Additional services are project tasks outside the services included in the original agreement, subject to the contract's authorization and pricing process.
Definition
Additional services are tasks that fall outside the services included in a firm's agreement with its client. The contract may list examples, set a method for pricing them, or require written approval before work begins. Whether a request qualifies depends on the original scope, assumptions, exclusions, and project circumstances. For a civil engineering firm, added survey work, redesign after a client change, or extra meetings may require a separate fee or amendment, depending on what the agreement includes. Additional services are not automatically authorized just because a client requests them, and they are not necessarily the same as a change order. A change order is a document or process that may formally modify the contract, including its scope or compensation. Firms may define additional services by task, labor rate, lump sum, or another agreed method. Owners track requests, approval status, effort, and billing so the team can distinguish proposed work from authorized services and recognize the resulting fee under its accounting process.
How owners use it
- Project managers compare a request with the original scope and exclusions to determine whether it may be additional.
- Owners check the agreement for required approval and pricing steps before the team starts extra work.
- A client authorizes 10 extra hours at $150 per hour, so the added fee is 10 × $150 = $1,500.
- Finance teams track proposed, approved, performed, and billed additional services as distinct stages.
