Check what changed in the agreement.
Scope creep happens when work grows beyond its agreed boundaries without an explicit decision about the fee, schedule or other work. It often arrives as a friendly question rather than a formal request.
Compare the request with the project baseline: agreed deliverables, revision rounds, exclusions and dependencies. If the agreed scope includes the request, treat it as part of delivery. Fixing work that does not meet the agreed requirements is different from adding a new deliverable.
- New deliverable: a journal collection added to a website that did not include one.
- More revisions: a new design direction after the included rounds are complete.
- Changed dependency: late content that requires a revised delivery sequence.
- Clarification: more detail about a requirement already included.
If the agreement is ambiguous, make the uncertainty visible and clarify it with the client before assigning a fee.
Estimate the work before you answer.
Describe what you will produce, what you can reuse, what is excluded and what you need from the client. Estimate additional hours and separate external costs. Use your loaded delivery cost; do not confuse it with the rate you charge a client.
A small request with a measurable cost
Harbor asks for a journal section. In this illustrative scenario, eight extra hours at USD 65 per hour mean USD 520 in additional delivery cost, before any separate expenses.
The calculation informs the decision. It does not automatically decide the selling price or establish who is responsible for the change.
Record additional delivery days separately. Eight hours of effort does not automatically mean one calendar day of delay: availability, dependencies and reviews affect the actual plan.
Choose an explicit response.
| Response | What to make clear |
|---|---|
| Charge for additional work | Added deliverables, fee, tax treatment and timing. |
| No additional charge | The deliberate exception and its cost to your project. |
| Replace some existing work | Removed work, its replacement and any fee difference. |
| Keep the request for later | No delivery or price is committed until it is reviewed. |
A strategic exception, an exchange or a later phase can be appropriate. Making the choice deliberately keeps the meaning clear.
Give the client a calm, specific next step.
For an additional fee
“We can add the journal section. It is outside the current website scope, so I’ll send a short brief with the deliverables, additional fee and delivery impact for you to review before we start.”
For an exchange
“We can keep the current budget by replacing the agreed resource page with the journal section. I’ll confirm what comes out and what is included so we both have the same scope.”
For a later phase
“Let’s keep that request for the next phase. We’ll review the scope, fee and timing before scheduling it.”
Adapt the wording to the actual agreement. Do not present a newly invented rule as something the client already accepted.
Put the decision and approval in writing.
Prepare a change brief or change order with the scope, fee, delivery impact, dependencies and approval requirements. Identify who can approve it, and record their written response against the relevant revision.
Importing a signature image is not evidence that the client approved that specific change. Approval and invoice issuance are separate steps.
Keep internal hours, delivery costs and margin analysis in your own records. Review client-facing free-text fields before sharing: anything you type there can appear in the document.
Try the workflow with the sample project.
Compare an agreed baseline with a new request, review the costs, choose a response and inspect the client document preview.
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