What counts as a change request?

Anything outside the original brief or quote: new features, extra pages, more revisions, different materials, new deadlines.

How do I raise it with the client?

Show the list: date, what was asked, and where it is in the chat. A dated list is harder to dismiss than 'you asked for loads of changes'.

Should I stop working until it's agreed?

That's a business call. Many freelancers reply to each new request with 'that's outside the quote, it would be X extra; shall I go ahead?' so the agreement is in the chat.

Scope Creep on WhatsApp: Keep a Change Log from the Chat

"Just one small change" sent on WhatsApp, twenty times. How to turn a client chat into a dated list of every change request, so the extra work is visible when you quote it or charge for it.

A client chat turned into a dated record

Nobody sends a message saying “please double the project”. It arrives as “could you also…”, a photo with a circle, a voice note on a Sunday. Spread across weeks of WhatsApp, the extra work is invisible, until you need to charge for it.

Build the change log #

Start from the original brief or quote. Then go through the chat and list every request that isn’t in it:

Date	Request	Where
14 Mar	add a second language to the site	p. 6, voice note
21 Mar	redo the homepage photos	p. 9
2 Apr	extra round of revisions on the logo	p. 13

Three columns are enough: when, what, where in the chat.

Getting the chat into a form you can work from #

Export the chat with media, so voice notes and annotated photos come along (Android, iPhone).
Turn it into a document with page numbers. Zap2Doc produces a chronological PDF with every message, the photos in place and voice notes transcribed, so a request explained in audio is readable and has a page your log can cite.
Read through it once with the brief beside you, and fill in the table.

Use it with the client #

Before quoting extra work: send the list. It frames the conversation around facts.
At the end of the project: attach it to the final invoice for anything billed as extra.
In a dispute: the list plus the PDF lets anyone check each line.

Stop it next time #

Reply to each new request in the chat with the scope and price: “That’s outside the quote; it would be $600 and two more days. Shall I go ahead?” The answer becomes the next line in your log. See also proof of work for freelancers.