Is It Out of Scope? — Web design
Is load testing before a major launch out of scope for a web design project?
Yes. Load testing is a technical performance verification task, not a design deliverable.
This request usually comes up ahead of a big campaign or press moment, when a client's ops or marketing contact asks if the site "can handle the traffic" — a fair question, but not one a design engagement was priced to answer.
Is it out of scope?
Yes. Simulating traffic load and verifying server/application performance is a technical exercise with no overlap with visual or layout design work.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Exclusions clause→ — Load testing and performance verification is technical work excluded from a design engagement's deliverable list.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
Load testing ahead of launch is a technical check outside design scope — that's something your developer or hosting provider should run.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow flags load-testing requests outside_scope on design contracts, since performance verification has no design-deliverable overlap.