Wording a Variation When the Job Changes

Write it down before you do it. A variation is agreed extra work, and the agreement is what protects both sides.

What a variation is

Project managers also call these change orders or variation orders.¹ The same source lists three kinds of change to agreed work: an addition, an omission, and a substitution or alteration.¹

So a variation isn't only extra work. A customer who drops a task from the job also changes the deal. The wording should say what was taken out as clearly as what was put in.

Why the writing comes first

If the extra work happens on a handshake, memories drift. The customer remembers "you said that was covered". You remember "I said it'd cost more". Neither of you is lying.

That slow growth of a job has a name. Without effective change control, "scope or requirement creep may ensue."² A written variation is a simple form of change control.

What to put in the message

A change order sets out the new work, or work left out, and the price for it.¹ That gives you an outline:

• What changed and why. For example, the customer asked for it, or something turned up on site that wasn't visible at the visit.
• What the new work is. Plain words, same style as the original quote.
• What it does to the price. You work this out yourself. The tool doesn't know your costs, and this site gives no pricing advice.
• What it does to timing, if anything.
• How the customer says yes. A reply to the message, a signature, whatever you normally use.

Say, too, that you won't start the extra work until you hear back. It tells the customer the pause is deliberate.

Letting a tool draft it

Give the tool the facts and ask it to word them. One maker notes that its assistant responds well to clear, explicit instructions.³ A shape you could adapt:

I'm an electrical contractor. Write a short, polite message to a homeowner explaining an extra piece of work. Here's the original job, here's the change, here's the reason, and here's the price I've worked out. Ask them to reply to confirm before I start. Don't add reasons, technical claims or prices that I haven't given you.

Check the draft for three things:

• The reason is the real one. Tools sometimes invent a neat explanation.
• The price and the description match what you decided.
• It doesn't blame the customer, or sound like a surprise bill.

A word on tone

Customers often take an extra charge badly when it arrives late. Raising it early, calmly and in writing is usually received better than an unexplained line on the final invoice. The aim isn't to persuade. It's to let them make an informed choice.

If they say no, that's fine. Carry on with the original scope, and keep the message in the job file.

Keep the paper trail tidy

Name the variation clearly, such as "Variation one: extra circuit in the garage", and use that same name on the invoice. Matching it to the final bill is covered in quote to invoice wording. A clear original scope makes a variation far easier to write, so see scope wording too.

What to leave to others

A tool shouldn't tell you whether a change needs a permit, a certificate or an inspection. Those rules depend on where you work. Ask your licensing body or regulator, and take the words from them.