In brief
- Variation pricing experience gaps show up as unpriced extras, disputed valuations and stalled instructions, not as visible defects on site.
- The fix sits in the contract before work starts: a priced schedule of rates, a named person who instructs changes, and a review of the contractor's recent variation records.
Contents
A variation is any change to the agreed scope, and a contractor with limited variation pricing experience in Burao may not carry the estimating habits to price that change before the work proceeds. The risk lands on the client when extra work starts on a verbal instruction and the cost is settled later, without a rate the contract already accepts.
How does the gap turn into an unpriced extra?
It starts with a scope change that nobody prices at the moment it is instructed. A wall moves, a foundation deepens after the excavation is opened, or a client adds a boundary wall after the layout is marked. An experienced estimator breaks that change into measured quantities, applies agreed rates, and issues a priced instruction the client can approve or reject. Where that habit is missing, the work often proceeds on a site conversation and the money question is deferred.
Deferring the price rarely removes it. It moves the argument to the final account, when the work is buried and the measurement is disputed. Ask the contractor how they priced variations on their last two projects, and ask to see the priced instruction sheets, not just the final invoice. If none exist, treat every change as a live cost risk until a written price is agreed.
What does it do to cost control and programme?
Once a change is unpriced, the client loses the ability to compare cost against value before committing. A contractor without variation pricing experience may also pause the affected trade while waiting for a rate to be agreed. On a small Burao site that pause can idle blocklayers, steel fixers and the supervisor for days, and the lost time rarely appears in any document.
The second effect is valuation drift. Progress claims get built on approximate quantities, and each claim becomes a negotiation rather than a measurement against agreed rates. Clients and quantity surveyors then face a final account that reflects argument, not work done. Walk a recent site and ask the supervisor how a mid-project change was priced and who approved it. The answer shows whether the contractor runs a variation system or absorbs changes into general claims.
How do you close the gap before work starts?
Put the pricing method in the contract, not in a later conversation. The contract can require rates for common extra items, a named person with authority to instruct changes, and a rule that no change proceeds without a signed priced instruction. General practice for measured works is that the schedule of rates covers the trades most likely to change, and the project specification or engineer should confirm which items apply to your build.
Check experience against the specific work, not the contractor's general reputation. Ask for variation records from projects of similar size, request the priced instruction sheets, and ask two contractors for written quotes on the same defined change so you can compare how each one measures and prices it. For permits and any municipal requirements on the change, ask the Burao municipal engineer's office what approval the alteration needs. Confirm all technical and contractual requirements against your project's specification and engineer before signing.
What to do next
Before signing, add one page to the contract: a priced schedule of rates for likely changes, the name of the person who can instruct a variation, and the rule that no extra work starts without a signed price. Then ask each bidder for two priced variation sheets from recent projects and mark any bidder who cannot produce them. Ask your quantity surveyor to review that page before award.
Frequently asked questions
Who should price a variation on a Burao build?
The contractor prices it, the quantity surveyor or client checks the measurement and rate against the contract, and the named person with authority signs the priced instruction before the work starts. If the contract names no such person, settle that before award.
Can a client refuse extra work that was never priced?
What the contract allows decides that, so read the variation clause and take advice before refusing or approving. The practical step is to require a written price before any change proceeds, so the choice stays with the client.
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Burao and Somaliland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.