How to handle scope creep without working for free

Revision, correction or extra scope?

A revision stays inside the outcome you agreed. If a client asks you to tighten the opening of an agreed video, that may fit within an included feedback round. A changed deliverable, extra content, new platform or format, accelerated deadline or other work outside scope usually changes the job itself. Calling it a “small tweak” does not make the production time disappear.

There is an important third category: correcting your own failure to meet the agreed brief. If you supplied the wrong dimensions or missed an instruction that was clearly recorded, fixing that is not extra scope. It is finishing the work you agreed to do.

A consolidated revision round means the agreed approver gathers the client’s comments into one set before sending them to you. Four separate emails from four people are not one useful round just because they arrived on the same afternoon.

Confirm the change before doing it

Do not begin with only “sure, no worries”. Put five things in one short message: the requested change, what it adds to the original scope, the fee and currency, the new delivery date, and the person authorised to approve it. Ask for written confirmation before you begin.

If usage rights change, record that too. A request to use work in a new territory, channel or period deserves an explicit conversation; use the creator usage-rights checklist to clarify the commercial terms, not assume ownership or permission.

A worked example

Suppose the agreement covers two short landscape videos and one consolidated feedback round. The client then asks for a third landscape video plus vertical and square versions of all three videos.

The exact fee depends on your agreement and workload. There is no honest automatic “scope-creep fee”. Price the real work, then let the client choose.

A reply you can adapt

Keep the tone practical. Make the requested change, price and next step easy to understand.

Subject: A quick scope check for [project]

Hi [name],

The request for [extra deliverable] sits outside the scope we agreed for [project]. I can add it for [amount and currency], with delivery by [date].

If you would prefer to keep the current budget, we can swap it for [existing deliverable] or leave it out and continue with the original scope.

Please reply with your preferred option and written confirmation before I begin the extra work.

Thanks,
[your name]

Goodwill is a choice, not an accident

You can decide to include a small extra as goodwill. Say that plainly and record what you included, so today’s favour does not quietly become next month’s baseline. If the budget cannot move, offer a swap: add the new version and remove another deliverable, or keep the original scope unchanged.

A useful job record keeps the agreed version, the requested change, the client’s decision and the revised delivery date together. DUE can keep those details with the job, but the same discipline works in a careful email thread.

Five things to check

1. Compare the request with the exact deliverables and revision terms you agreed.
2. Separate a correction to your work from a genuinely new deliverable, concept or format.
3. State the extra fee and currency, or offer a clear swap that keeps the budget.
4. Confirm the achievable delivery date and who can approve the change.
5. Wait for written confirmation, then record the decision with the job.