u/Fit-Kitchen-8968

Location: Switzerland

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some general guidance on a situation involving a contractor (web development project).

Context:

• Fixed-price contract for a website project: around CHF 7,200
• Payment terms: 50% upfront (already paid), 50% upon completion
• The contract states that any work outside the initial scope must be estimated in advance and approved by the client

Situation:

• We are currently mid-project
• The contractor is now claiming an additional cost of around CHF 3,000
• Their justification is that the project required more iterations, coordination, and work than initially expected
• They also refer to exceeding the number of included “feedback rounds”

Issue:

• At no point during the project were we informed of a potential budget overrun
• No updated estimate was provided
• No approval was requested before continuing the additional work

Questions:

• Under this type of clause, is the contractor allowed to claim additional costs retroactively?
• Does the lack of prior estimate/approval generally affect their right to charge extra?
• How are these situations typically handled in Switzerland?

I understand this isn’t formal legal advice, but any general guidance or similar experiences would be really helpful.

Thanks a lot 🙏