Variation notice templates for AS 4000 and AS 2124

These are drafting aids, not legal advice. They are Storia's own wording, not text from any Standards Australia form. Check the executed contract, its special conditions and the form edition before you send anything: most Australian contracts are amended standard forms, and AS 4000:2025 and AS 4000-1997 clause numbering may differ. Clause numbers and headings below come from published firm summaries and, for AS 4000-1997, a public amended copy; no licensed Standards Australia text was read. For the law behind each letter, start at the Australian variations hub.

Which letter to send

Layer: form-default, from summaries, plus the Victorian statute read directly. Your contract's amendments govern.

Template A. Request for a written direction (AS 4000 cl 36.1)

Use it before Practical Completion, whenever you have been asked to do something you consider a change and do not hold a written direction from the Superintendent. Send it to the Superintendent named in the contract, through the notice channel the contract specifies. Summaries of AS 4000:2025 report that email notices are expressly recognised (cl 7), and that Practical Completion can occur before its certificate issues, so the window for a direction may close earlier than the paperwork suggests.

To:        [SUPERINTENDENT NAME], Superintendent, [PROJECT]
Cc:        [PRINCIPAL CONTACT]
From:      [CONTRACTOR], [AUTHOR, ROLE]
Date:      [DATE]
Contract:  [CONTRACT NO.], AS 4000[:2025 / -1997] as amended by [SPECIAL CONDITIONS REF]
Subject:   Request for written direction under clause 36.1 - [SHORT DESCRIPTION]

1. On [DATE AND TIME], [NAME, ROLE, ORGANISATION] asked us to [DESCRIBE
   THE WORK OR CHANGE] at [LOCATION / GRIDLINE / LEVEL]. The request was
   given [orally on site / by email ref [REF] / at meeting [MINUTES REF]].

2. We consider this work is not part of the work under the Contract,
   because [CONTRACT DOCUMENT, CLAUSE, DRAWING NO. AND REVISION] requires
   [WHAT THE CONTRACT ACTUALLY REQUIRES].

3. We do not hold a written direction from the Superintendent for this
   work. Please either:
   (a) direct the change in writing under clause 36.1; or
   (b) confirm in writing that the work is not required.

4. [Select one]
   [We will not proceed until we receive your written direction.]
   [Because [SAFETY / PROGRAMME REASON], we are proceeding from [DATE]
   on the basis that a written direction will follow, and we reserve
   our entitlement to have this work valued as a Variation.]

5. We will notify any delay and any claim separately under the Contract.

Records held: [LIST RECORD IDS - diary entry, photos, email, drawing rev].

[SIGNATURE BLOCK]

On AS 2124-1992, the same letter works as a request to confirm an oral direction in writing. One firm summary reports that, where the Contractor asks for written confirmation of an oral direction, the Contractor need not comply until the Superintendent confirms SINGLE-SOURCE. Check your cl 23 and cl 40 before relying on that, and send Template D as well.

Template B. Notice that a direction is a Variation

Use it when you hold a direction or a deemed-variation trigger and want your characterisation and reservation on the record before the price is argued. It deliberately does not contain the EOT notice: that is a separate notice under a separate clause, and folding it in invites an argument that neither was properly given.

To:        [SUPERINTENDENT NAME], Superintendent, [PROJECT]
From:      [CONTRACTOR], [AUTHOR, ROLE]
Date:      [DATE]
Contract:  [CONTRACT NO.], [FORM AND EDITION] as amended by [REF]
Subject:   Notice - direction [DIRECTION REF] is a Variation

1. On [DATE] you directed [DESCRIBE] by [DOCUMENT: email / site
   instruction / RFI response / drawing [NO.] rev [X]].

2. We regard this direction as a Variation under clause [36.1 / 40.1 /
   DEEMING CLAUSE, e.g. latent conditions or discrepancies], because
   [CONTRACT BASELINE: document, clause, drawing and revision at award]
   required [X] and the direction requires [Y].

3. We are complying with the direction. Compliance is not agreement that
   the work is within the Contract.

4. We reserve our entitlement to:
   (a) valuation of the Variation under clause [36.4 / 40.5 / AMENDED
       PRICING CLAUSE], including time-related costs;
   (b) an extension of time, which we are notifying separately under
       clause [EOT CLAUSE] by letter [REF] dated [DATE]; and
   (c) any further claim arising from the direction, which we will
       notify under clause [CLAIMS CLAUSE, e.g. 41 / 46.1] if it arises.

5. Our price submission will follow by [DATE], or within the period the
   Contract requires if shorter.

Records held: [DIRECTION DOC], [BASELINE DOC], [PHOTOS], [DIARY].

[SIGNATURE BLOCK]

Template C. Latent condition notice (AS 4000 cl 25)

Under AS 4000-1997 cl 25.3, as reproduced in a public amended copy, the Superintendent prices a latent condition as a Variation. [EDITION ALERT] No summary located says that deeming survived in the 2025 edition. Under AS 2124 the Contractor instead claims the extra cost incurred, under cl 12 SINGLE-SOURCE for the number. Summaries of AS 4000:2025 (HWL Ebsworth; Swaab) report that cl 25 notification now runs as soon as practicable after the Contractor becomes aware; the wording was not read, and one firm lists stricter cl 25 notification limits among common principal amendments. So treat the notice as due immediately, and read your cl 25 and special conditions for the actual trigger.

To:        [SUPERINTENDENT NAME], Superintendent, [PROJECT]
From:      [CONTRACTOR], [AUTHOR, ROLE]
Date:      [DATE]  Time: [TIME]
Contract:  [CONTRACT NO.], AS 4000[:2025 / -1997] as amended by [REF]
Subject:   Notice of latent condition under clause 25 - [LOCATION]

1. At [TIME] on [DATE] our [ROLE] encountered [DESCRIBE THE PHYSICAL
   CONDITION: e.g. rock / contamination / buried services / water] at
   [LOCATION, CHAINAGE, GRID, DEPTH].

2. We became aware of it on [DATE]. We are giving this notice [before /
   as soon as practicable after] the condition was disturbed.
   [If already disturbed: state why, and what was recorded first.]

3. The condition differs materially from what a competent contractor
   could reasonably have anticipated at the time of tendering from
   [SITE INVESTIGATION REPORT REF, BOREHOLE LOGS, TENDER DOCUMENTS].
   [Adjust this paragraph to your contract's latent-condition test.]

4. Our proposed approach is [METHOD]. We request your direction on how
   to deal with the condition.

5. Our current estimate of the effect is:
   Time:  [X days / not yet known]. Notified separately under clause
          [EOT CLAUSE] by letter [REF].
   Cost:  [$ / not yet known]. We will submit a valuation.

6. We have preserved the following records and made the area available
   for inspection: [PHOTOS WITH TIMESTAMPS, SURVEY, SAMPLES, DIARY].

[SIGNATURE BLOCK]

Template D. AS 2124-1992 cl 46.1 prescribed notice

AS 2124-1992 tolerates the oral direction and then punishes the missing notice. As summarised, cl 46.1 makes the Principal's liability on a claim depend on the Contractor giving a prescribed notice within a set period, on pain of the claim being barred. The base period is reported as 42 days in two independent sources (Turtons, 2018; a South Australian Housing Trust annexure, 2023, which amends it to 28 days), but sources disagree on what starts it UNVERIFIED: one reading ties it to the Superintendent's direction, another to when the Contractor could reasonably have been aware of the claim. Periods are routinely amended. Check your contract's cl 46.1 and special conditions, diarise from the earlier trigger, and do not wait for the price.

To:        [SUPERINTENDENT NAME], Superintendent, [PROJECT]
From:      [CONTRACTOR], [AUTHOR, ROLE]
Date:      [DATE]
Contract:  [CONTRACT NO.], AS 2124-1992 as amended by [REF]
Subject:   Notice of claim under clause 46.1 - [SHORT DESCRIPTION]

1. This is a notice under clause 46.1 [and clause [ANY SPECIAL
   CONDITION THAT AMENDS IT]].

2. The claim arises from [DIRECTION / EVENT] given or occurring on
   [DATE] by [NAME, ROLE] [orally / in writing, ref [REF]].

3. We first became aware that we had a claim on [DATE], when [FACT].

4. General nature of the claim: [e.g. valuation of a variation under
   clause 40 / extra cost of a latent condition under clause 12 /
   other].

5. Contractual basis: clause[s] [X].

6. Amount: [$ ESTIMATE, basis attached / to follow by [DATE]].
   [If your cl 46.1 requires further particulars within a further
   period, diarise it: [DATE].]

7. Time: any extension of time is notified separately under clause
   [35 / AMENDED EOT CLAUSE] by letter [REF].

[SIGNATURE BLOCK]

Template E. Variation price submission, with the records schedule

Under AS 4000 the Superintendent prices the Variation on a ladder that starts with prior agreement (cl 36.4 in AS 4000-1997), so a price agreed before the work starts is worth more than a better number argued afterwards. In AS 4000-1997 (and the AS 4902-2000 family), cl 36.2 (Proposed Variations) asks the Contractor to respond to a proposed variation with its cost including time-related (or delay) costs. Two independent amended public copies say so; the 2025 wording was not read. (Inference.) A price that leaves out time-related cost may later be said to have settled it. Price them, or reserve them expressly. The one appellate decision read on the point went the other way on its bespoke clause: in Chengcheng v Mansfield [2018] NSWCA 244, agreed and paid variations did not exclude separate liquidated delay losses. The risk is in your contract's words. See prolongation and delay costs in Australia.

To:        [SUPERINTENDENT NAME], Superintendent, [PROJECT]
From:      [CONTRACTOR], [AUTHOR, ROLE]
Date:      [DATE]
Contract:  [CONTRACT NO.], [FORM AND EDITION] as amended by [REF]
Subject:   Variation [VARIATION NO.] - price submission

1. Direction: [DIRECTION REF, DATE, BY WHOM]. Our notices: [TEMPLATE B
   REF], [EOT NOTICE REF], [CLAIM NOTICE REF if any].

2. Pricing basis: we have priced under clause [36.4 / 40.5 / AMENDED]
   using [agreed rates / contract rates [SCHEDULE REF] / reasonable
   rates, because no contract rate applies for the reason that [X]].

3. Price:
   Direct work (measured or daywork)           $[   ]
   Omitted work credited                       $[   ]
   Time-related costs ([X] days at $[ ]/day)   $[   ]  [or: reserved,
                                                        see para 5]
   Margin [as the Contract provides]           $[   ]
   Total                                       $[   ]

4. Programme effect: [X working days] to [ACTIVITY / DATE FOR PRACTICAL
   COMPLETION], shown in [PROGRAMME UPDATE REF]. Claimed separately as
   an extension of time under clause [EOT CLAUSE].

5. Reservation: this price covers only the items listed in paragraph 3.
   [It does not include [disruption to unchanged work / acceleration /
   the effect of other variations], which we reserve.]

6. Records schedule (attached):
   R1  Direction [REF, DATE]
   R2  Contract baseline [DOC, CLAUSE, DRAWING REV AT AWARD]
   R3  Revised drawing / RFI response [REF, REV, DATE RECEIVED]
   R4  Site diary entries [DATES]
   R5  Photographs [IDS, TIMESTAMPS, LOCATIONS]
   R6  Labour and plant records [DOCKET NOS., DATES]
   R7  Materials invoices [NOS.]
   R8  Quantities take-off [REF]
   R9  Programme update [REF, DATA DATE]
   R10 Correspondence chain [REFS]

[SIGNATURE BLOCK]

The records that make each notice defensible

A notice asserts facts. The records prove them, and they have to exist before anyone asks.

Where Storia fits

Each template above is only as strong as the dated record behind its placeholders: the direction, the baseline drawing revision, the diary entry that shows when you became aware. Storia turns drawings, RFIs, schedules, correspondence and field reports into one source-linked project record, built as the work happens, so the document each [PLACEHOLDER] points to can be found and traced to its source when the notice is drafted, not reconstructed months later when the claim is disputed.

Three notices, not one

One direction can require three separate notices, each under its own clause and on its own clock.

Layer: form-default, from summaries and a public amended AS 4000-1997 copy. No licensed clause text was read. Special conditions routinely amend all three.

(Inference.) Because each notice sits in a different clause with a different trigger, a letter that satisfies one does not necessarily satisfy the others. The EOT clock, and what the Australian courts do with a missed EOT notice, is set out in notice and time bars in Australia.

Kaloriziko (2025): approval is not a variation

In Kaloriziko v Calibre Construction Group (No 2) [2025] NSWCA 259, the developer had "approved", but not paid, a claimed variation for consultancy fees that were in truth within the builder's scope. The Court of Appeal held that approval did not operate as a direction under the contract's cl 36.1 and could not price a variation under its cl 36.4. In Adamson JA's words: "The pricing of a non-variation does not convert it to a variation." For the items the developer had approved and paid, payment was on account only under the contract's cl 37.2, so it did not bind the developer either.

Two limits matter. The contract was an amended AS 4902-2000-format design and construct contract, not AS 4000. And only $133,175 of the $3,243,175 reduction on appeal concerned a variation; items separately payable as "excluded items" stayed with the builder. (Inference.) The lesson is Template A's: a Principal's approval is evidence, not a direction, and the scope argument must still be won on the documents.

Victoria: s 13A, if the time bar looks unfair

From 15 April 2026, s 13A of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) lets an adjudicator, a court, an arbitrator or an expert appointed by the parties declare a notice-based time bar provision unfair in relation to a particular entitlement if compliance "is not reasonably possible" or "would be unreasonably onerous". The definition covers a provision that makes an entitlement to be paid for construction work contingent or dependent on the provision of notice by a party. (Inference.) A clause that bars payment for a variation unless a claim notice is given in time therefore sits squarely within its words.

Four points before you rely on it:

• The onus is yours. s 13A(4) puts it on the party alleging unfairness.
• It is entitlement-specific. A declared provision has no effect on the particular entitlement in issue (s 13A(3)(a)), but "continues to have effect in other circumstances or proceedings" (s 13A(3)(b)).
• The presumptions cut against you. It is "conclusively presumed" that the parties read and understood the contract, and presumed that you have the competence of a reasonably competent contractor (s 13A(7)).
• The written-direction requirement is a different question. Whether a clause that makes a variation depend on a prior written direction is a "notice-based time bar provision" is unresolved. No decision applying s 13A was located.

(Opinion.) s 13A is a fallback argument, not a notice strategy. Give the late notice now, say it is late and why, and then assess s 13A. Western Australia has a similar provision in s 16 of its 2021 Act, per summaries. For how Victoria's reforms change the variation account in adjudication, see variations in Victoria and adjudicating the variation account.

For how records become evidence in an Australian dispute, see records and expert evidence in Australia.

About this material Library content is general information about construction claim practice, not legal advice. Entitlement, deadlines and procedure are governed by your own contract and by the law of the place the work is performed. Reviewed October 6, 2026 · Report a correction