Scope Creep Examples — Web development
The same build, requested again on a different platform
A responsive web app was delivered and approved. The client separately asks for the same functionality rebuilt as a native mobile app.
The SOW scoped a responsive web application, and it shipped and passed acceptance testing. The client then asks for "the same app" as a native iOS and Android app, treating it as a minor follow-on since the functionality already exists. In reality, a native app means a different codebase, different platform-specific UI conventions, app store submission processes, and its own testing cycle — building on the concept, not the code.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Deliverables clause→ — The SOW's deliverable is the web application specifically — a native app on a different platform is a separate build, not a repackaging of the same code.
Suggested change-order wording
Suggested change-order wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
The web app's functionality is a great foundation, but a native mobile app is effectively a new build — different codebase, platform conventions, and app store submission process — rather than a repackaging of the existing site. I'd love to scope this as its own project; I'll put together a proposal with timeline and pricing based on the current app's feature set.
How this usually resolves
Framing the existing web app as valuable groundwork (faster to scope, proven feature set) rather than as "basically already built" usually gets the client to a realistic native-app budget without the conversation feeling like a letdown.
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