Scope-Change Email: Confirm Additional Project Work

A client asks for one more section, then a second review, then a different format. Before the work grows quietly, confirm what is being added and how it affects the agreement.

Use the terms of your actual project. An email can clarify the request, but your organization may also require a change order or another approval process.

Confirm what the client requested

Subject: Confirming the additional onboarding pages

Hello Amira,

Following our call, you would like to add three product-specific pages to the onboarding guide. These would use the same format as the five pages in the original scope.

I’ll prepare an estimate for the additional writing and review time. The original five pages can remain on their current schedule if we review the new pages separately.

Could you confirm that this matches your request before I prepare the estimate?

Kind regards, Alex

This step is useful when the request is still being interpreted. It prevents you from pricing a different piece of work from the one the client expects.

Ask for approval before starting

Subject: Approval requested for the onboarding scope change

Hello Amira,

The estimate for the three additional product pages is attached. It includes one review round and delivery on 23 October.

The original five pages remain due on 16 October. Please confirm approval of the attached estimate by Thursday if you would like us to reserve the additional writing time.

We will begin the new pages once the change is approved through the usual process.

Kind regards, Alex

Reference the exact estimate or version. Avoid “as discussed” as the only description of what has changed; people can remember the same call differently.

If the client expects the addition to be included

Return to the agreed deliverables and explain the difference calmly. You may be able to exchange one item for another, reduce the addition, or move it to a later phase. Don’t imply that every minor clarification requires a new fee, but don’t promise substantial additional work without agreement.

Confirm both scope and schedule after approval, and update the project plan so the team builds the approved version.

For a request you cannot take on, see how to decline a client request. For an email that only needs a decision on existing work, use an approval request.