Is It Out of Scope? — Web design
Is building a custom CRM integration out of scope for a web design project?
Yes. A CRM integration is backend engineering work — API connections, data syncing, error handling — entirely outside what a design engagement covers, even when the form or UI it connects to was designed as part of the project.
A contact or lead form was designed as part of the site. The client then asks for submissions to flow directly into their CRM — Salesforce, HubSpot, or a custom system — rather than arriving as plain emails. The form's visual design is design work; connecting it to another system's API, mapping fields, and handling failures if the CRM is down is a different kind of work entirely.
Is it out of scope?
Yes. Designing what the form looks like is squarely design work; wiring it to a CRM's API is backend integration work outside a design engagement's scope, regardless of how simple the client assumes the connection is.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Deliverables clause→ — Scopes the project to design deliverables — a CRM integration is backend functionality outside that, even for a form the project did design.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
I designed the form itself, but connecting it to [CRM] — the API integration, field mapping, and handling for when something goes wrong — is development work outside our design scope. I can recommend a developer, or if you have one already, I'm happy to hand off the design specs for the integration work.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow reads CRM integration requests against the design deliverables list — since API work never appears there, the request is flagged outside_scope regardless of whether the client frames it as "just connecting the form," with the explanation drawing the line between the visual asset (in scope) and the backend connection (not).