Start with the agreed scope

A revised drawing, an extra floor finish or an instruction to remove part of the works can change a contractor’s commercial position. The difficult question is often whether the work falls within the original price or creates a separate entitlement. Begin with the signed contract, specifications, drawings and bill of quantities. Identify precisely what changed and when.

Variation provisions differ between contracts. A project using a FIDIC form may contain amendments that alter the engineer’s authority, notice requirements or valuation machinery. Read the actual signed documents; the name of the standard form alone does not establish the parties’ obligations.

Establish who authorised the change

Record who requested the change, their role and the contractual basis of their authority. The employer, engineer and main contractor do not necessarily have interchangeable powers. A subcontractor must also distinguish its own contractual counterparty from the employer further up the chain.

Confirm an oral instruction promptly through the contract’s communication procedure. Keep the instruction, revised drawings and replies together. An unanswered email should not be treated as automatic approval of scope, price or an extension of time.

Separate additional work from increased input costs

Doing more work and paying more to perform the original work are different issues. For lump-sum contracts governed by the new Civil Transactions Law, Article 829 distinguishes increased input costs from design changes and addresses exceptional circumstances separately. The existence of additional expenditure alone does not settle entitlement.

Where the dispute concerns a design change, establish the employer’s responsibility or authorisation and the parties’ position on additional remuneration. Avoid presenting either a signed variation or a pending valuation as a universal answer: the governing law, the agreed mechanism and the evidence must be considered together.

Build the cost and time record as the work proceeds

For each change, retain the original and revised drawings, instruction, notices, quotation, valuation correspondence and any reservation of rights. Link labour, materials, subcontract costs and site records to that specific change. A single undifferentiated total makes it harder to explain what the instruction actually cost.

Assess time separately from money. Preserve the programme in use when the instruction arrived, subsequent revisions, progress records and the explanation of any claimed delay. Follow applicable contractual notice requirements promptly; do not assume that agreement to undertake work also resolves its consequences.

Resolve disagreements before they disappear into the final account

Maintain a variation register that identifies the instruction, disputed issue, amount claimed, response and next action. When authority, scope or valuation remains contested, obtain advice while the contemporaneous evidence is still available. Whether work must proceed, and what rights should be reserved, requires review of the particular contract.

Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 subsequently came into force on 1 June 2026. Its temporal application rules mean the dates of the contract, relevant acts and events must be examined; a current dispute should not simply be assigned the former or replacement legislation by reference to the article date.

Bring a focused variation file

  • The signed contract and amendments
  • Original and revised drawings with issue dates
  • Instructions and evidence of authority
  • Notices, quotations and valuation responses
  • Cost records, programme revisions and the variation register

A change has become a payment dispute

Bring the contract and the disputed instruction to a private discussion. NJA can assess the documents, the contractual route and the evidence needed to advance or respond to the claim.

Discuss a Construction Dispute

Legislation referenced

Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025: commencement provisions, temporal application in Article 4 and lump-sum remuneration in Article 829. Application depends on the facts and contract.

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