Do variations need to be in writing for me to get paid?
Almost every Australian subcontract says yes: extra or changed work is only payable if directed in writing before you do it, often with its own time bar for pricing and notice. Verbal directions are how variation money is lost. The operational fix is simple and non-negotiable — confirm every direction in writing before doing the work, even if it's an email sent from the ute.
How variation money disappears
The pattern is always the same: the site supervisor says "just do it, we'll sort the paperwork", the work gets done, and at claim time the variation clause is applied to the letter — no written direction, no signed variation order, notice out of time, claim refused. The clause was in the contract all along; it just wasn't being used until the money got contested.
Watch the pricing mechanics too. A fair clause values variations at schedule of rates or reasonable rates; a dangerous one leaves valuation to the builder's discretion. The scanner treats sole-discretion pricing by the principal as high risk, because it converts every variation into an argument you start from behind.
Victoria: the trap that just closed
For two decades, Victoria's excluded amounts regime kept most disputed variations out of adjudication entirely — they needed contractual dispute resolution or court. That ended on 15 April 2026: the reforms abolished the excluded amounts and claimable variations regimes, and disputed variations can now generally be pursued at adjudication for all payment claims served from that date. The paper trail still decides whether you win — but Victorian subbies now have the same rapid remedy as everyone else, and many don't yet know it.
Know where your contract stands
Clause-by-clause risk report against your state's Security of Payment laws in about 90 seconds.
Scan my subcontract freeCommon questions
The supervisor directed extra work verbally and now the builder won't pay. Any options?
Don't concede — gather the record: site diaries, emails, photos, delivery dockets, anyone who heard the direction. Depending on the drafting and the paper trail, arguments can exist even against a written-direction clause. But treat it as a recovery exercise, not a strategy: the reliable protection is written confirmation before the work, every time.
What should a variation confirmation email say?
Short and immediate beats long and late: what was directed, who directed it, that it's a variation to be priced, and that work proceeds on that basis. Send it before starting where you can — the same day at worst.
Keep reading
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice — statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.