ScopeLock for builders & chippies
Renovations grow. Get every change signed before it's built.
Every reno is quoted against what the owner thinks they want and what the walls are hiding. ScopeLock gets each change priced and signed on a phone before it's built — which in home building isn't just good practice; a lot of the time it's the contract.
Free under A$500 No card, no trial clock Your customer needs no account
Works alongside Fergus and whatever else runs your jobs. It doesn't replace your job management app and it doesn't add a seat to that bill — it covers the one screen those apps make you go looking for.
01 — The problem
The job you quoted isn't the job you're standing in.
A renovation collects changes the way a ute collects dust. The linings come off and the frame isn't what anyone hoped; the owner sees the space open and starts improving it; the engineer looks at the actual span and wants more steel. None of it is anyone's fault. All of it costs money.
Builders already know variations are meant to be written down — for NSW residential work the Home Building Act requires it, signed by both parties before the work is done. The gap was never knowledge, it's friction: at 3pm on site, a variation document is a laptop job for tonight, and tonight it loses to dinner.
So the change gets built on a conversation, the invoice surprises the owner, and the dispute eats the margin. ScopeLock's job is to make the compliant version the easy version: priced, worded and signed in about a minute, standing in the room it applies to.
02 — How it works
Four steps, about a minute.
Price it while you're standing there
Open a variation on the job: what changed, what it costs, and how many extra days it adds. Plain wording, not a quote template. It takes about a minute on a phone.
Send it, or hand them your phone
A link by text or email if they're not on site, or turn the screen around if they are. Both work, and both end up in the same place.
They sign — no app, no account
It opens in whatever browser is on whatever phone they've got. Nothing to install and nothing to sign up for, which is the difference between signed now and signed maybe.
You both keep the PDF
Scope wording, price, time impact, your photos, both signatures and a timestamp on each. Export the approved amount to Xero or QuickBooks when you invoice.
03 — Keep your job app
This is not another job management system.
Fergus is strong job management — tracking, quoting, reporting — and if it's running your jobs, keep it running them; it does the parts we don't. Its variations are a quote you send again, not a signed on-site record. ScopeLock is the signed record, and it doesn't add a seat to your Fergus bill.
Compare properly, including the rows where they win: ScopeLock vs Fergus · every comparison
Different trade? For electricians · For plumbers
04 — Where the money goes missing
Three variations every builder will recognise.
The job values below are examples for the arithmetic — yours will differ. The ScopeLock fee against each one is the real published price.
Termites in the bottom plate
Linings off, and the frame the quote assumed is half-eaten. Treatment, replacement and a hold on everything downstream — work nobody wanted and nobody quoted, now priced and signed before it starts instead of argued about after.
Variation A$4,600 — ScopeLock fee A$10.
The tile change after waterproofing
The owner's found a better tile — a supply difference and a bit more cutting time. A cheerful change, cheerfully agreed, and because it's under A$500 the signed approval is free. It still goes in writing, because this is precisely the change that vanishes from memory by final invoice.
Variation A$480 — free to get signed on ScopeLock.
The engineer wants more steel
Wall's open, the span is longer than the drawings guessed, and the lintel the quote carried isn't the one the engineer will certify. The steel upgrade isn't optional. Paying for it shouldn't be either.
Variation A$6,200 — ScopeLock fee A$25.
Not for everyone. Not for you if you build under a fully documented commercial head contract with a formal variation and EOT process already administered for you. It's for residential and light-commercial work, where the paperwork is you.
05 — Pricing
You pay when they approve. Not before.
No card to start, and no trial that quietly ends. If the variation is under A$500 it's free — not for a fortnight, permanently.
| Variation value | What you pay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Under A$500 | Free | No card, no trial clock |
| A$500 – A$5,000 | A$10 | Per approved variation |
| Above A$5,000 | A$25 | Per approved variation |
| ScopeLock Business | A$49 | Per month — unlimited approvals, 100 SMS segments, automated reminders |
Charged only when your customer approves. Never for a draft, never for one they knock back. Cancel Business and you drop back to pay-as-you-go — everything you've signed stays downloadable.
06 — Straight answers
Questions builders & chippies actually ask.
Do variations legally have to be in writing?
For NSW residential building work over $5,000, yes — the Home Building Act writes it into your contract as a deemed term: any agreement to vary the work must be in writing, signed by both sides. The NSW Government's standard contract for work over $20,000 carries the same rule as clause 13, and the small-jobs form as clause 4 — those are clauses of the contract, not of the Act. Queensland and Victoria have their own versions, and Victoria's is stricter. This isn't legal advice — but a signed, timestamped variation is the habit every version of the rules is asking for.
Does ScopeLock replace Fergus?
No. Fergus runs the jobs — scheduling, quoting, timesheets, invoicing. ScopeLock covers one moment: extra or changed work getting priced and signed before it's built. Most builders would run both, and ScopeLock doesn't add a seat to the Fergus bill.
Can I use it for changes the owner asked for, not just problems I found?
That's most of what it's for. Owner-requested changes are the pleasant variations — and the most dangerous, because everyone's agreeable at the time and nobody writes the number down. Price the change, they sign on their phone, and the good mood survives the final invoice.
Does a signed variation help with a payment claim?
It's exactly the paperwork you want behind one. Security-of-payment schemes run in every state and territory, and disputed variations are one of the things they exist to adjudicate — a signed, timestamped record of what was agreed, for how much, before the work started is a far stronger position than a text thread. This isn't legal advice; for a live dispute, talk to someone qualified.
Is the signed PDF legally binding?
Electronic signatures are recognised in Australia under the Electronic Transactions Act and its state equivalents, and the PDF records both signatures with a timestamp on each. What usually decides an argument isn't the signature on its own — it's whether you can show what was agreed, when, and that both sides saw the same words. This isn't legal advice; for large or high-risk contracts have your standard terms reviewed by a lawyer.
How much does it cost?
Variations under A$500 are free, permanently, with no card and no trial clock. From A$500 to A$5,000 it's A$10 per approved variation; above A$5,000 it's A$25. You're charged only when your customer approves — never for a draft, never for one they decline. ScopeLock Business is A$49 a month for unlimited approvals, 100 SMS segments and automated reminders if you're doing five or more a month.
The next one's coming
The next “can you just” is already on its way.
Price it, send it, get it signed. Takes about a minute, and under A$500 it costs you nothing.
Works in the browser on the phone already in your pocket. Your customer doesn't need an account.