Few subjects cost landscaping businesses as much money and patience as the variation. The ground is not the ground described in the quote. The client would like the terrace two courses wider. Under the planned lawn sits an old concrete base. The crew is standing around, work has to continue, so the job gets done and invoiced later. This is exactly where the most common dispute in the trades begins: the business regards the extra work as additional, the client regards it as included. This article describes when a variation actually arises, how to document it on site in a few minutes, why approval has to come before the work and what happens when it is missing. At the end there is a template you can put to use the same day.
Key takeaways
- A variation arises as soon as the agreed result changes or is extended after the contract is concluded. Remedying defects, positions forgotten in your own quote and goodwill work are not variations but costs carried by the business.
- Outdoor works fall under German construction contract law: the client may request a change, and if no agreement is reached within 30 days, the client may order it in text form (German Civil Code). Remuneration is adjusted afterwards.
- Approval belongs before execution. Where VOB/B is agreed, a claim for separate payment must be announced before work on that item begins (VOB/B). Text form is sufficient for this; a handshake on site is not.
- Without a documented approval the claim is not automatically lost, but the burden of presentation and proof lies with the business. The dispute then regularly delays payment of the undisputed items in the final account as well.
- A variation sheet needs six entries: date, cause, work with quantity, price, effect on the completion date and the client confirmation. Filled in on site and photographed, the whole process takes a few minutes (project experience).
When a variation arises — and when it does not
A variation is not an invoice line, it is a change to the contract. It arises when the work owed changes or is extended after the contract is concluded: the client wants something different, or conditions on site call for something the quote did not cover. Both are normal. In landscaping it is close to standard, because what lies beneath the surface is rarely what the site visit suggested. The problem starts only when the change is carried out before anyone has confirmed it.
The second sentence matters more than the first: not every piece of extra work is a variation. If you forgot an item in your own quote, you miscalculated and carry it yourself. If you rework because the paving settles, you are remedying a defect and owed that work anyway. And if you throw in a small job as a goodwill gesture, say so, rather than putting it on the invoice later. Separating these three cases cleanly from a genuine variation is half the battle — they account for a large share of the later arguments.
The distinction pays off beyond the dispute itself: it shows which variations the business causes on its own. If variations pile up because scope descriptions are vague, the lever sits in the quote rather than in site management. If they pile up because of the subsoil, every quote for hard landscaping needs a proviso. Record the causes for a year and by winter you know which standard paragraphs to change.
- Genuine variation: the client changes scope, material or execution after the contract is concluded
- Genuine variation: site conditions reveal something the quote did not describe — foundation remains, buried services, cohesive soil, contaminated material
- Not a variation: an item missing from your own quote although the work was clearly part of the job
- Not a variation: rework on your own performance, meaning the remedy of a defect
- Not a variation: work done as a goodwill gesture — record it in writing as goodwill, otherwise it becomes the benchmark
- Borderline: additional quantities under agreed unit prices; the content of the work stays the same, only the quantity changes
- Borderline: acceleration at the client request, for example Saturday work ahead of a family celebration
The typical triggers on a landscaping site
The triggers repeat from site to site. First comes the subsoil: cohesive soil instead of load-bearing material, rubble from an earlier conversion, the root system of a neighbouring tree, groundwater in the excavation. Second comes disposal, because contaminated material changes not only the quantity but the type of cost. Third come pipes, cables and chambers that appear on no plan and whose position the first bucket reveals. Anyone who lays hard surfaces knows the chain of excavation, sub-base and base course particularly well; for businesses with that focus we describe it on the paving page in a way a client can follow.
The second large group has nothing to do with the ground and everything to do with people. During the build the client stands in the garden every day, sees the emerging surface in real life for the first time and changes their mind. The sentence „while you are here anyway“ triggers more unpaid work in many businesses than any subsoil. It is not meant badly, quite the opposite: it is a sign of trust. But trust does not turn into an invoice unless somebody records the event.
| Trigger | Typical case | What belongs on the variation sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Subsoil | Cohesive soil instead of load-bearing material in the terrace excavation | Depth, area, photos with a folding rule, extra excavation and aggregate |
| Disposal | Rubble or contaminated material in the excavation | Quantity, material type, weighbridge tickets, tip charges, transport runs |
| Existing structures | Foundation remains, old kerbs, tree stumps under the surface | Position, extent, demolition effort, plant required, additional hours |
| Buried services | An unmarked cable or land drain in the working area | Location, photos, effort to make safe, waiting time, third-party firm |
| Water | Perched water arriving, no outfall available for the drainage | Pumping hours, additional channels or soakaways, changed levels |
| Change request | Terrace two courses wider, different paving format, an extra bed | New quantity, material price, lead time, effect on the completion date |
| Access | Machine cannot reach the plot, hand work instead of excavator | Reason for the restriction, extra hours, small plant, haul route |
Almost all of these triggers share one feature: they show up in the morning, when the crew is already on site. The decision therefore falls under time pressure, often with no site manager present. That is precisely why a business needs a routine here rather than a debate — one that any charge hand can apply without calling the office first.
What construction contract law says about outdoor works
Many businesses treat construction contract law as a matter for building work. That is not correct: under section 650a paragraph 1 of the German Civil Code, a construction contract is a contract for the production, restoration, removal or conversion of a building, of an outdoor facility or of a part thereof (German Civil Code). Outdoor facilities are named explicitly. A substantial share of landscaping contracts is therefore covered by the rules on changes and adjustment of remuneration, even if the quote says nothing about it.
The procedure the law provides is surprisingly close to practice. Under section 650b paragraph 1 the client may request a change to the agreed result, and the contractor is obliged to prepare a quotation for the additional or reduced remuneration (German Civil Code). If the two sides reach no agreement within 30 days (German Civil Code) of the change request being received, the client may order the change in text form. So the law does not force anyone to keep working immediately; it explicitly provides for a step at which the parties negotiate and a price is stated.
The second basis is VOB/B, the German general conditions for construction contracts. It does not apply by itself, only where it has been validly agreed. Where it forms part of the contract, section 2 paragraph 5 states that for changed work a new price must be agreed taking additional and reduced costs into account, and that the agreement should be reached before execution (VOB/B). For work not provided for in the contract, the claim for separate payment must be announced to the client before execution begins, under section 2 paragraph 6 (VOB/B). Whether VOB/B is validly incorporated in a specific contract, particularly with consumers, is a question for the individual case and belongs in a legal review; this article does not replace one.
What „in writing“ means in practice
The sequence: from discovery to approval in seven steps
The following sequence is deliberately granular, because it is applied by people standing in an excavation who want to carry on working. It works for the small variation worth a few hundred euros just as well as for the large one, and once practised it costs barely more time than a coffee break. What matters is that it runs without exception — including for the regular client, and especially for the regular client.
The first step is the most important one. As long as nothing has been carried out, both sides are negotiating about work the client can still decline or solve differently. Once the concrete remains are in the skip, both sides are negotiating about an invoice. That is a completely different starting position, and it is the worse one for the business.
Pause work at that spot
The crew moves to another section rather than dealing with the deviation in passing. Every minute of work carried out weakens the negotiating position and becomes harder to evidence later.
Record the condition
Two photographs are enough: an overview that makes the location recognisable and a detail with a folding rule in shot. Date and time come from the phone automatically.
State the cause in one sentence
What was agreed, what has been found or requested? That single sentence later decides whether this is a variation or a miscalculation of your own.
Estimate the impact
Quantity, working hours, material, disposal, plant and completion date. A robust estimate is worth more than an exact figure that only appears back at the office in the evening.
Price it on the agreed basis
Extend unit prices where suitable items exist, otherwise use daywork with a material record. The basis goes on the sheet, not only the total.
Obtain approval from the responsible person
Have the sheet signed, or send an email and wait for the confirmation. Anyone unreachable receives an email with a deadline and a note on the consequences for the programme.
Only then build, and invoice it separately
The variation gets a number and appears in the invoice as its own block referring to the approval date and the sheet. Mixed in with the main contract it becomes a basis for debate.
In practice this run-through takes a few minutes on site once the sheet and the sequence are familiar (project experience). The time is not lost in documenting but in waiting for the answer. That is why the routine needs a second question: what does the crew do meanwhile? Anyone who has a second work section prepared for this case loses no day.
The variation sheet: six entries on one page
A form beats a free-form email because it forces the entries that otherwise go missing. Descriptions written from memory leave out exactly the points that count in a dispute: the quantity, the basis of the price and the effect on the programme. A pad of numbered sheets in the vehicle costs little and makes the process identical for everyone in the business.
Six entries are enough. Date and time place the event. The cause separates a variation from a miscalculation. Work and quantity describe what is to be carried out. The price names the basis, not only the sum. The effect on the completion date prevents the second argument that otherwise surfaces at handover. And the client confirmation turns the sheet into an agreement.
Variation no. ____ to the contract dated __________
Project: _________________________________________________
Date: __________ Time: ______ Recorded by: __________
1. Cause (one sentence)
What was agreed: _________________________________________
What was found or requested: _____________________________
2. Work
Description: _____________________________________________
Quantity and unit: _______________________________________
3. Price (net)
Basis: [ ] unit price extended [ ] daywork
Labour: ______ h at ______ EUR Material: ______ EUR
Plant and disposal: ______ EUR Total: ______ EUR
4. Effect on the completion date
Construction time extended by ______ working days
5. Attachments
[ ] photo overview [ ] photo detail [ ] sketch [ ] weighbridge ticket
6. Approval BEFORE execution
Name: __________________ Role: __________________
Date: __________ Signature or confirmation by email
Short version for the email from the phone
Subject: Variation ____ - site ____________ - approval requested
Good morning,
during excavation we hit concrete remains that are not included
in the quote. We have paused work at that spot.
Additional work: demolition and disposal, around ______ t.
Price: ______ EUR net. Programme: ______ working days longer.
Two photographs attached.
Please reply to this email with "agreed" and we will carry out
the work on ______.
Kind regardsFor filing there is a simple rule: the completed sheet is photographed on site and sent to the project folder before it can end up forgotten in the vehicle. Paper disappears, photographs do not. Give each site a running number sequence as well and the final account can be checked in two minutes to see whether every variation has been billed — which regularly turns up one that would otherwise have been missed.
Why approval has to come before the work
Three independent reasons speak for this order. The legal one has already been named: where VOB/B is agreed, the claim for separate payment must be announced before execution begins (VOB/B), and the statutory route via section 650b of the German Civil Code also starts with a quotation before the change. The commercial reason weighs more heavily in practice: before execution both sides discuss a possibility, afterwards they discuss a demand. The third reason is the friendliest: the client keeps the choice. Perhaps they do not want the additional area, perhaps they pick a cheaper material, perhaps they postpone that part to next year.
The second question concerns authority. With private clients, clarify whether one person may decide alone or whether both partners want a say — sending the approval request to both helps. With property managers and architects the power of attorney decides, not presence on site. Public clients add value thresholds and internal approval routes that can take several days. Settle and note this question once at the start of a project and you never have to raise it for the individual variation.
Announce before execution
The announcement happens before the first spade goes into the additional work. After that it is no longer an announcement but a subsequent claim.
Name one responsible person
At the start of the project, record who may approve variations and through which channel. That prevents approvals from people who are not authorised to give them.
Text form instead of a shout
A confirming email is enough and takes seconds to write. A verbal agreement in the garden is not worthless in law, but it is hard to evidence in a dispute.
Price and date together
Every approval names both. Confirm the price alone and you will have the argument about the delayed completion a second time later on.
Assign a number
Running numbers per site make variations findable in the invoice, the site diary and the filing, and they prevent duplicated or forgotten items.
Copy to the site
The crew receives the approved version, not only the office. Otherwise what gets built is what was discussed rather than what was approved.
Imminent danger: make safe, report, follow up
What happens without written approval
First the good news: the claim is not automatically lost. Under section 632 paragraph 1 of the German Civil Code, remuneration is deemed to be tacitly agreed if, in the circumstances, the work is only to be expected in return for payment (German Civil Code). Nobody seriously expects a business to dispose of four tonnes of concrete for free. The bad news follows at once: the burden of presentation and proof that an additional order was placed, and what it covered, lies with the contractor. Without a sheet and without an email the claim rests on memories, on witnesses from your own workforce and on whatever happened to be photographed.
In practice a familiar chain follows. The final account is cut because the disputed item is struck out. Payment is delayed, and often not only for the disputed part but for the entire invoice. A question of fact turns into a question of mood; items that were undisputed before are suddenly examined. At the end there is either a discount nobody calculated or proceedings whose costs can exceed the disputed amount. A claim for payment of construction work normally becomes time-barred three years after the end of the year in which it arose (German Civil Code) — so there is no immediate rush, but memories fade considerably faster than that.
The most expensive sentence on site
- A site diary with date, weather, crew and notable events is kept daily
- Photographs are taken before, during and after the additional work, with a scale in shot
- Measurements are taken jointly where possible and signed off by both sides
- Emails are filed in the project folder, not only in the inbox of a mobile phone
- Delivery notes, weighbridge tickets and disposal records are attached to the variation
- Daywork sheets are submitted promptly; where VOB/B is agreed a six working day return period applies (VOB/B)
- Variations appear in the invoice as a separate block with a number and the approval date
If the work has already been carried out, one intermediate route is often overlooked: subsequent acknowledgement. It is far easier to obtain while the work is fresh, the relationship is good and the final account has not yet been written. A short letter with description, quantity, price and a request for confirmation costs nothing and often succeeds at the garden table. Wait until the final account and you are negotiating against a total instead of about an event.
How the price of a variation is formed
On the statutory route the adjustment follows section 650c of the German Civil Code: the amount is determined by the actually required costs plus reasonable additions for general business costs, risk and profit (German Civil Code). If the contractor relies on the rates of a base calculation deposited as agreed, it is presumed that the remuneration derived from it corresponds to the costs (German Civil Code). For the business that means a traceable calculation is not paperwork but the foundation of its own position.
Where VOB/B is agreed, the familiar route via section 2 paragraph 5 applies: for changed work a new price is to be agreed taking additional and reduced costs into account, and that agreement should be reached before execution (VOB/B). The word „should“ is not a licence to leave it until later but a clear instruction. For work not provided for in the contract the duty to announce under paragraph 6 comes on top.
In the calculation itself, restraint with lump sums pays. Submit a variation as a round figure from the gut and you will have to explain it as soon as the client does the arithmetic. An itemised position with labour, material, plant and disposal can be checked and is therefore disputed less often. Daywork makes sense where the quantity cannot be determined in advance, but it requires daily record sheets; where VOB/B is agreed, daywork sheets not returned by the client are deemed acknowledged after six working days (VOB/B).
- Name the basis: extended unit price, new unit price or daywork
- Apply the labour rate that genuinely covers wage overheads, vehicles and administration
- Show material with a receipt, disposal with a weighbridge ticket and plant with a hire rate
- List set-up and relocation time for the additional operation separately instead of hiding it
- Credit reduced work on the same sheet where the change removes something
- State the effect on the programme in working days rather than weeks
- Put a validity period on the variation quotation so material prices do not become a risk
Interim payment on disputed variations
Preventing variations: limits in the quote and on the website
The best variation is the one that never arises. A clean quote describes not only what will be done but also what is not included and which assumptions the calculation rests on: assumed ground conditions, access for machines, disposal route, water and power provided by the client, storage area for material. Add unit prices for the additional quantities that experience says will appear — excavation, aggregate, disposal. Agree those prices in advance and you only have to get the quantity approved rather than negotiate the price under pressure.
Part of this work can be moved forward onto your own website. Service pages that explain the build-up of a surface with base course, bedding and edge restraint make it understandable why a quote contains more than paving and jointing sand. An enquiry form asking for access, area, existing features and preferred date brings out details that otherwise only surface at the site visit. A portfolio gallery shows orders of magnitude, and a page on services and pricing sets a frame in which expectations form. Variations arise less often when the client understood what they were buying before signing.
There is a useful side effect: a better stock of evidence. If you photograph before, during and after the additional work anyway, by the end of the season you have a picture sequence that works as a reference — documented build sequences often convince clients more than the finished image alone. The business Viktor Waldbauer Garten- und Landschaftsbau in Nordstemmen carries out work such as sandstone slabs, terraces, cisterns and complete garden installations; in exactly these trades the invisible part beneath the surface drives the price, and that part can only be explained with pictures from the construction phase.
- The quote names assumptions on ground, access, disposal and client-provided services
- Every quote for hard landscaping contains a proviso for unforeseen obstacles in the subsoil
- Unit prices for likely additional quantities are agreed in advance
- The approval route for variations is written into the contract, with a name and a contact channel
- Numbered variation sheets are carried in every vehicle
- One folder per site collects photographs, sheets, emails and receipts on the same day
- After each season the causes are reviewed and the standard quote paragraphs are adjusted
If it does turn into a dispute: the orderly route
The first step in a dispute is a separation many businesses make too late: separate undisputed items from disputed ones. A final account in which the disputed variations are clearly identified can largely be paid. An invoice in which everything is mixed together is examined as a whole and delayed as a whole. This separation is not a weakness; it is an invitation to settle the unproblematic part straight away.
The second step is establishing the facts jointly. A joint measurement, if necessary with a neutral third party, settles quantities more reliably than any exchange of letters. After that comes a request in text form with a reasonable deadline and a clear statement of what is agreed and what is not. Stopping work unilaterally is risky and should not happen without prior advice; it can turn out more expensive than the disputed variation.
The third step is proportionate escalation. Before proceedings there are conciliation and mediation services, available among others through chambers of skilled crafts and trade associations. At the latest when four-figure sums remain in dispute, a legal assessment is worth having before the final account goes out. This article describes operational practice and does not replace that assessment; evaluating an individual case remains a matter for a lawyer.
A variation that has a number, a price and a confirmation before execution is an invoice line. The same variation without those three entries is a negotiation with an uncertain outcome.