ScopeLock for sparkies
The board's open. The quote's already wrong.
Every sparkie has quoted off two photos and an optimistic description, then lifted the panel. ScopeLock turns what you find into a priced variation your customer signs on their phone — before you touch it.
Free under A$500 No card, no trial clock Your customer needs no account
Works alongside ServiceM8 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.
Electrical work has a version of this problem the other trades only half share: most of what you're pricing is behind a panel, above a ceiling or inside a wall, and you don't get to look until the job's started. The quote was honest. It was also based on what was visible.
Then there's the part where you can't just walk away. Find cloth wiring, a board with no RCD protection or someone's DIY handiwork, and “do exactly what was quoted” stops being a responsible option. The extra work is real, it's necessary, and it wasn't in the number.
Whether you get paid for it isn't decided by the regs — it's decided by whether the price was agreed before you did the work. Verbal counts for nothing at invoice time. ScopeLock makes the written version take about a minute, standing at the board.
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.
ServiceM8 is the job app a lot of electrical crews already run — Apple-first, priced by job volume, unlimited users. Keep it; it does the parts we don't. Its Contract Variation Form exists, but it's on the Forms add-on, you build it yourself in Settings, and it lives three taps in. ScopeLock is the screen it makes you go looking for.
Compare properly, including the rows where they win: ScopeLock vs ServiceM8 · every comparison
Different trade? For plumbers · For builders
04 — Where the money goes missing
Three variations every sparkie 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.
The switchboard upgrade nobody planned
Quoted to add two circuits, lifted the panel: ceramic fuses, no RCD protection, no spare ways. It needs an upgrade before anything new goes in — and that's a different job from the one on the quote.
Variation A$1,900 — ScopeLock fee A$10.
“While the ceiling's open — six more downlights?”
The classic, and the customer isn't wrong that it's the cheap time to do it. It's still extra materials and extra hours — and because it's under A$500, getting it signed costs you nothing at all.
Variation A$480 — free to get signed on ScopeLock.
The previous owner's handiwork
Taped joins in the roof space and a circuit that's never seen an RCD. You're not putting your name against work that sits on top of that, so it has to come right — at a price the customer hasn't heard yet.
Variation A$3,200 — ScopeLock fee A$10.
Not for everyone. Not for you if all your work is fixed-price service calls — smoke-alarm swaps, safety checks, test-and-tag — where the scope genuinely doesn't move. You don't have this problem, and we'd rather say so than sell you something.
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 sparkies actually ask.
Does ScopeLock replace ServiceM8?
No. ServiceM8 runs your jobs — scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, Xero. ScopeLock covers the moment extra work turns up and needs to be priced and signed before you do it. It runs alongside ServiceM8 and doesn't add a seat to that bill.
Can I raise a variation with no signal in the meter room or roof space?
Yes. Write the variation offline and it queues on your phone, sending itself when you're back in coverage. Metal switchrooms, plant rooms and roof spaces are exactly why that exists.
Is it worth a signed variation for an extra power point?
Under A$500 it's free, so the small stuff costs you nothing to document — and the small stuff is where the habit forms. The extra power point was never the variation that hurts; it's the switchboard upgrade you did on a nod because writing it up felt like too much.
Does it handle my certificate of compliance?
No, and we won't pretend it does. Your certification and safety obligations sit with you and your state's process, exactly as they do now. ScopeLock documents the commercial agreement — what the extra work is, what it costs, and that the customer approved it before you started.
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.