Dual Approval (Variations)
Dual approval means a variation needs both the builder and the owner to sign off before it changes the contract price. It protects owners from silent cost creep and builders from disputed claims.
Definition
Dual approval is a control where two parties must both agree before an action takes effect. In an Australian residential build, dual approval most often means a variation cannot change the contract sum until both the builder and the owner have signed off on it.
Either side can start a variation. Neither side can make it count on their own. The price only moves when both have agreed, in writing, with a record of who agreed and when.
Why it matters
Variations are where the final price quietly drifts away from the contract you signed. Dual approval puts a gate in front of that drift. As an owner, you cannot be billed for a change you never agreed to, because your sign-off is part of the price moving. As a builder, you are protected too: an owner cannot later dispute a variation they approved, because the approval is on the record. Both sides get the same evidence, so a "you never told me" argument at handover has far less room to run.
How it works in practice
A variation starts when the builder identifies a needed change or the owner requests one. The change is written down with a description and a price, then put to the other party for sign-off. Until both the builder and the owner have approved it, the contract sum does not move and the work is not billable as a variation.
This matters because in the current system variations often begin as a verbal chat on site, get built before anything is signed, and only surface when the next progress claim lands. Owners then face a final price well above the contract without a clean record of approving each change, one variation at a time. Dual approval forces the agreement to happen before the number changes, not after.
Dual approval is the only thing in a BuildFair project that requires both parties to sign. Ordinary progress payments and subcontractor payouts do not need it: the owner approves a verified stage, and payment follows the normal schedule. Reserving dual approval for variations keeps the build moving while still putting a hard gate on the one place where the price tends to slip.
An approved variation lifts a subcontractor's payment cap, which is the contract value plus approved variations. It does not invent new headroom beyond the agreed scope. If a sub invoices above the cap, the extra is withheld in the regulated project account rather than paid, so an unapproved or out-of-scope change cannot quietly drain the job.
Common misconceptions
Dual approval applies to every payment
It does not. In a BuildFair project, variations are the only thing that needs both the builder and the owner to sign. Ordinary progress payments and subcontractor payouts follow the normal schedule once a stage is verified and approved.
Only the builder can raise a variation
Either party can. Owners request plenty of changes after seeing the build take shape. Whoever raises it, both the builder and the owner must agree to the price before it sticks.
An approved variation frees up extra money to spend
An approved variation raises a subcontractor's payment cap to contract value plus approved variations. It does not create new headroom beyond the agreed scope, and amounts above the cap are withheld, not paid.
A handshake or text counts as approval
A verbal agreement on site is exactly how disputes start. Dual approval means a recorded sign-off from both parties before the price moves, so neither side is arguing from memory at handover.
This page is general information, not legal, financial, or tax advice. For a dispute about a variation, talk to a lawyer, your state tribunal (such as VCAT or NCAT), or Legal Aid.