How to legally change your client contract when scope of work, payments, or dates change
You land a client, you both sign a contract, you get started on their project and then the inevitable request comes.
“Oh, could we add 3 more flower arrangements?”
“I think adding on a secondary logo might be a good idea now actually.”
“When I was writing out my site copy I realized I need another 2 pages on my website! Could we add those in?”
For you this is great, more work and a bigger project, meaning more revenue!
Or maybe it’s a client who needs to push a date back, like their site launch date or the start of their Pinterest management or copywriting project because they haven’t completed their client homework yet.
Being the professional you are, you want to make sure you manage this change of project scope and therefore payments or date is handled correctly.
This leads to a question we get frequently at the shop…
How do you change the scope of work, payments, or dates in a contract after it’s been signed?
In order to do so, you’ll need to amend your contract.
In today’s post, we’ll walk through exactly how to do just that. (In steps and language any creative business owner can understand.)
How to correctly amend your contract:
Step 1: Make sure your original client contract has a provision that allows for future amendments
(So read over your contract to ensure it states that future amendments may be made.)
Step 2: Depending on what your CRM allows you to do, either add a new contract to the current client project or if that’s not possible, start a new project in your CRM.
Step 3: Add a scanned version of the originally signed contract to the project, and add the amendment as a new document titled ‘Exhibit A.’
In the amendment, state “This amendment is occurring pursuant to paragraph #, accordingly the parties have decided to X.”
Then replace the # with the paragraph number in the original contract that allows for future amendments.
Then replace the X with whatever you’re changing, for example, “The parties have decided to move the website launch date to July 1st, 2022.”
Step 4: Both parties (you and your client) sign the amendment.
When is an amendment necessary?
We get it, it’s a bit of work to actually go through and amend your contract. What if your client wants to add just 1 more bridesmaid bouquet or 1 more website page?
Legally speaking, you should always amend your contract when changes are made to the scope of the project or payment amounts will change.
But what if you forget?
If you purchased your client contract from us, we’ve thought of this for you. We are sure to include a waiver provision in all of our client contracts!
(Didn’t buy your client contract from us? Check over your current contract to see if that provision is included.)
What is a waiver provision?
A waiver provision basically states that if one party does not require specific performance of the other party, both parties waive their right to proceed with legal action.
So in the case that you forget to create an amendment, but you have that agreed upon by email with your client, the waiver provision is your backup.
The bottom line is you always want to add an amendment to your client contract when the scope of work changes, dates get pushed, etc. However, it’s always smart to have a waiver provision in your client contract just in case you forget one time to make an amendment via the steps mentioned above.
We get that business happens fast, so that’s why we’ve included a waiver provision in all of our client contracts to create a safeguard for you.
All of our client contracts include waiver provisions, so if you bought one from us, know that you’re covered.
If you didn’t buy your client contract from us and it doesn’t have a waiver provision included, we’re happy to provide you with this legal language for free.
Click below to download the waiver provision to add to your current client contract.
How to prep your business for project changes before they happen
Now that you know what to do when the situation arises of a contract change, let’s talk about how to prepare for this for future situations too because inevitably this will happen to you more than once as a service provider.
The best step you may take now to prepare yourself for future clients who need to push dates or add aspects to a project is to read your current client contract to see what it says regarding how amendments can be handled.
If there’s no section in your contract stating how amendments may be made, it might be time for a more robust contract. You can always shop our attorney-drafted, creative-industry-specific client contracts here.
The other thing to know in advance?
While it’s important to amend your contracts properly, it’s also important to have that request for a change made in writing.
Text, Instagram DM, or voice message won’t do, you want that request sent through email.
So if in the future you have a client request a change in one of the above-mentioned formats, kindly ask them to send you the request by email too. Then proceed with creating the amendment to your contract too.
What if a client changes direction completely late in the game and wants everything redone?
We’re creative ourselves, so we know this happens.
You are designing a logo or a website or writing copy for a client, and just when the project is almost done, the client decides they don’t like anything and wants to start again from scratch.
Is this a new project? Is this an amendment? Is this a revision?
It can be tough to navigate, but we’re here to help.
Before this happens, it’s important to review your contract to see what it says about revisions.
Be sure to have language in your contract about how many revisions are included in the client’s chosen package and how they occur. Also, ensure it states in the revision paragraph a definition of what a revision is and is not.
For example, revisions in a site design project are steps such as changing a font type, or a color, or the placement of an image or the layout of a section. Revisions are not fully rebuilding a website page (or entire website) from scratch.
You know your services best and what requests clients often make to you, so be sure to browse through your contract’s section on revisions and add a clear definition that’s specific to your line of work.
You may also want to define what’s considered a full new project or starting over again.
If that’s what your client requests, that’s a situation where you’d want to enter into a full new project, meaning a new contract altogether with that same client.
What should I do with my client contract when the scope of work expands or decreases?
Another common occurrence in client work is having the overall scope of the project expand or decrease.
What do you do in this situation?
Again, having your contract worded correctly from the beginning will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.
First, look at your current client contract for how it defines the scope of work.
We’ll use a web designer as our example again.
If the contract states the services being offered are “a site design on Squarespace up to 5 website pages” and then the project turns into a project with only 3 pages, the contract still fully covers the scope of work and doesn’t need to be changed.
If the contract stated “a site design on Squarespace with 5 pages” then the number of pages is set specifically at 5.
So be sure to use “up to X” in your definition of what’s being provided.
What if your client wants more website pages?
In all of our client contracts, we include an “additional services” section for this reason.
You may then list the typical additional services and prices for those.
For example “additional pages at $150 per page.”
Or maybe you’re a VA who does 10 hours of Virtual Assistance work for a client a week and under your additional services section you could list an optional additional 5 hours of Virtual Assistance work for a client a week.
All of our client contracts include additional services provisions, so if you bought one from us, know that you’re covered.
If you didn’t buy your client contract from us and it doesn’t have an additional services provision included, we’re happy to provide you with this legal language for free.
Click below to download the additional services provision to be added to your current client contract.
What should I do with my contract if a client changes their mind on a chosen item?
We often work with professionals in the wedding industry, and a common occurrence for anyone who offers rentals for weddings is brides changing their minds about the items they’d like.
For example, the bride originally chose clear chairs but would now like white chairs.
Writing a fully new contract would be a bit over the top, so we suggest reviewing your services section and having a note in that section on how such a change may occur and specifically allowing for those changes to happen from the beginning.
