotation
  • Contract clause, so the route is on the record
  • Extension of time in days and whether loss and expense applies
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Variations
VO-01 Additional window to gable
Basis of valuationContract rates
Contract clauseJCT 5.6.1
Extension of time2 days
Loss and expenseNo
Instructed byR. Hall, architect
Subtotal£1,000.00
Certified in valuations£1,000.00
Still to certify£0.00

That is the part you are asked for when the final account is disputed, and it is the part that is always missing.

The reasoning, not just the number

A spreadsheet records that a variation was worth one thousand pounds.

It does not record that you valued it at contract rates under clause 5.6.1, that it carried two days of extension of time, and that loss and expense was not claimed. That is the part you are asked for when the final account is disputed, and it is the part that is always missing.

Client Valuations

Approved variations become valuation lines

Under JCT a variation is valued in the periodic valuation, not paid separately on the side.

  • Retention is deducted once, in the certificate, exactly as JCT expects
  • The variation shows its own certified percentage on the variation record
  • A certified variation cannot also be marked Paid, so nothing counts twice
Client Valuations
Adding variations to PC-04
RefValueThis period
VO-01 Additional window£1,000£1,000.00
VO-03 Revised M&E layout£3,240£1,620.00
Retention deducted on variations(£131.00)
Counted twice?Guarded

Add Variations pulls every approved variation into the certificate as a normal line, so retention, progress and the statutory dates run down one track.

Client Valuations

Where an approved variation is actually certified

VO-01 is worth £1,000, but it is not money until it is certified, and under JCT it is certified inside the valuation, not on a separate note.

  • Approved variations pull in as valuation lines
  • Retention deducted once, in the certificate
  • Certified percentage written back to the variation record
Client Valuations
Adding variations to PC-04
RefValueThis period
VO-01 Additional window£1,000£1,000.00
VO-03 Revised M&E layout£3,240£1,620.00
Variations this period£2,620.00
Less retention at 5%(£131.00)

Add Variations pulls VO-01 and VO-03 into the certificate as lines, so retention is deducted once and the certified percentage is written back to the variation record.

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Final account

Every variation lands in the adjusted contract sum

A variation that is approved but never carried into the final account is money left on the table.

  • Approved variations added to the contract sum
  • Omissions carried through as negative figures
  • Provisional sums adjusted against what the work actually cost
Final account
Statement, 11 Essex Road
Original contract sum£219,250.33
Variations, approved+£1,000.00
Provisional sums adjusted(£2,400.00)
Adjusted contract sum£217,850.33

QScope rolls the approved variations into the adjusted contract sum automatically, so VO-01 and the rest are in the account without being re-keyed.

Instructions

No instruction behind it, no variation

The first thing a payer refuses is a variation with no instruction to authorise it.

  • Each instruction records the variation it raised
  • Instructions with a cost effect and no variation, shown in red
  • Verbal instructions awaiting written confirmation, shown in amber
Instructions
Register
AI-006 · Additional windowVariation VO-01
AI-019 · Additional drainageNo variation raised
CVI-004 · Verbal, 12 MayAwaiting confirmation
With a cost effect19 of 24

AI-019 changes the cost of the works and has no variation against it. As things stand it will not reach the final account.

Variations

The client decides the variation from a link

Send the variation by link and the client answers on the page: accept, reject, ask a question or propose a different figure.

  • Accept sets the variation to approved, reject sets it to rejected
  • The answer shows on the variation with a via link badge, the name and the time
  • A counter-figure comes back with the option to issue the variation order at your own figure
Variations
VO-07 · answered by link
Proposed£4,860.00
Client's figure£4,400.00
Answera different figure, with comment
Next stepissue with my figure

You are emailed when the answer arrives. Once approved, Add Variations brings it into the next valuation as a work line, valued by percentage like any other.

Variations

Subcontract variations kept apart from the client

Set Applies to on a variation to a subcontractor and it changes that subcontract only, not the client account.

  • A variation set to Main contract (client) changes the adjusted contract sum.
  • A variation assigned to a subcontractor changes only that subcontract sum.
  • + Add variations brings the subcontractor's approved variations into their own valuation.
Variations
Subcontract variations kept apart from the client
In the program
Applies tofield
Main contract (client)field

On screen: “Applies to”, “Main contract (client)”.

Variations

From a pin on the drawing to a variation

Mark up a change on a drawing and Raise variation from this pin opens a new variation with the title, location and cost already filled in.

  • The variation takes the pin title, location, drawing name and pin number.
  • The pin then shows that a variation has been raised from it.
  • The task card carries a VO tag that opens the variation.
Variations
From a pin on the drawing to a variation
In the program
Raise variation from this pinbutton
A variation has been raised from this pin.button
VO-NNbutton

On screen: “Raise variation from this pin”, “A variation has been raised from this pin.”, “VO-NN”.

Every other function on the Variations screen

22 functions the sections above do not cover, each as it works in the program.

Functions 1 to 11

01Press + New VO and the variation opens with the next number, today's date, Pending status and the project retention rate.
02Record the Date Paid against a variation paid outside the certificate.
03Each variation carries its own line items with quantity, unit and rate, and the amount is worked out for you.
04Remove £0 rows clears the empty line items from a variation in one click.
05Copy the review link and send it yourself if you prefer.
06Withdraw link stops the link at once, and anyone who opens it afterwards is told the sender withdrew it.
07Addresses from the client side of the project team are offered under the email box, and nothing is sent until you press Send by email.
08After the client accepts, Issue variation order opens the print with the agreed figures, and issuing stays with you.
09When the client proposes a different figure, one button changes the rate on a single line item so the subtotal matches theirs, and both figures stay on record.
10A subcontractor's approved variations are added to their valuation with + Add variations, just as on the client side.
11A client-side guest can read and print the variations register, and a guest with edit rights can change it.

Functions 12 to 22

12Once a variation is in a valuation its status is locked at Approved until you remove the line from that valuation.
13Payment can only be recorded on an approved variation, so a pending one never reaches the project money.
14A variation order will not print without Instructed by and Basis of valuation, and you are warned before any other empty field prints as a dash.
15When the client answered by link, the printed order says who accepted it and on what date.
16The email carries the description, reason, basis of valuation, time impact and line items, with one View button and no buttons that answer.
17The card shows when the link was sent, to whom, and how many times it has been opened.
18An accept or reject closes the document, while a question or a different figure leaves it open for a further answer.
19The Variations Report in Reports lists every variation with its status, payment and net effect on the contract sum.
20The dashboard lists every variation that is raised but not yet approved, with a link straight to it.
21Variations decided is one of the measures on the project health card.
22The audit trail records when each variation was created, changed status or was deleted, and which answers came in by link.

Who it is for

One change, four people it touches

You are applying

You price the change and defend it

You price the instruction, submit the variation and defend it when it comes back cut. Instructed work with no variation against it is money you have already spent.

Applying for payment
the same measurement

You are certifying

You value the change and answer for it

You value the variation from the other chair and account for what you cut. The register you keep is the one the final account will be argued from.

Certifying payment

You are doing both

You build the change, paid or not

You absorb the small changes as they come, and the ones nobody wrote down are the ones you end up building for free.

Doing both yourself

You are reporting

You fund the change, priced or blind

You check that scope changes are priced and approved before money moves, because an unpriced variation is risk the facility is carrying blind.

Recommending a drawdown

The client, the architect and the tenderer are not on this list. They are the people you let in on a link: they see the one document you sent them, answer it, and that answer is written into the record. No account, no licence, no charge, on every plan.

FAQs

The questions this page raises most often, answered without a sales pitch at the end.

Yes, if that is what your contract does. Mark it Paid on the variation itself. If you later certify the same variation inside a valuation, QScope stops it counting twice rather than trusting you to remember.

Yes. A variation can be an addition, an omission or a substitution, and omissions carry through to the adjusted contract sum and the final account as negative figures.

It follows your contract. If a variation is certified inside a valuation, retention is deducted there once. If it is paid separately, you can set a retention rate on the variation itself, including zero for loss and expense which is normally not subject to retention.

Yes. Each variation prints on your letterhead with the description, the reason, the basis of valuation and the amount, ready to be issued as a confirmation of instruction.

From the blog

The part nobody teaches you, written down

Three pieces from the same corner of a contract as this page, answered at length and without a sales pitch at the end.

Engineer on a radio watching a crane over concrete frames under construction
Variations10/08/2026
How do you price extra work so the client actually pays for it?

Instruction first, then the valuation ladder your contract sets: contract rates, adjusted rates, a fair price or dayworks. Where each rung applies, and why the smallest variations are the ones that never get paid.

Read now
Worker in a hi-vis vest fitting a new window into a blockwork wall
Variations15/07/2026
Small extras keep eating the job. How do I stop doing them for free?

No single extra under two hundred pounds feels worth the awkward conversation, and thirty of them are a month’s wages. The three-sentence habit that captures small changes without souring the job, and the quote clause that makes the habit expected.

Read now
Hands pointing at drawings with a pen, white hard hat behind
Variations11/06/2026
Loss and expense is not the same as an extension of time

Time and money are separate entitlements with separate tests. Why an extension of time does not carry money with it, what has to be ascertained, and where these claims usually fail.

Read now

All 174 pieces

Keep reading

The three parts this page leans on

Valuations and certificates Interim valuations and payment certificates by percentage or fixed sum, with retention and previously certified. UK JCT and NEC, plus FIDIC certificates. See how it works Final account From the adjusted contract sum to the final balance under JCT, or the FIDIC Final Statement and Final Payment Certificate, every adjustment on its own line. See how it works Risk register Record commercial risks with a probability and a cost. The allowance is the expected value, ready to carry into the cost report as a contingency you can defend. See how it works

A variation that survives being challenged

Recording the amount is the easy half. What matters two years later is which rule you valued it under, who instructed it, and whether it has already been paid.

Start free for 30 days See the interactive demo

30 days free, no card.

Rather ask first? Write to help@qscope.co.uk and you will get a reply within one working day, Monday to Friday.