Tips for reducing Home Building Variations

6 May

Written By Build Together Project Management

Worried about variations blowing out your budget? Fair enough, no one wants extra costs wracking up during their dream home build!

Here are some easy to implement tips to reduce variations during your home build.

What is a Building Variation?

A variation is a change to the scope of work the builders contract sum has been based on.

Some builders refer to variations as ‘change orders’ (CO).

Here are a list of things a variation might cover:

Change in agreed scope of works (could be nil cost or +/-)
Extra works that the builder could not have anticipated in it’s quote
An increase to the Provisional or PC Sum budget once the actual cost is known
Additional permit fees
Alternative materials if the specified material is unavailable

Your Building Contract has a defined list of exactly what can incur additional variation costs during the build. It’s very important you know what’s on that list before signing the contract, so are informed and can plan accordingly.

How do you minimise variations during your build?

Here are my tips to minimise variations during your home build or renovation:

Know your contract! - Having someone check over and ensure everything that needs to be in the contract is there is the best way to save and be in control during your home build. Construction is full of moving parts, and without the right experience, things can easily get messy. That’s where a contract specialist like me comes in—I’ve seen it all and can catch issues before they become big (and expensive) headaches.
Check any exclusions in your contract - Double and triple check what's in and out of your building contract. Make sure as much detail is attached to the contract so it’s clear what designs are included (don’t be afraid of attaching drawings, emails and specifications to the contract).
Push for materials to be ordered early - Most Aussie building contracts allow extra costs for an alternative material (usually if the specified material is unavailable) to be charged as a variation to the owner. Chat to your builder ordering materials as early as possible so you’re risk of extra costs is reduced (i.e windows, doors, special materials).

Some variations are unavoidable, so don’t be hard on yourself when they start to come through - start your build as informed as you can and have a variation budget set aside for emergencies like additional permit fees.

Protect your dream build with a Building Contract Health Check: