Change Requests

This page owns this process. Everything a client asks for beyond the signed scope comes through here — during build, during UAT, during warranty, and under a retainer.

flowchart TD
  IN["Request recorded at intake —<br/>PM during build, L1 after go-live.<br/>Never absorbed silently"] --> W{"Our defect against agreed<br/>acceptance criteria?"}
  W -- Yes --> FR["Not a change request — free rework:<br/>back to In Dev before go-live,<br/>warranty bug on the expedite lane after"]
  W -- No --> BA["BA writes it to the<br/>Definition of Ready standard"]
  BA --> SZ["Team Lead sizes it —<br/>a PERT range"]
  SZ --> IM["PM assembles the impact:<br/>cost · schedule · risk to<br/>committed milestones"]
  IM --> CE{"CEO approves —<br/>required when it changes cost"}
  CE -- No --> DF["Declined or deferred —<br/>logged, never deleted"]
  CE -- Yes --> CL{"Client approves<br/>in writing"}
  CL -- No --> DF
  CL -- Yes --> BK["Into the backlog,<br/>dates re-baselined"]

The rules:

1. Every request is recorded, including the ones we say no to. A request answered in a chat message and never written down is how scope creep starts.
2. There is no “small enough to absorb” branch. A change is either our defect — free — or it is priced. “It would be better if…” is a change request even inside the warranty window.
3. Re-estimate, never adjust. A change request gets a fresh PERT range, not a discount off the original.
4. No work starts without written client approval. This is a signed SOW clause, not an internal preference.
5. An approved change re-baselines the dates. If the timeline moves, the PM tells the client — that conversation never happens first at a demo. See Who Owns What.
6. Client requests come through the agreed channel — the PM during build, L1 after go-live — never a developer’s DM. An answer given in a DM becomes a commitment nobody priced. See Support Model.

Who decides what: the BA flags that something is out of scope, the PM decides that it is and proposes the change, the CEO approves anything that changes cost, and the client approves in writing before work begins.

Where this sits in the engagement: see The Whole Picture (SDLC). What is a defect rather than a change: see Warranty Boundary.