Is It Out of Scope? — Web development
Is building a custom CRM integration out of scope for a web development project?
Yes, unless it was named in the original feature list. A CRM integration means real API work, authentication, field mapping, and error handling — a genuine feature, not a config change, even for a common CRM with an existing API.
The build shipped and works as spec'd. The client asks for leads to flow into their CRM automatically — a request that can sound trivial ("there's an API for that, right?") but in practice means authenticating against the CRM's API, mapping the site's fields to the CRM's data model, handling submission failures and retries, and testing that data actually lands correctly on the other end.
Is it out of scope?
Yes, unless a CRM integration was named as a feature in the original SOW. Even for CRMs with well-documented APIs, this is real integration work — authentication, mapping, error handling — not a quick add, and getting it wrong silently (a lead that never arrives) is a real business risk worth scoping and testing properly.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Deliverables clause→ — Lists the specific features and integrations built — a CRM connection has to be named explicitly to be included, given the API, auth, and mapping work involved.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
CRM integration wasn't in the original feature list. Connecting to [CRM] means authenticating against their API, mapping our form fields to their data model, and handling failures so leads never silently disappear — real work worth scoping properly. I can put together an estimate; want me to check what their API supports first?
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow checks the extracted feature list for any named CRM or integration work before classifying — where nothing matches, the request is flagged outside_scope with an explanation noting the authentication, mapping, and error-handling involved, since underselling this kind of request is a common way agencies end up doing it for free.