FAQ
Questions and answers
For subcontractors, their crews and the builders they work for. Can't find your question? Email hello@variationcapture.com.
For subcontractors
What it does, what it costs, and getting set up.
What does Variation Capture do?
Your crew sends a photo, voice note or text about a site change to one WhatsApp number. It's checked against your subcontract scope, priced from your rate card and drafted as a variation. Your office approves it, and the builder signs off from a link. Every step is recorded, and the written-notice deadline is tracked.
Does anything go to the builder without us seeing it?
No. Every draft waits for someone in your office to check, edit and approve it. Nothing is sent until they do.
Which trades is it for?
Any subcontractor who prices variations from a rate card: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, carpentry and more.
What happens when we sign up?
About four business days, and around 90 minutes of your team's time.
- Day 0–1: you sign the agreement and send your rate card (any spreadsheet or price list), the subcontract for each live job, builder contacts, crew names and mobiles, and a few old site messages.
- Day 2: we load it all and test it against your old messages.
- Day 3, setup call (45 minutes): you check and sign off the rate card and job sheets, and watch your own messages run through it.
- Day 4, go-live: your crew save the number and send a test message, and you send each builder a short letter explaining how notices will arrive.
- First two weeks: we check every draft alongside you and fix rates or wording the same day.
What do we get at setup?
A welcome plan, the service agreement, your rate card and a setup sheet for each job to sign off, a one-page crew guide, a letter for each builder, and a test-run report with sample notices. Everything comes as printable PDFs.
What does it cost, and is there a guarantee?
A flat monthly fee covering every job, crew member and variation. Setup is included, and there's no lock-in. Founding customers keep their price for as long as they stay. If builder-approved variations in your first 60 days don't add up to more than you've paid, you get your money back.
Is there an app to install?
No. Your crew use WhatsApp. Your office uses a web page, with each person signing in with their own email and password. Builders use a link, with no login.
Can we change our rates or add a job later?
Yes. Send the change and it's loaded and checked the same way as at setup. A new job needs its subcontract's scope, notice clause and builder contacts.
How do we know what needs doing?
Every morning at 7 the office gets one email listing:
- notices due today, tomorrow or overdue
- variations waiting to be sent
- queries to answer
- approvers who haven't replied
- claim cut-offs coming up
- overdue payments.
The office is also emailed as soon as a builder approves or queries.
Can we cancel?
Yes, any time by email. It takes effect at the end of the month you've paid for, with no exit fee. You can export your register and documents first.
For crews
Sending a site change from your phone.
How do I send a site change?
Save the Variation Capture number in your phone and message it on WhatsApp:
- a photo of where the change is
- a voice note or text saying what changed, which unit, who asked, and roughly how long it'll take
- anything the builder put in writing, forwarded.
You'll get "Got it" straight back.
Can it read our job group chat?
No. WhatsApp doesn't let business numbers join ordinary group chats. If you've already posted it in the group, press and hold the message, tap Forward and pick Variation Capture.
Do voice notes work?
Yes. Talk it through like you would to the office. The voice note is typed out automatically and drafted like a text, and the office can still play the original.
I'm on more than one site. Do I need to say which?
It helps: naming the street or site is enough. If you don't, it uses where the office has rostered you, or where your last message today went. Failing that, the reply asks "Which site is that for? 1 Birch Lane, 2 Ridge Road…" and you answer with the number.
Why did I get "this number isn't set up"?
It only accepts messages from the mobile numbers your office has given. Ask the office to add yours.
Will I hear back when the builder approves?
Yes. You'll get a WhatsApp message saying it's approved and to go ahead, or that it's been queried and to hold off.
Should I start the work before it's approved?
For anything big, wait for the approval, unless the builder has put it in writing. Small changes are your company's call.
Who sees my messages?
Your office, and Variation Capture's AI assistant, which drafts the variations. They're only used for your company's jobs.
For builders
Receiving, approving and querying variations from your subcontractors.
What will I receive?
An email from the subcontractor "via Variation Capture", with a secure link. The page shows:
- what changed, and who directed it and when
- site photos
- the scope clauses it falls outside
- a priced breakdown with GST.
It's the written notice under your subcontract, addressed to the contracting company named on it.
Do I need an account or an app?
No. The link opens on any phone or computer. You approve or query with one button and your name.
Why do I get separate emails instead of one a week?
Each variation is its own written notice with its own contract deadline, often 3 to 5 business days. Holding them back to bundle them risks missing that deadline, so each is sent the day it happens.
I got three today. Do I have to open each one?
No. Any of the links shows everything else waiting for you from that subcontractor on the same page. Work through them there: each has its own Approve and Query and is recorded separately. Some subcontractors also send one end-of-day email listing whatever is still open, with one link to the lot.
Why was this sent to me and not my colleague?
Your subcontract sets who approves. A common setup is the site supervisor up to an amount, say $2,000, and the project manager above it. The person named for notices is copied on every one.
It isn't mine to approve. What do I do?
Use "Not yours to approve? Pass it on" on the page. Enter their name and email: they're sent the link, and the subcontractor's office is told.
What happens if I query it?
Say what needs clarifying. The subcontractor revises it and sends it back on the same link.
Is there one place to see everything from every subcontractor?
Yes, the builder portal. Enter your work email at builders.app.variationcapture.com and you're sent a sign-in link, with no password. It lists everything sent to that email from every subcontractor using Variation Capture: what's waiting for you, what you're copied on, what's been queried, and what's been recently approved.
Does approving change how we pay?
No. Approval confirms the change and the price. The subcontractor still claims it in their normal progress claim, with the approval as the record.
Several jobs and builders
Crews on more than one site, and builders with different people and companies on each job.
We've got crews on several sites. How does a message find the right job?
In this order, stopping at the first that settles it:
- The street, suburb, job number, or a builder's person who only works on one of the sites, named in the message.
- Where the office has rostered that person.
- Where their earlier message today went.
- The AI's choice, used only when it's clearly one site.
- Asking them on WhatsApp.
The office can move a draft to another site before it's sent, and it's redrafted with that site's contract and rates.
Do approvals and notices go to different people on different jobs?
Yes. Each job is set up from its own subcontract, with:
- the contracting company and ABN (builders often use a separate company for each project)
- who the contract says notices go to
- who approves which amounts
- a backup contact
- where progress claims go, with the cut-off day and payment terms.
What if the approver doesn't answer?
After 2 business days with no answer, the office's morning summary says so, and one button sends it to that job's backup contact.
Can the office look at one site at a time?
Yes. The inbox and register have a site filter, and each job keeps its own variation numbers (VO-001, VO-002…).
Claims and payments
From approved variation to money in the bank.
How do approved variations get into our progress claim?
The Claims screen lists each job's approved variations that haven't been claimed yet, with the next cut-off date. From there you can:
- open a printable claim pack addressed to the contracting company
- download a spreadsheet to upload to the builder's portal
- email it straight to the builder's accounts team.
The variations are then marked as claimed.
Will it remind us before the claim cut-off?
Yes. The morning summary warns 3 business days before a job's cut-off if approved variations haven't been claimed.
Does it track when we should be paid?
Yes. Each claimed variation gets a payment due date from that job's payment terms, counted in business days with public holidays skipped. Overdue payments show until you mark them paid.
Does it chase late payments for us?
No. It shows what's overdue so you can follow it up. Security-of-payment laws differ by state, so the formal steps stay with you and your advisers.
Pricing and the AI
How a draft is priced, and what the office checks.
Does the AI decide the price?
No. It reads the message and picks items and quantities from your rate card. Your rates, your margin on materials and GST are applied from the card you signed off. Your office reviews, and can edit, every line before approving. (More on why AI shouldn't set prices in our guide to using ChatGPT in a trade business.)
What if a job needs something that isn't on our rate card?
The AI never swaps in a different item to make a price work. It lists the item as "Not on rate card" for your office to price, and the variation can't be approved until every line has a rate and quantity. Add common items to your card so the next one prices itself.
What about messages that aren't variations, like "running late"?
They're recorded as not a variation and nothing is drafted. They're listed in the next morning's summary, and the office can draft one anyway if they disagree.
How is "half a day" or "two of us" priced?
By your settings, agreed at setup. For example, half a day might be 4 hours per person, and "two of us" one electrician plus one apprentice, unless the message says otherwise.
How accurate are the drafts?
At setup we run your own past messages through it and check each against your office's answer: whether it's a variation, whether the instruction was verbal or written, the scope clauses, and that every line is on your card. The first two weeks of drafts are reviewed alongside you. Your office checks quantities on every draft before approving.
Can we draft a variation without the AI?
Yes. Any message can be drafted by hand from the rate card, with items not on the card added as extra lines.
Privacy and legal
Your data, security, and the notice itself.
Who owns our data?
You do: site messages, photos, rate cards, contracts and variations. It's used only to provide the service to you. If you cancel, you can export your register and documents, and the data is deleted within 30 days, except what the law requires us to keep.
Can other subcontractors or builders see our prices?
No. Each subcontractor's data is kept separately. A builder only sees variations that were sent to their email address.
Is the AI trained on our data?
No. We use AI providers whose commercial terms don't allow training on customer data. The providers that process your messages are listed in the service agreement.
How is it kept secure?
Each office person signs in with their own email and password, and every action records who did it. Repeated wrong passwords are blocked. Builder links are long random links, one per variation, and everything runs over HTTPS.
Is it a valid written notice?
It's designed to meet the usual written-notice clause. It's in writing, describes the change, includes a priced estimate, and goes to the contract's notice person within the deadline. Whether a particular claim succeeds depends on your contract and the facts, and Variation Capture isn't legal advice. Our guide to what counts as a variation explains how notice clauses usually work.
What if a notice deadline is close?
Every draft shows the date notice is due, counting business days and skipping public holidays. The morning summary lists anything due today, tomorrow or overdue.
Still have a question?
Email us, or see a variation go from site to signed in about two minutes.