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Plain-English guides for subcontractors. Jump to a topic below, or open a full guide for the step-by-step.
VariationGuard turns a builder instruction into a draft variation notice, an evidence checklist and a register item you can track. Here is the whole loop, start to finish.
Create your account
Sign up and set up your company. No payment details are needed to start the 30-day free trial.
Create a project
A project is one builder engagement. Add the builder name and site so notices read correctly.
Add your subcontract requirements
Open the clause profile and record what your subcontract says about variation notices and timing. You can start without it, but time-bar tracking is better when it's configured.
Paste or forward an instruction
Drop in the builder's email or site instruction, or forward it to your project's inbound address.
Triage the instruction
Open the instruction to see whether it looks like a variation and why. From there you create a draft variation notice or dismiss it.
Create a draft variation notice
Turn the instruction into a cautious draft variation notice. It gets its own VAR-001 reference and lands in the project's variation register so nothing slips to final account. Read it, edit it, then copy and send it yourself.
Price it in the cost workbook
Build up the price as rows in a spreadsheet-style grid — quantities, units, rates and factors under section headings — add overhead/profit and GST, and export a CSV.
Mark the notice issued
After you've reviewed and sent the notice yourself, use Mark notice issued on the variation to record how it went out. This is a manual record only — nothing is sent automatically.
Every output is a draft you review and send yourself. Nothing is sent automatically, and VariationGuard is not legal advice.
When a builder emails a revised drawing or a direction, you want a clean notice out while the detail is fresh. Here's how.
Forward or paste it
Forward the email to your project's inbound address, or paste the text into a new instruction.
Review the classification
VariationGuard tells you whether it looks like a variation and explains why. Use it as a prompt to think, not as a final answer.
Check the deadline
If you've configured your clause profile, the potential notice deadline is shown. Always confirm it against your actual subcontract.
Edit the draft notice
The draft is cautious and neutral. Adjust the wording, references and recipient to fit your situation.
Copy and send it manually
Copy the notice and send it from your own email. VariationGuard never emails the builder for you.
Nothing is sent automatically. Whether something is a variation depends on your subcontract and the facts — this is not legal advice.
Verbal directions onsite are the easiest variations to lose. Capture them in seconds and let the office review, price and send later.
Open Capture instruction
On your phone, go to Capture. Pick the project and whether it was verbal or written.
Use your keyboard microphone
Tap the microphone on your phone keyboard and just speak the instruction — no typing needed.
Record who instructed it
Add who gave the direction, the area, whether work has started and how urgent it is. The office can fill in the rest.
Let the office review later
The capture lands in the project for your office/admin to review, price and prepare a notice. Nothing is sent — an admin or owner reviews it first.
Track it under My captures
Open My captures anytime to see the status of the instructions you captured — needs review, in review, reviewed, converted to a notice or dismissed.
Confirmation of verbal direction
Verbal directions get a cautious draft confirmation notice so you can ask the builder to confirm the direction in writing.
Capture now. The office can review before anything is sent. Nothing is sent automatically, and this is not legal advice.
Office review is the handoff from site to office. Field users capture; owners and admins review, price and decide what to send — all from the project workspace, in context.
Field user captures
An onsite capture creates an instruction that needs review.
Open the project's Instructions register
Owner/admin review happens on the project page. Its Instructions register lists open and field-captured items, with a Needs office review filter. (The old global review page is gone — /app/review just points you back to your projects.)
Triage each instruction
Open an instruction to see the assessment, then create a draft variation notice or dismiss it. Registering it marks the capture converted to notice, so it stops showing as needing review.
Price it in the cost workbook
Open the variation's cost workbook to price it properly and prepare the submission wording.
Mark the notice issued
After you've reviewed and issued/sent the notice yourself, use Mark notice issued on the variation to record it (email, builder portal, hand delivered or other). This is a manual record only — nothing is sent automatically.
Nothing is sent automatically. The office decides what to send and sends it manually.
Your subcontract sets the rules for variation notices. Record those rules once so VariationGuard can flag potential deadlines.
Set it up manually
Open the clause profile for a project and record what your subcontract says about notices, timing, pricing and approvals.
Basic vs subcontract-specific
Without a clause profile you get general guidance. With one, you get subcontract-specific notice requirements and potential time-bar tracking.
Understand the limitations
Time-bar calculations are based on what you enter and may be incomplete. There is no public holiday calendar yet, so confirm critical dates yourself.
Review your subcontract
Always check your actual subcontract. The clause profile is a memory aid, not a substitute for reading the contract.
Time-bar tracking is based on configured data and may be incomplete. This is not legal advice — check your subcontract.
The cost workbook is a spreadsheet-style variation pricing sheet. You build up a price as rows under section headings, the way you would on paper, and prepare the submission wording.
Start from the template
Use the standard variation pricing template to lay down section headings for labour, materials, plant, subcontractors and preliminaries — or add your own headings and subheadings.
Add cost rows
Under each heading, add cost rows with a quantity, unit, rate and factor. The row total (quantity × rate × factor) and the section subtotals calculate live. Use a negative value for a credit or omission.
Add overhead, profit and GST
Apply your overhead and profit (or a single combined margin), and GST, to build the direct subtotal up to the total variation value.
Record assumptions and exclusions
Note what the price assumes and excludes so the builder understands the basis.
Copy or export
Copy a pricing summary or costed submission text, or export the row-based workbook as CSV for your records or to attach to your submission.
The cost workbook is a commercial calculation aid, not accounting, tax, quantity surveying or legal advice. Check your own figures.
Each project can have an inbound email alias. Forward a builder's email there and it becomes an instruction ready to assess.
Find your project alias
Each project has a unique forwarding address shown on the project.
Forward the email
Forward the builder's email to that address from your normal inbox.
Nothing is auto-sent
Forwarding only creates an instruction for you to review. VariationGuard never replies to the builder.
Attachment limitations
Attachment handling may be limited — check the instruction and add references manually if needed.
Keep aliases private
Treat your project alias like a private address. Anyone who knows it could forward content into your project.
Inbound forwarding only creates drafts for review. Nothing is sent automatically.
Invite your team into one company workspace, with roles that match how site and office work.
Owner, admin, field user
Owners manage billing and users. Admins run the office workflow. Field users get a lean, capture-first experience.
Invite links
Invite teammates with a secure link. Invites are created and managed server-side.
Seat limits
Basic and Pro include different seat allowances. See the pricing page for current limits.
Field user workflow
Field users capture instructions onsite; admins and owners review, price and send.
Roles are enforced server-side. Keep invite links private — they grant access to your workspace.
Everything about your trial, plan and billing in one place.
Free trial
Start with a 30-day free trial. No payment details required to begin.
Basic and Pro
Basic is $19/month; Pro is $199/month, in Australian dollars.
Usage limits
Plans include monthly allowances; the Account page shows your current usage.
Cancellation
Cancel anytime in the Stripe billing portal from the Account page. Your existing data stays viewable and exportable.
Billing portal
Manage your payment method, invoices and plan through the secure Stripe portal.
Payments are handled by Stripe. See the Cancellation page for what happens to your data after the trial or cancellation.
We measure how the product is used so we can improve it — without capturing the content of your work.
What is tracked
Product events such as creating a project, assessing an instruction or opening a notice, with coarse buckets rather than raw content.
What is not tracked
We do not intentionally collect raw email bodies, subcontract clause text, notice bodies, cost line descriptions or invite tokens.
Why it helps
Understanding which steps work (and which don't) lets us make the product faster and clearer for subcontractors.
See the Privacy Policy for the full detail on what analytics intentionally excludes.