Site instruction
A site instruction is a direction issued on site by the builder's representative - and whether it entitles you to extra money depends not on the instruction but on whether you follow the contract's variation machinery afterwards.
The recurring failure: an instruction is given (often verbally, sometimes by a signed site instruction form), the work is done, and the claim dies later because the contract required a variation direction from a specific person, or notice within days, and neither happened. An instruction to do work and an agreement to pay for it are different things.
Why it matters to subbies
Treat every instruction that changes your work as a variation trigger: same-day written confirmation, formal notice inside the window, pricing to follow. The instruction form is evidence, not entitlement.
Keep reading
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice - contract drafting and state legislation vary and change; your document and your state's Act govern. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.