Variation Order Template: A Sample You Can Adapt
The Engineer walks the Site, points at the retaining wall, and says "take it up another metre — we'll sort the paperwork later." The crew starts the next morning. Six months on, the account for that extra metre is being argued over a table, and the only record of the instruction is two people's memories. This guide gives you the paperwork that should have existed that afternoon — a variation order template, and the confirmation letter for when the instruction was only spoken.
How Variation Orders Work Under FIDIC
A variation order is the written instruction that changes the Works — extra work, omitted work, changed quality, changed sequence, changed levels or dimensions. Under Sub-Clause 13.1 of the FIDIC 1999 Red Book, the Engineer may initiate a variation at any time before the Taking-Over Certificate is issued, either by an instruction or by asking the Contractor for a proposal.
Two things follow from that, and both matter. First, variations flow through the Engineer — the Employer acts through the Engineer, and the Contractor cannot instruct its own variation. Second, the Contractor is bound: once instructed, the varied work must be executed, with only narrow grounds to object — for example, that the goods required for the variation cannot readily be obtained.
The bargain FIDIC strikes is comply now, value later. The Contractor does the work when instructed; the price is then agreed or determined through the Sub-Clause 13.3 procedure and valued under Clause 12. Refusing to start until the price is signed is a breach — and doing extra work with no instruction at all is a gift.
Key Takeaway: A variation is an instructed change to the Works under Sub-Clause 13.1. Only the Engineer initiates it, the Contractor must comply, and valuation follows the work — not the other way around. No instruction means no variation, however useful the extra work was.
What Every Variation Order Must Contain
Whether it arrives as a formal VO form or as an instruction letter, a variation order does its job when it pins down five things:
- A reference — a VO number and the contract reference, so the instruction can be tracked from Site diary to final account.
- The clause — an express statement that the instruction is a Variation under Sub-Clause 13.1.
- The change itself — what is added, omitted, or altered, with drawings or specifications attached where they exist. Vague scope is where valuations go to die.
- The valuation basis — Bill rates, adjusted rates, or a new rate to be determined under Clause 12; or a lump sum if one is agreed.
- The time question — whether the Time for Completion is affected, or a statement that the Contractor's rights under Sub-Clauses 8.4 and 20.1 are unaffected.
Notice what that list forces into the open: the scope, the money mechanism, and the time question are all addressed on day one, while everyone still remembers what was pointed at. A variation order that only says "carry out the attached drawing" leaves the two arguments that matter — cost and time — for later, and later is always worse.
Key Takeaway: Five parts make a complete VO — reference, clause, precise scope, valuation basis, and the time question. Anything left open on day one becomes an argument at final account.
Variation Order Template — Copy and Adapt
Here is a skeleton for the variation order itself. Replace everything in square brackets and delete the brackets. It works for additions, omissions, and changes alike.
If you are on the Contractor's side of the table, the more important template is often the next one — because on real projects, half the variations start life as a sentence spoken on Site.
The Contractor's Confirmation Letter — For Verbal Instructions
Instructions should be in writing. When one arrives verbally, confirm it the same day — a short letter that records what was said, by whom, and when. If the Engineer does not contradict it, the Contractor has a written record to execute and price against. This letter is the difference between the retaining wall in the opening paragraph being a variation and being a donation.
Two habits make this letter work. Send it fast — the same day, while the instruction is fresh and deniability is low. And start the records the same morning: labour, plant, and materials on the varied work, kept daily. A confirmed instruction with contemporaneous records is nearly unarguable; either one alone is half a case. If drafting these under time pressure is the bottleneck, ChatNotice was built to produce the notice with the right clause already in place while the facts are still fresh.
Key Takeaway: Confirm every verbal instruction in writing the same day, name who said it and when, ask for the written VO, and start daily records on the varied work immediately. Confirmation plus records is what turns a Site conversation into an entitlement.
The Timing Trap: Variations Run From the Instruction
A variation order deals with the money for the varied work. It does not, by itself, deal with time. If the variation delays the Works, the Extension of Time must still be claimed under Sub-Clause 20.1 — notice within 28 days — with the entitlement route being Sub-Clause 8.4(a).
And here variations are the odd one out in FIDIC. For almost every other claim, the 28-day clock runs from when the Contractor became aware of the event. For a variation, the clock runs from the date of the instruction. The instruction is the event. A Contractor who waits to "see how much delay it really causes" before serving notice is spending the 28 days on a question the notice was never required to answer.
So the working rule is simple: if an instructed variation could touch the critical path, the Sub-Clause 20.1 notice goes out within days of the instruction, not weeks. The notice costs a page. The alternative can cost the entitlement.
Key Takeaway: The VO secures the money; only a Sub-Clause 20.1 notice secures the time — and for variations the 28 days run from the instruction date, not from when the delay is felt. If the change could touch the critical path, serve the notice immediately.
Common Variation Order Mistakes
The same handful of failures produce most variation disputes:
- Working on a handshake. Extra work executed with no instruction and no confirmation letter. At final account it is the Contractor's word against a silence.
- Confirming late. A verbal instruction confirmed three weeks afterwards invites the reply that no such instruction was given.
- Vague scope. A VO that does not pin down exactly what changed makes every quantity in the valuation arguable.
- No records. The varied work is done, but nobody kept daily allocation of labour and plant against it. The entitlement exists; the evidence does not.
- Missing the 20.1 notice. The money is claimed, the time is not — because the 28 days from the instruction slipped past while the team priced the work.
- No register. Fifteen variations in, nobody can say which VOs are instructed, which are priced, and which are still verbal. A one-page register — VO number, date, description, valuation status, notice status — prevents this.
Key Takeaway: Variations fail on handshake work, late confirmation, vague scope, missing records, missed 20.1 notices, and no register. Every one of these is prevented by paperwork that takes minutes on the day and is impossible to reconstruct later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can issue a variation order under FIDIC?
Under the FIDIC 1999 Red Book, only the Engineer initiates variations — by an instruction or by a request for a proposal — at any time before the Taking-Over Certificate is issued. The Employer acts through the Engineer, not directly. The Contractor cannot instruct its own variation: extra work done without an instruction is done at the Contractor's risk, however sensible it seemed on Site.
Do I have to do the varied work before the price is agreed?
Yes. Under Sub-Clause 13.1 the Contractor is bound by each variation instruction and must execute it — agreement on price comes afterwards through the Clause 13.3 procedure and valuation under Clause 12. Comply now, value later is the FIDIC bargain. The Contractor may only object on narrow grounds, such as being unable to readily obtain the goods required for the varied work.
Is a verbal instruction a valid variation?
Instructions should be given in writing. If the Engineer gives a verbal instruction on Site, the safest course is to confirm it in writing immediately — a short letter or email recording what was instructed, by whom, and when. If the Engineer does not contradict the confirmation, the Contractor has a written record to price the work against. Proceeding on a handshake and arguing about it at final account is how variations become disputes.
Does a variation order automatically give more time?
No. A variation gives the Contractor a route to an Extension of Time under Sub-Clause 8.4(a), but the entitlement must still be claimed through the Sub-Clause 20.1 procedure — a notice within 28 days. For variations the clock runs from the date of the instruction, not from when the Contractor first felt the delay. A VO with no notice behind it protects the money for the varied work, but not the time.
What should a variation order register record?
One line per variation: the VO number, the date of the instruction, a short description, the clause relied on, the status of the valuation, whether a Sub-Clause 20.1 notice was served and when, and where the supporting records are filed. On a live project the register is the difference between a final account built on evidence and one built on memory.
Authoritative Sources
This guide reflects the FIDIC Conditions of Contract and established construction-law guidance. For the primary materials, see:
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract — the official contract suite published by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, which sets out the Clause 13 variation procedure and Clause 12 valuation rules.
- SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol — the Society of Construction Law's guidance on contemporaneous records and the assessment of time and cost consequences of change.
About the Author
Maisam Jiwani is a Project Director with 15 years' experience on major infrastructure and energy projects administered under FIDIC contracts. He writes from first-hand experience serving notices and managing contractual claims on live projects.