Contract Variation and Progress Claim Procedure

Purpose. Explains how variations are identified, priced, approved and claimed, and how progress claims are prepared and submitted under each contract.

1.Scope

This procedure applies to every construction and plumbing contract Keystone holds, including domestic building contracts governed by the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 and commercial contracts. It applies to site supervisors, estimators, contract administrators and the plumbing coordinators who raise variations on maintenance contracts.

2.Identifying a variation

A variation arises when the client asks for a change, when site conditions differ from what the contract assumed, or when a regulatory requirement changes the work. The site supervisor must record the event in the site diary on the day and notify the contract administrator within two working days. Varied work must not start without written approval, except work needed to make the site safe.

3.Pricing and approval

The estimator prices the variation from the drawings, subcontractor quotes and the labour and material schedule, and the Estimating and Contracts Manager reviews it. The variation notice must state the change, the price, the effect on the program and the contract clause relied on. For domestic contracts the notice must be in the form the Act requires and must be signed by the owner before work starts.

• Record the event in the site diary
• Notify the contract administrator within two working days
• Price from take-off and quotes, not estimates
• State the program effect in working days
• Obtain the client's signed approval before the work starts

4.Progress claims

Progress claims are prepared by the contract administrator on the dates or stages the contract sets. The claim must be supported by the site diary, photographs, the inspection records for the stage and approved variations. The Construction Manager must confirm the stage is complete before the claim is issued.

5.Disputes

If a client disputes a variation or a claim, the contract administrator must respond in writing within five working days with the supporting records. Unresolved disputes are escalated to the Estimating and Contracts Manager and the General Manager, who will follow the dispute resolution clause in the contract before any external process.

6.Records

Variation notices, approvals, claims and payment records must be filed with the contract and kept for at least seven years after the contract ends.