Contract Variation/Pending Change Order

Written By Paul Leerentveld (Super Administrator)

Updated at September 2nd, 2024

The purpose of this Work Instruction is to explain the Variation process and how they should be completed using Viewpoint. This document will explain the importance of completing Variations correctly, and to the requirements set by Shadforths Management. This process is not for subcontract variations!

Procedure Flow Chart: Variation Process

Summary of Variation Process

Something outside of the original projects scope has arisen and an activity must be performed to move forward with the project
This activity is a 'variation'
This variation will require payment in most cases
A variation must be set up within Viewpoint
The relevant variation is then sent to consultant for approval
Once approved, the variation can then be added to the next progress bill claim
The variation cost are to be recovered in the progress billing of a project

Importance of Procedure

As with all Viewpoint processes, the procedures are to firstly benefit the company as a whole, and to secondly make daily tasks for Project Managers & Engineers more efficient (however this is not always the case). Therefore, this particular task must be completed within Viewpoint and is thus enforced by Shadforths Management.

As with most projects, unforeseen situations can arise where additional work is required that does not fall under the projects contractual scope. In these situations a variation may arise where payment needs to be made for conducting additional works. It is important to Shadforths that these variations are recorded and approved by the relevant stakeholders so that the cost can be recovered when Progress Claims are submitted.

Summary Steps

Open Viewpoint
Enter PM Work Centre
Click Variations on the left
Click create new document icon
In top screen, enter Pending Change Order (PCO)
In bottom screen, enter your PCO Items
Make sure to enter an estimation of what each PCO item it will cost Shadforths for the variation
Send variation to consultant
Once approved by consultant, open the variation and click 'tasks' and then approve PCO items
Interface the variation using the PM Interface app
Your variation will now be available in your next progress claim

Scenario

Company: 101 - Test - Shadforths Civil Eng

Project: T329 - Training Project 10

Superintendent: Rika Mason

Whilst conducting Earthwork operations on a new project, it was noticed that a number of heavy machines were becoming bogged in a particular area. This area was in a location that was to be filled from a nearby borrow area.

Upon investigation of the suspect location, it was noticed that the material was highly saturated and full of large amounts of organic material. The Geo-technical for the site would not allow fill material to be places on this area due to it high saturation, low bearing capacity, and high concentration of organics. As a result Shadforth, the Principle Contractor, has requested a variation to the consultant for removal of suspected uncontrolled fill and heavily saturated material.

Variation is as follows:

Extra Over and above rates to cut/fill - $7/m^3

Excavate, dry and reuse wet/unsuitable material = $4/m^3 PQ = 2000m^3
Excavate uncontrolled fill and stockpile with topsoil = $5/m^3 PQ = 500m^3
Additional Ground Surface Treatment to attempt bridging of the area = $2/m^3 PQ = 3000m^2

Step 1 - Commencement

Open the Viewpoint application (1) from your desktop
If outside of Head Office, use Remote Desktop (2) and then open the Viewpoint application (1)

Step 2 - Viewpoint Home

Once the Viewpoint application is opened, go to the top left hand corner of the page and click on the tab labelled 'PM Work Centre'.

Step 3 - PM Work Centre

Once opened, in the ' Company' field, use the drop down menu to select the appropriate company. In this example we will use 'Test Company 101'
On the right hand side use the drop down menu to select the project you are completing a variation for. You can narrow the available options down by selecting a project manager and project status first.
Select Project T329 - Training Project 10

Note - Selection Options

Normally, Shadforths Projects will fall in one of two ‘companies’. These being numbers 1 and 2. However, three companies are important for PM/PE.

1 = Shadforths Civil Engineering - Tier One Projects (Example: Federal Safety Requirements).

2 = Shadforths Civil - Tier Two Projects (Example: General subdivisions).

101 = Test - Shadforths Civil Eng - Training

Step 4 - Variation Form

Select 'Variations' from the left hand side

Note - Submitted Variations

Notice you can see all previously submitted Variations within this screen. These Variations are project specific, if you change the project you will see the newly chosen project’s Variation.

Select 'Create New Item' from the menu above the existing Variations, this is circled below.

You will be given the following screen

Step 5 - Submitting a Variation

Initial Details:

Looking at the top half of the screen, this shows your previously created PCO. This can be thought of as your variations. Select the grid tab and hit F4 in the next available VAR Type field. There will be only one option available so double click that.

The bottom half of the screen shows your PCO items. This can be thought of as your Variation items.

PCO Items:

Click the grid tab and enter 1 in the PCO item field, then click the info tab. Fill in a description for your variation. Note: Your first PCO Item should be considered as a heading for your entire variation i.e. this will be the heading of your variation and the other items will sit below. Screen should look like below.
Click F4 in the Cont. Item field, and then find the most recent contract item number, you will then use the next number in the sequence. Once you know what you will number your variation press set up. This is where you will enter a contract item for your variation to apply to. Note: What you enter in this step will be what is displayed on your progress claim. Therefore, formatting is important. In this case I want my variation to be number 122.0. Note: the decimal 0 is crucial for formatting. Without '.0' your variation will appear at the top of your progress claim.

Once you have done the above, it is time to set up the contract item that is to have the variation applied to. Fill out as below, the green circled fields are what requires information to be entered. Note: Print format is No.2. This is a header item. As this is the first PCO it requires a header format. Any items to follow will be format No.0.
Note: Only enter a Unit of Measurement . DO NOT ENTER A VALUE FOR COST OR NUMBER OF UNITS. Essentially we are entering a contract item with no cost or units, you will be applying a variation to which will assign a quantity of units and cost.
Click save and close 'PM Contract Items'. Scroll down to your newly created contract item and double click
On the PCO info tab click the fixed amount box, then enter your correct units. In this case it will stay PQ. As it is a header it will not have a quantity or price per unit. However, once we enter the following PCO items, this is where we will be able to apply a cost and units to the variation. Once complete it should look like the below.

Additional PCO Items:

Following the steps above, fill in the below

Fill out as below. Note that this time we can enter quantities and costs as this will be an item we claim against when doing a monthly claim

We need to enter a cost estimate for project profit reporting. Fill out as per below,

Continue entering remaining items. Your PCO Items grid field will then look like the below

Step 4 - Distribution

Click on the 'Distribution' tab to select who will receive the variation request letter. In this case Rika Mason will be the consultant.

Your screen should now look like the below

Step 5 - Create and Send

Click the 'Penvalope' icon in the top tool bar

Preview the document by selecting 'View Document'
The document produced will look like the below 'Document Example'
Close the document once viewed, you would then press send and the document and attached letter would be sent to the required consultant

Document Sample

The above document is then to be sent to the consultant for review and approval

Variation approved by Consultant

Once the variation has been approved by the consultant we need to approve the variation on Viewpoint
Reopen the variation using the step above
In the below screen click 'tasks' then 'Approve PCO'
Type in a name for your variation below and click approve

Close out of all screens and go to menu and open PM Interface

Click 'Validate' and 'Interface' as per below

Close the pop up and close PM Interface window

Viewing your items in a new Progress Claim

You can now create a new progress claim for this project and when you click on the 'Items' tab and scroll to the bottom of the page you will find your variation items you created

Viewing your items in an already existing Progress Claim

If you are already in a progress claim you will need to add your variation items to the list
Click into 'Items' tab if you are not already in it
Scroll to the bottom of the list and in the Item Column and press F4

This will bring up a list of the contract items and your added variations
Select your variations and it will now appear as part of the items in your progress claim

Shadforth Civil Knowledge

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