RE: Round #4263 with the Client From Hell

["Barry Kieffer" <Barry -dot- Kieffer -at- worldwidepackets -dot- com>]

I seem to remember being in a seminar led by JoAnne Hackos when she brought up this very scenario. She was explaining the concept of creeping scope and how it affects documentation plans. It was something like this:

Looking at a house plan is like looking at a documentation plan - many people cannot understand what is going to be delivered until they see it start to take shape. Now that they see it taking shape they say: "Hey Ms. Contractor, I would like the kitchen larger, can you move that load bearing wall over a few feet - how much time and how hard can that be?"

The answer from Ms. Contractor should be the same answer from us: "No problem, let me rework the house plan (doc plan) and let you know how much more it will cost and how much more time it will add to the schedule."

That would be the world I would love to live in. As for me, I sigh, say no problem, and work an extra few hours a day to accommodate. But in my dreams...

Barry Kieffer
Portland, Oregon   USA

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Hall 

Most of the profit on these jobs actually comes from
change orders. When the plan calls for an outlet in
a certain location and the house is 3/4 built, with
the walls closed up, moving the outlet to a new
location involves a major amount of work, and they
charge accordingly. 

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