Statement of Work Review Checklist Before You Sign

The agency wants a Friday signature on a six-page vendor SOW that says website redesign. The one-evening job: cite the live master-agreement version, turn every deliverable into count plus format plus owner, lock an objective acceptance test and a review window you can calendar, list exclusions, require a signed change order before extras start, then pay on accepted work.

In August 2026, Mei — ops at a 19-person UK studio — gets a six-page vendor SOW for a full marketing-site rebuild. The quote is £28,000. Deliverables: redesigned website, improved UX, CMS migration — no page count, no tests, no review window, no change-order clause. The 2024 MSA — a master services agreement vendors attach order forms to — is a separate PDF nobody opened this week. A typical mistake is treating a silent SOW as if there were no deemed-acceptance clock.

Disclaimer: Checkory provides AI support, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for binding decisions.

How do you confirm the SOW names the live MSA version?

Write the governing master title, version, and date on a one-page log before you touch scope. If the SOW is silent, or a different PDF sits in the inbox, freeze the packet — the signed file set for this deal — before you keep reading. A read-together pass catches SOW language that restates IP or liability and contradicts the master.

ContractHQ (12 May 2026) splits the papers: the master is the legal chassis, the SOW is this engagement. Cite the master by version and date, then adopt or replace its acceptance default. ContractHQ. If Slack still holds three FINAL PDFs, open how to prepare the contract packet — then return to this body.

• Do: write the live master title, version, and date.
• Do not: assume the master already covers it and skip the cite.

How do you write deliverables a third party can mark done?

A one-sentence scope such as website redesign or implementation support is not a deliverable. Build a table: name, count, format, due date, and an owner on each side. If a stranger cannot mark pass or fail from that row, redline tonight and do not treat including-but-not-limited-to as a list.

US federal schedule buying is not UK commercial law, but FAR 8.405-2 still names the skeleton: work description, period, deliverable schedule, performance standards. For Mei, a countable row is a 12-page marketing site, WebP heroes, a CMS export, and a form that posts to the named CRM. ContractSafe (24 Apr 2026) flags full website redesign with no page list as a hidden risk.

• Do: hand the table to someone who never sat the sales call.
• Do not: sign a one-line scope because the quote feels familiar.

What acceptance test and review window can you calendar?

Objective tests name a format, a function, or a named spec — not reasonably acceptable to Company. Name the only people who may accept. Set a review window the studio can actually meet, decide whether silence means deemed accepted or still open, then put that clock on a calendar.

WorldCC SoW teaching: clear deliverables plus acceptance criteria create an objective done, so change control can be priced against a baseline. WorldCC is paid training. SiLaw (31 May 2026) puts the common window at 5 to 15 business days plus a deemed-acceptance fallback. ReviewMyContract walks a 10-business-day example and warns that use-as-acceptance can fire when the studio publishes a draft.

• Do: name the acceptor, the test, the days, and the timeout.
• Do not: leave subjective acceptance next to use-as-acceptance.

Which extras sit outside the quote?

List exclusions, client inputs with due dates, and a revision cap that defines a revision versus a change order. Name three extras the vendor might assume are included — extra landing pages, a second locale, a brand refresh — and check whether the SOW answers each one.

For example, the £28,000 rebuild can hide a blog migration, a second language, and a photography shoot. If those three lines are missing, they are later invoices. Client inputs need dates.

• Do: date the inputs you must supply and cap revision rounds.
• Do not: leave small extras as hallway scope.

Who must sign a change order before extra work starts?

A change order modifies SOW business terms — services, timeline, and fees — and keeps the history of what was already performed. An amendment changes MSA legal terms such as notices. Extra work should not start until that change order is fully executed; a Slack go-ahead is not a path.

Fourscore Business Law splits the tools: a change order edits commercial terms for this engagement; an amendment edits master legal terms. Fourscore writes as a US firm. HyperStart is blunt: work should not proceed until the change order is fully executed. Unsigned extras become invoices nobody approved.

ERP Scorecard (13 Jul 2026), citing the 2026 Panorama report (170 organisations), calls a missing change-order process the most expensive omission — MillerCoors SAP added $9.6 million to a ~$53 million work order. ERP Scorecard is ERP-specific; steal the change-order rule.

• Do: name the buyer sponsor who may sign extras.
• Do not: start extra pages on a standup go-ahead.

When to hold invoices until accepted deliverables?

Calendar billing can pay the fee before anyone accepts the work. Tie invoices to accepted deliverables, not the month alone. Hold a meaningful last payment until the final acceptance gate. Time and materials without a not-to-exceed plus notice is an open cheque.

ERP Scorecard flags payments untethered from milestones: the calendar keeps billing while acceptance slips. Flip the trigger to accepted milestone and keep the last slice behind the final gate.

Success bar: fill the one-page log, then send 4–6 redlines, calendar the window, or escalate. Workflow: cite live MSA → deliverable table → acceptance clock → exclusions plus inputs → change order before extras → pay on acceptance → sign, redline, or escalate. Escalate any High flag — a high-severity row a human must verify before signature. Checkory can run a first-pass — a first machine pass that extracts clauses before a human reads every page.

• Do: hold a last payment until written acceptance.
• Do not: pay the full fee on a delivery email.

If you are the seller staring at a Friday freelance PDF, stop here and open freelance contract clauses to review before signing. That desk is revisions, payment, and IP — not this buyer SOW body.