Module · Variations
A variation register that survives the project.
JCT/NEC-aware variation lifecycle - instruction → cost → approval → impact on programme + cost report. The register your QS would build if they had the time and the auditor would accept.
Variations
Imperial House - 19 issued · £94,750 net
Why variations get expensive
Variations slip through the cracks because the workflow is six tools long.
A variation is instructed in an email, costed in a spreadsheet, approved in another email, captured (maybe) in a workbook, then forgotten until the final account dispute. Three of those steps usually go wrong.
No single register the team trusts
Each PM and QS keeps a variation tab in their own workbook. At final account, the team spends a week reconciling whose tab was right.
No programme impact captured at instruction
The variation is costed but not linked to programme. Three weeks later the dates slip; nobody attributes it to the variation. Prelim claim becomes "your fault, our problem".
Approval chain is email forensics
When the dispute lands, "did the client approve this variation?" needs forensic email reconstruction. Half the time the audit trail is a missing reply-all.
What's inside
A variation lifecycle the audit would accept.
JCT / NEC-aware lifecycle
Instruction → costed → submitted → approved / rejected, with terminology that matches your contract type. NEC compensation events vs JCT instructions distinguished.
Programme impact at source
Each variation captures its programme impact at instruction. The cost report's anticipated column AND the programme's slippage flag both move on approval.
Cost report integration
Approved variations flow into the PCSR's anticipated column with full lineage. Click any anticipated number, see the variation that drove it.
Client approval audit
Approval routed via email or client portal with timestamped accept / reject. The "did they approve it?" question is never ambiguous again.
Lineage to source
Each variation links to the originating risk, RFI, design issue or instruction. Final account reconciliation reads as a story, not a forensic excavation.
Cross-project variation analytics
Director-level view: "what % of our work is on variation across the portfolio? Which sector is variation-heaviest?" Insight, not anecdote.
Who uses it
Built for the people instructing changes - and the people defending the final account.
Quantity Surveyors
Variation captured at instruction; costed once; approval routed; PCSR updated. The workbook tab you used to maintain is now a real workflow.
Construction Managers
Programme impact captured at the same moment as the cost. No more variations that surface the prelim claim three months later.
Directors
Cross-project variation analytics. Identify the projects accumulating change before the final account dispute does.
See a variation flow from instruction to PCSR live.
A 30-minute walkthrough on a real project - bring an existing variation, see the lifecycle.
Frequently asked questions
Does Projavio understand NEC compensation events?
Yes - the variation lifecycle is contract-type-aware. NEC compensation events use NEC terminology and gating; JCT variation instructions use JCT terminology. The underlying data model is the same.
Can clients approve variations via the portal?
Yes - the Client Portal supports variation approval with accept / reject + comment. Decisions are timestamped and audit-trailed.
How does this connect to the final account?
Approved variations roll up into the final account at project closeout. Each variation's lineage (instruction, cost, programme impact, approval) is preserved for the audit.
Can I bulk-import an existing variation register?
CSV import maps existing variation registers into the new structure. The team can run the workbook and Projavio in parallel during cutover.
Connects to
Other Projavio modules that work alongside this one.
Cost Reports (PCSR)
Live PCSR consolidating committed (POs), anticipated (variations), forecast (cashflow) and out-turn cost.
Programme Management
Phases, milestones, baseline tracking, slippage flags - feeding cashflow, cost forecast and the executive summary.
Site Reports
Daily site reports filed from a phone, surfaced in the project record. Photos, weather, attendance, delays.
Stop running variations from a workbook tab.
A lifecycle the audit would accept - and the team will actually use.