Running variations

Submitting a variation and getting the instruction

3 min read · Checked against the product 3 October 2026

Send a priced variation to the main contractor with a review link they can action without an account, and know what to do with each answer: agreed, a counter-price, under review or rejected.

A variation is not money until it is instructed, and an instruction only helps you if it is in writing, named and dated. VariationFlow sends the priced variation to the main contractor with a link that needs no login, and records the answer on the variation’s audit trail.

When to use it

As soon as the variation is priced. The days outstanding on the register, and the ageing alerts behind them, only start counting at submission, so a priced variation sitting in the office is invisible to every chase.

How to submit

1. Open the priced variation. In the Next step box choose “Advance to: Submitted”.
2. Check the recipient. It defaults to the main contractor’s QS email on the project. Add colleagues in CC, separated by commas. Leave the recipient blank to record the submission without emailing.
3. Attach your pricing document if you have one: a PDF, a spreadsheet (.xlsx, .xls or .csv) or a document (.doc or .docx), up to 20 MB. It goes in the email as a download link.
4. Add a note for the audit trail and confirm. The variation takes its V reference.

What the main contractor sees

The email, headed “Variation for Instruction” and carrying your logo if you have uploaded one, shows the reference, description, location, who requested it and the submitted value, with a “Review Variation” button. The link lasts 30 days. On the review page they can:

• Agree the price. The variation is instructed at the submitted value and the time is recorded.
• Suggest a different price, with a note. The variation moves to Awaiting Instruction with their figure on it.
• Mark it under review while they consider it. The variation moves to Under Review.
• Reject it. A rejected variation can be brought back to Commercial Review.

Each answer is written to the audit trail with the time, and the person who captured the variation is emailed.

Handling the answer

• Agreed: the variation shows Instructed, with the submitted value as its agreed value. Build it.
• A counter-price or a query: revise the build-up if you accept the point, then resubmit. From Under Review the resubmission takes a revised price, or keeps the current one if you leave it blank, and their link stays live for instructing once you agree.
• Instructed some other way, such as a site instruction or a phone call: move it to Instructed yourself and enter an agreed value only if the price was agreed. The variation then shows whether the agreed value differs from your asking price.

What good looks like

Submitted within days of capture, a pricing document attached, and an instruction with a name and a date behind every variation you build.

Common mistakes

• Submitting without a recipient and then forgetting to send it.
• Building the work on a “we will sort it at final account” before anything is in writing. If the work has to go ahead, say so on the capture and keep the evidence.
• Letting a submitted variation pass 28 days without a chase.