CVI & Instruction Review
Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Subcontractors5 working days
I sweep your correspondence and site records for instructions that never made it onto paper, confirm what can still be confirmed while the periods are open, and value what stands.
The problem
Most variations start as a conversation: someone on site asks for something extra, the work gets done, and nothing goes on paper. Months later the account is disputed, and the question is no longer whether the work happened but whether there is an instruction that entitles you to be paid for it. By then the answer is fixed by the recording discipline when each direction was given: whether the verbal direction was confirmed on paper, usually by a CVI, a confirmation of verbal instruction, in the form the contract recognises, by the person it empowers, within the time it allows.
The solution
I record the contract's instruction machinery first: who may instruct, in what form, the confirmation route and its period. Then I sweep the correspondence and the site records for everything that operates as an instruction in substance, give each candidate a verdict, and draft confirmations for what is still confirmable, going out while the review runs rather than with the report. The items that stand are valued, the barred ones are named plainly, and every period still running is diarised.
What you receive
Every candidate instruction on the project gets a verdict: valid, confirmed during the review, or barred and said so plainly. The review lands as a detailed written report: each item, its verdict, what was confirmed while the period was open, and the value at stake on what stands. When the account is argued, the argument is about the value of the change, not whether it exists.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: five working days.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
Need it faster? Ask on the first call: an express turnaround is quoted in writing where the diary allows it.
How it works
You send me the paperwork
The list below lets me check what actually happens on site against what the contract requires.
- A
All instructions, written and verbal
ImportantWithout it: The candidate list is built from the correspondence and site sweeps alone, and a verbal direction that left no trace is never found
Where to find it: There is no single place for this: pull together any formal instructions you have issued or received, and for anything given verbally, note who said it, when, and where, from a site diary or memory.
Why I need it: Most instructions are given informally and never confirmed
- B
Correspondence
EssentialWithout it: There is nowhere left to sweep for instructions, and the review cannot start
Where to find it: The site team's inboxes: the messages from the contract administrator or the employer's team telling you to do something.
Why I need it: Where the instruction usually is
- C
Site records
ImportantWithout it: Work done with no instruction behind it cannot be proven, and each surviving item is valued on a measure rather than a record
Where to find it: The site office and the site manager's phone, mostly.
Why I need it: What proves the work was done and when
Quality: dated daily diaries and signed allocation sheets.
- D
The contract's instruction clauses
EssentialWithout it: There is no standard to measure your routine against, and the review cannot start
Where to find it: The commercial folder or order email holds the signed copy; if conditions are incorporated by reference, send whatever documents you were given.
Why I need it: Who may instruct, in what form, and what happens otherwise
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
You walk me through how directions arrive
One call on who instructs your teams on site, in what form, and what happens next.
I read your contract's instruction machinery
What counts as an instruction under your contract, who is empowered to give one, and what a confirmation of a verbal instruction must contain to bite.
Confirmation route recorded first.
Who may instruct, in what form and within what period is recorded from the executed contract and its amendments before any direction is judged.
I sweep the correspondence and site records
I go through the emails, diaries and day sheets for everything that operates as an instruction in substance, whatever it is called, and for work done outside the contract scope with nothing behind it. Each becomes a candidate to test.
I give every candidate a verdict
Each is tested against the contract: a valid instruction as it stands, capable of confirmation now, or barred. The barred ones are named plainly, with whether any other route remains.
I draft the confirmations that can still go out
For anything still inside its confirmation period, I draft the confirmation in the form, to the recipient and within the time your contract requires. These go out while the review runs, not with the report.
Form and deadline checked at issue.
Any confirmation prepared for issue is checked against the contract's required form, recipient and time limit on the day it goes out.
You issue the confirmations in your name
Each drafted confirmation goes to the other party from you while its period is still open, so the rescue happens before the report lands.
I value what stands and diarise what runs
The items that stand are valued, or passed to variation pricing where the build-up needs it, and every confirmation period still running is diarised so nothing else closes quietly.
I hand over what was rescued and what it is worth
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
