[ Variation Orders ]
A Variation Order your client actually signs off on
A variation agreed over the phone or by email leaves no clean record of what was actually approved, by whom, or when -- and the contract total on the project quietly drifts out of sync with reality. Novato tracks every Variation Order against the project it belongs to, and the contract total only ever changes once a client has genuinely accepted one.
How it works
Raise a Variation Order against the project
Cost impact and any extension of time, described in plain terms.
Send it for client signoff
A no-login link goes to the client contact on file -- no account needed to review and respond.
They accept or reject it directly
Their decision comes back to Novato automatically, with a timestamp.
An accepted variation updates the contract total on its own
Base contract value plus every accepted Variation Order -- always current, never a manual recalculation.
How this fits Australian WHS compliance
A dated record of exactly when a variation was raised and when a client accepted it is real evidence in a cost or delay dispute -- Novato captures that automatically rather than relying on an email thread reconstructed after the fact. The contract total shown on a project is always the base value plus what's genuinely been accepted, not what's merely been proposed.
Common questions
Does the contract total change as soon as I raise a variation?
No -- only once the client actually accepts it. A pending variation is tracked but doesn't move the contract total until it's genuinely agreed.
Does the client need a Novato account to respond?
No -- they respond through a no-login link sent directly to them, the same posture as every other client- or subcontractor-facing link in Novato.
Can I export the contract value with variations included?
Yes -- a branded PDF or CSV showing base contract value plus every accepted Variation Order, the real numbers to raise an invoice from in your own accounting system.
What happens if a client rejects a variation?
It's recorded as rejected and has no effect on the contract total -- you can raise a revised version as a new Variation Order if the scope or price changes.
Which plan includes Variation Orders?
Shield and Armor -- see Pricing for the full comparison.