How to handle extra work and variations

Updated 25 Oct 2026 · 5 min read

What counts as extra work

Extra work, often called a variation or a change order, is any change to what was agreed. It can add scope, change it, or remove it. Some examples:

• The client asks for a skylight over the stair.
• A wall finish changes from paint to timber panelling.
• A room is dropped from the job. That is a saving, and still a variation.
• Site conditions force a change, such as an old beam found inside a wall.

Not every change costs more. Savings and time saved belong on the same list, so the final picture is fair to both sides.

Why agree it before the work starts

Before the work, extra cost is a decision the client makes. After the work, it is a bill they had no say in, and it feels like a surprise even when they asked for the change.

Agreeing first protects the relationship as much as the budget. It also slows down the “while you are here” requests that quietly add weeks to a job. When every request gets a short note with a cost and a time, the client decides with open eyes.

What to write for each piece

Keep it short, but complete enough that someone new to the job would understand it.

A simple process

1. Note it as soon as it comes up, even as a rough draft.
2. Get the cost and time from the contractor, or work them out.
3. Write it up with the fields above and send it to the client.
4. The client approves, asks for a change, or declines, in writing.
5. Only then tell the contractor to go ahead.
6. Update the schedule and the fees or budget straight away.
7. Keep it on the list whatever the answer, including declined items.

Keep one list for the whole job

Every piece of extra work goes on one numbered list for the project, whatever its status. Go through it at every site meeting, and every time you send a fee statement.

• Approved: in the budget and in the schedule.
• With the client: each with the date an answer is needed.
• Drafts: waiting for a price or more detail.
• Declined or cancelled: kept, with the reason.

The totals tell the story of the job: how much was added, how much was saved, and how many days changed. A client finds that far easier to accept than a surprise at the end.

Do not forget the time

Cost gets attention. Time often does not. Five days here and three days there add up to a late handover that nobody agreed to.

Write the time on every piece of extra work, even when it is zero, and add approved days to the stage they affect. Then, if the job runs late, you can show which part of the delay was agreed extra work and which was not.

When site cannot wait

Sometimes the work cannot stop: a hidden pipe, a rotten joist, a beam where a door should be. Agree the principle on the spot, in writing, even as a short message:

Go ahead with the steel beam over the kitchen opening. Cost and time to follow by tomorrow. Sam

Then write it up properly within a day, with the real cost and time, and send it for approval like any other piece. Keep this route for real emergencies. If “urgent” becomes normal, the list stops being a record of decisions.

Settle the money as you go

Once a piece is approved, add it to the fees or the budget straight away, so the next payment request includes it. Take savings off the same way. At the end of the job, the final bill should hold no surprises: every line traces back to an approved item.

If the extra work also needs new drawings from you, say so in the same note, and agree your own fee for it too, as your agreement allows.

Common mistakes

• Agreeing changes on site and writing them up weeks later.
• Pricing the cost and forgetting the time.
• Losing declined items, then arguing about whether they were ever offered.
• Letting the contractor start before the client has answered.
• Adding approved work to the budget but not to the fees.