Does a site instruction count as a variation?

Many main contractors use a site instruction form for day-to-day directions. Some of those change your work, and some do not. One that adds work, changes a detail, moves an access route or resequences your work is a variation in substance. That holds even if the word variation appears nowhere on it. One that only repeats what your subcontract already requires is not. Two checks decide it. First, compare the instruction with what you priced, as you would any change. Second, check who signed it, because your subcontract may name the people who can instruct variations. If the instruction changes your work, reply in writing the same day. Say you treat it as a variation, give it a variation number and say you will value it. If the person who signed it lacks authority, ask someone who has it to confirm the instruction before you start. A site instruction you never answered is much harder to get paid later. Our Unpaid Variation Prevention service sets up that same-day reply and a register for every instruction on your job.