Building And Post Contract Variations

Post contract and building variations are part of the document management solution provided by Framework ECM. Their function (like a document tender) is to electronically manage variation documents.

Benefits Of Building And Post Contract Variations

Variation document management provides an electronic solution for creating and managing variations in Framework ECM. It is designed to ensure that variations are created using the most up-to-date product and pricing by tying in with the Variation Price Book (VPB). It also retains a complete history of variations, such as the date the documents were prepared, sent to the client, signed, and approved. It also shows which documents have been cancelled, deleted, or superseded.

Along with the creation and management of variations, Framework ECM also provides an easy way to produce professional variation documentation, both internal and client-focussed.

Creating variations using common items from the VPB also provides the ability to integrate estimates into many estimating packages. This reduces the amount of checking an estimator has to do by flagging common, unchanged items.

There are three types of variations in Framework ECM:

Tender Variations
Post Contract Variations
Building Variations

They are split this way to clearly indicate at which point of the process they were created. Tender variations occur after the tender is signed and before the contract is signed. Post contract variations are created after the contract has been signed and before the job has gone to site. Building variations are created once a job is on-site.

Once a variation has had its status set to Final, a construction claim is automatically created. This ensures that the invoicing of all final variations is completed.

A Final Variation List (FVL) is a document that amalgamates all previous final documents (e.g., tender, tender variations, post contract variations) into one final document. This is typically signed by the client prior to going to site and clearly represents any and all changes that have been made. There are two types of FVLs:

Administration FVL: Is created before a job goes to site.
Construction FVL: Is created after building variations have been raised. This is signed by the client once a building variation has been created and signed.

What To Do

Requirements

Before creating variations in the system, current Framework ECM licensing should be reviewed. If additional staff will be using document management area, the appropriate license requirements should be established.

Framework security should also be reviewed. This will ensure that the relevant users can access and create variations.

Planning

Before creating variations, it is recommended that a VPB has been created and published for use.

The document management area contains a suite of standard client-focussed reports. These should be reviewed and customised prior to creating variations as these are the documents presented to clients.

As part of the planning for implementation, the staff responsible for ensuring that the VPB is up-to-date (typically sales estimators) should be informed and aware of the proposed timeline for implementation. This can ensure that the VPB and any related templates are reviewed and up-to-date for the go-live. It will also prepare the staff for the new role they will have to perform.

Templates can be set up to include items commonly used in variations (e.g., special notes, common upgrades etc). These should be considered and created prior to implementation.

Implementation

Post contract and building variations can be used as soon as the required licensing and security settings have been applied. As this is a part of Framework ECM, it does not require any additional setup or configuration.

Part of the implementation requires that training is scheduled for the relevant staff. The Framework ECM training guide outlines the staff required for the training. This guide can be obtained from Insula Software.

Ongoing Management

To ensure that the variations created are offered with the correct pricing and product, it is essential that the VPB is maintained and updated periodically.

Refresher training is also recommended for staff creating variations in Framework ECM.