Freelancer Fixes Scope Creep by Locking Milestones and Requiring Formal Sign-Offs

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A freelance developer shared how a flawed contract structure cost them significant unpaid work on early projects. The core problem was treating delivery as a single end-of-project event, which allowed clients to request major changes just before launch without acknowledging extra costs. To fix this, the developer restructured contracts so each milestone is treated as an isolated, locked delivery once approved. Any changes requested after a stage is signed off are billed separately as add-ons. Formal digital approvals replaced informal chat confirmations, eliminating disputes over whether feedback constituted a final sign-off.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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