Exclusions clause

A section of a statement of work explicitly listing what is not included in the engagement, used to prevent ambiguity about the project's boundaries.

Example

A website SOW's exclusions clause states: "Does not include copywriting, stock photography licensing, or ongoing hosting/maintenance after launch." A client request for any of these is clearly out of scope by the contract's own language.

Why it matters for agencies

A well-written exclusions clause is often more useful than the inclusions list for resolving scope disputes, because it's harder for a client to argue a request was implied when the SOW explicitly names it as excluded. Agencies that only list what's included, without also naming common adjacent asks that aren't, leave more room for disagreement.