---
name: variation-log
description: Log every variation and change order against the contract, tag its cost and time impact, and record its approval status so nothing is quietly absorbed. Use each month before the cost report is assembled.
---

# Variation Log

## What it does
Turns a pile of instructions, emails and quotes into one variation register, each line tagged with its origin, its cost impact, its time impact and where it sits in the approval chain.

## When to use
- Monthly, as the second step of the report cycle.
- Any time you cannot answer "what is the current adjusted contract sum" in one line.

## Instructions
1. Ask for: the variation register as it stands, this month's instructions and quotes, and the relevant contract clauses for valuing variations.
2. For each variation record: reference, description in one line, originator (client instruction, consultant, site condition, contractor proposal), date instructed, value claimed, value assessed, time impact in days, and status.
3. Use a fixed status vocabulary: instructed, quoted, assessed, approved, rejected, in dispute. Do not invent new statuses.
4. Where a time impact is claimed, note it but do not assess it here. Pass it to eot-check.
5. Total approved variations separately from claimed-but-unapproved, and show both against the original contract sum.
6. Flag any instruction being carried out on site without a written instruction.

## Output format
- Variation register table with the fields above
- This month's movement: new, approved, rejected, still open
- Adjusted contract sum: original + approved variations
- Exposure line: value of claimed-but-unapproved variations
- Watch list: work proceeding without written instruction

## The one mistake to avoid
Merging claimed and approved into a single total. The client reads one number and budgets against it. Keep approved and exposure on separate lines, always.

## Where the real tools are
Open-source equivalents worth forking:
- https://github.com/datadrivenconstruction/DDC_Skills_for_AI_Agents_in_Construction/tree/main/4_DDC_Curated/Contract-Legal/change-order-manager
- https://github.com/datadrivenconstruction/DDC_Skills_for_AI_Agents_in_Construction/tree/main/5_DDC_Innovative/change-order-analysis