How do I submit and approve a variation (change order)?

A variation is a change order against a specific BOQ — it's the one place allowed to modify a BOQ after it's locked, and it goes through its own approval before it can.

Create a draft

1. Click “+ New variation” and select the Bill of Quantities it applies to.
2. Enter a Title, a Reason (client request, design change, unforeseen condition, regulatory, or other), and a Description. Add a Time impact (days) if the change affects the schedule.
3. Build the actual change: use “Add change” to change the quantity or rate on an existing BOQ position, or “Add new position” to introduce scope that wasn't on the BOQ at all.
4. Click “Create draft.”

If your organization uses Management of Change requests, an approved one can optionally be linked to the variation via “Change request (optional).” A variation never requires one — it's there for organizations that want the upstream approval on record.

Submit and review

1. From the draft, click “Submit” once it's ready.
2. A reviewer clicks “Start review” to move it into active review.
3. The reviewer clicks either “Approve” or “Reject” — approving asks you to confirm “Approve & apply to BOQ,” since that's exactly what it does.

What approval actually does to the BOQ

Approving a variation is the one path allowed to write to a BOQ even after it's locked. Each line item you defined is applied directly: a changed position has its quantity and rate updated in place, and a new-scope line becomes a real new BOQ position in the section you chose — both happen in a single transaction, so the BOQ either reflects the whole variation or none of it. See the BOQ approval lifecycle for why a BOQ locks in the first place.

One thing approval does not do automatically: a variation's time impact is recorded, but it doesn't change any dates on the Schedule by itself — you still need to extend the relevant activity's dates there yourself.

Who can do this

Owner, Admin, Project Manager, and Estimator can create and submit variations. Approving or rejecting one is narrower — only Owner, Admin, and Estimator; a Project Manager can submit a variation but can't approve it. Field Supervisor has no access to variations. See what each role controls.