You Did the Extra Work. So Why Aren’t You Getting Paid?

Variations are one of the easiest places for subcontractors to lose money.

Not necessarily because the work wasn’t done.

Not even because the Main Contractor doesn’t accept that something changed.

Quite often, the problem is much simpler: the change wasn’t commercially managed from the moment it happened.

Someone on site says:

“Can you just do this while you’re here?”

The work gets done. Everyone knows it was extra. Then, a few weeks later, the QS picks up the variation and starts asking questions.

Was it actually a change?

Who instructed it?

Where is the instruction?

Was notice given?

What was the additional cost?

Can you substantiate it?

Was there any impact on the programme?

Suddenly, something that seemed perfectly straightforward on site becomes much harder to get paid for.

Doing extra work is not the same as establishing a variation

The first question should always be: has something actually changed from what you originally agreed to do?

That means going back to the commercial baseline.

Check your subcontract or order, tender, drawings, specification, clarifications, exclusions, programme and any assumptions you made when you priced the work.

What were you actually required to provide?

What has changed?

It sounds obvious, but this is where plenty of variation arguments begin.

The subcontractor says: “We did extra work.”

The Main Contractor says: “That was included.”

Before you start arguing about the value of a variation, establish the difference between the work you originally priced and what you are now being asked to do.

Get the instruction recorded

Site changes don’t always arrive neatly packaged in a formal written instruction.

Often, they happen in conversations.

There might be programme pressure. Another trade may be waiting. The Project Manager wants something sorted immediately.

Commercially, however, you still need a record.

If the instruction is verbal, confirm the conversation promptly in writing. Record what you understand you have been asked to do and flag any potential cost or time implications.

That doesn’t need to mean sending an aggressive contractual letter every time somebody speaks to you on site.

A simple written record can protect both parties by making it clear what was requested and when.

Don’t wait until you know the final cost

Another common mistake is waiting until the variation has been fully priced before dealing with the contractual requirements.

Your subcontract may require you to notify a change or potential cost/time impact within a particular period.

That deadline may arrive long before you know exactly what the variation is worth.

So check the contract.

If notice is required, give the notice and reserve your position. You can develop the valuation and substantiation as the information becomes available.

Waiting until you know the final number may mean waiting too long.

Build the evidence while the work is happening

Trying to reconstruct a variation three months later is difficult.

Trying to reconstruct it at final account is worse.

If a change is going to affect cost, time, resources or the way you carry out the work, start collecting the evidence while it is happening.

Depending on the change, that could include:

• the instruction or written confirmation

• the original scope, drawings or tender information

• dated photographs

• marked-up drawings

• labour and timesheets

• plant records

• material invoices and delivery tickets

• subcontractor costs

• programme information

• correspondence about access, sequence or disruption

Good substantiation makes it easier to explain what changed, what it cost and why.

One email and a lump-sum figure rarely tells the whole story.

Price the change properly

Where possible, price the change before carrying out the work and seek written acceptance.

Your quotation should make it clear what you have priced, the basis of that price, your assumptions and any programme or time implications.

Sometimes that won’t be possible.

The work may be urgent. The full impact might not yet be known. You may need to proceed on records, dayworks or another valuation basis.

In that situation, be clear about what is known, what isn’t, and how the cost will be recorded and valued.

A variation isn’t finished when you send the quote

This is probably the biggest point.

Sending a quotation is only one stage in the process.

A change needs to move through something like:

Change → Instruction → Notice → Records → Price → Application → Agreement → Payment

If you submit the quotation and then leave it sitting in your variation log for six months, the commercial job isn’t finished.

Keep it live.

Follow up the valuation. Respond to queries. Maintain your records. Include it in applications where contractually appropriate. Update your change log and forecast.

And ultimately, check whether it has actually reached the cash.

Because £50,000 sitting in a spreadsheet under “Variations Submitted” is not the same thing as £50,000 paid into the business.

Make change management a process

Getting paid for change shouldn’t depend on somebody remembering a conversation from three months ago or launching a heroic paperwork exercise at final account.

When something changes, your team should know what happens next.

That is why we created our free Change Decision Map.

It takes you through the practical questions to ask when something changes on a project:

Is it actually a change?

Do you have it in writing?

Is there a cost or time impact?

What does your subcontract require?

Can you price it before starting?

What evidence do you need?

Has it been submitted, followed up and ultimately paid?

You can download the Change Decision Map and keep it with your site and commercial teams to work through on live changes.

Because extra work does not automatically become extra money.

You still have to manage it all the way through to payment.

Prefer to watch? Watch our companion video on getting paid for change.