Creating a variation

The Variations screen is the costing’s list on the left and the selected variation on the right, with four tabs: Lines, Notes, Files and Email. The Tracker & approval button opens the same drawer the Variations Board uses: approval, applying to the BOQ, the client links and the activity log.

Three ways to start one:

• New variation on the Variations screen: name, number, date, client, bank account and extension of time, then add lines.
• From the BOQ: tick the items on the Bill of Quantities, open the bulk menu and choose Variation. Pick add (one line per item at the quantity you type, defaulting to the BOQ quantity) or take out (a credit at the BOQ quantity). The variation opens in the editor, priced from the items with the default markup, ready for wording and markup.
• From the colour schedule: Create variation from selections makes one with a line per upgrade above allowance — see Running a selection.

Lines

Every line has a type, and the type decides how it is priced and what happens in the BOQ when the variation is applied:

Type	Priced as	Applied to the BOQ as
Add Item	cost × quantity	the item included, or its quantity increased
Remove Item	a credit of cost × quantity	the item marked not included
Change Product	new product × qty less old product × qty	the item’s product swapped
Change Item	new item less old item	old item out, new item in
Note	nothing	nothing — text that prints

Pick the cost centre, then the item — or leave the cost centre on whole costing and search by name. Choosing an item fills in its quantity and product. Write description from the items builds the wording from the type’s template (“Provide X in lieu of Y”); edit it — it is what the client reads.

Each line carries a markup structure (a percentage; manage them with Markups), and three switches: whether it counts toward the total, and whether its price and quantity print on the PDF. A line that does not count still prints — use it for a clarification with an indicative figure.

Save & update prices recomputes the line from the items’ current costs; Save, keep prices keeps a cost you typed over. Click a cost in the grid to override it; Recalculate in that dialog goes back to the computed figure. Update all prices does every line at once.

Use items wherever you can. A variation built from priced items carries the same rates and descriptions you used in the contract, which makes it far harder for a client to argue you have priced the change opportunistically.

Worked example: a PC allowance exceeded

The Hendricks contract carries a prime cost allowance of $1,200 for tapware. The client selects fittings costing $1,900.

Line	Value
Tapware selected by client	$1,900.00
Less PC allowance included in contract	−$1,200.00
Net cost	$700.00
Margin 12%	$84.00
Variation total, ex GST	$784.00
GST	$78.40
Variation total	$862.40

Showing the allowance as a deduction is what makes this readable. A variation that simply says “Tapware — $862.40” looks like a new charge for something the client believes they already paid for, and produces an argument. The version above shows they are paying the difference, which is what the contract said would happen.

Always show the allowance being credited

This is the single most useful habit in writing variations. Most disputes about PC and PS items are really disputes about whether the client is being charged twice. Show the deduction and the question does not arise.

Worked example: a credit

The client deletes the rear deck.

Line	Value
Omit decking, bearers and joists	−$4,850.00
Omit balustrade	−$1,240.00
Omit deck footings	−$620.00
Net credit, ex GST	−$6,710.00
GST	−$671.00
Variation total	−$7,381.00

Built From Item, so the credit uses exactly the rates the deck was priced at. The client cannot reasonably argue the credit is light, because it is their own contract pricing in reverse.

Writing the description

Generate Description produces text from the items on the variation. It is a starting point and usually needs editing, because the client reads this and your item descriptions were written for subcontractors.

Compare:

Generated	Better
Tapware PC item adj	Supply and install client-selected tapware in lieu of the prime cost allowance included in the contract. Allowance credited in full.
Omit decking, bearers, joists, balustrade, footings	Delete the rear deck in its entirety, including structure, balustrade and footings. All associated costs credited.

State what is changing, what is included, and what is credited. A variation the client understands gets signed; one they have to interpret gets queried.

Extension of time

Extension of time (days) claims programme alongside money.

Ask, for every variation: does this add time? Not just the work itself — a custom-order item with a six-week lead time adds programme even if it takes a day to install.

Claim it now. An extension of time cannot sensibly be claimed retrospectively once the completion date has passed.

Templates

Create new template saves a variation for reuse. Worth doing for the ones that recur across jobs — rock excavation, a standard upgrade you are often asked for, a common council requirement.

The template carries the structure and wording; you set the amounts each time.