Contracts and billing
Record variations to a contract
Change the quantity or rate of BOQ items, or add new items, through a variation that someone else approves; the approved change is applied to the bill of quantities.
2 min readLast updated
In this article
Once a contract is active, its bill of quantities changes only through variations (change orders). A variation lists what changes and what it is worth; when it is approved, the bill is updated and the contract's current value grows by the variation's amount. Certificates then measure against the new quantities.
Before you start
The contract must be active. See Add a client contract and its bill of quantities.
Raising a variation needs permission to manage contracts; approving it needs permission to approve variations.
Raise a variation
Open the contract and its Variations tab, then select New variation.
Enter the Title of the change.
For an existing item, select Change an item, choose the Item, and enter the New quantity. Enter a New rate only if the rate changes too.
For new work, select Add a new item and enter its code, description, unit, quantity and rate.
Check the Value of the variation, worked out as you type, and select Save.
When it is ready, submit it for approval.
Approve or reject
Someone with approval permission, other than the person who raised it, selects Approve or Reject (with a reason). The author can take a submitted variation Back to draft to change it.
What happens on approval
Each changed item takes its new quantity and rate; new items are added to the bill, marked as coming from a variation.
The contract's Current value includes the variation.
A quantity cannot be cut below what certificates have already billed.
Common questions
Can I approve my own variation? No. Separating who raises and who approves a change is a basic control on contract value.
Does a variation bill the client? No. It changes what can be measured. The work is billed by the next certificate.