Variation
A variation is any change to the scope of work you priced - additions, omissions, changed materials or methods - which the builder can usually direct at any time, with the price sorted under the contract's variation machinery.
The standard drafting: the builder directs, you must comply, and your entitlement to be paid depends on following the procedure - written direction, notice within a short window, pricing per the contract. Verbal directions are the classic failure: directions on site, never confirmed, never paid.
Why it matters to subbies
The habit that saves more money than any negotiation: a same-day email confirming every changed direction as a variation. It anchors the date inside the notice window and converts the conversation into a record.
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.