Risks › No approval timeline

No approval timeline.
The project that drags.

The deliverable was sent. It was good. The client needs to "run it by the team." That was three weeks ago. Without an approval window, you have no clock to point to.

Draft an agreement that prevents it

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What it means

In plain English.

An approval timeline sets the window within which the client must respond to a submitted deliverable. Without one, approval can be withheld indefinitely — keeping the project open, the payment unpaid, and the provider's capacity locked up.

What it looks like

You deliver a brand identity. The client loves it but needs signoff from their co-founder, who's traveling. Three weeks pass. You're technically mid-project, can't invoice the final milestone, and can't fully commit to a new client.

The difference from client silence

Client silence is the total absence of communication. No approval timeline is more specific: the client may be communicating, but the contract has no mechanism to close the approval loop within a defined period.

Why it matters

Every open project is a liability on your schedule. Approval timelines convert indefinite waits into finite windows. After the window closes, the contract moves forward — with or without the client's active response.

Why it's missed

Approval seems like it should be straightforward. It rarely is.

Why missed

Internal review assumed fast

You assume the client's internal process takes days. It often takes weeks. Legal review, stakeholder sign-off, budget approval — all invisible at contract time.

Why missed

No mechanism for stalemate

Without deemed-approval language, there's no way to move forward if the client doesn't respond. You're waiting indefinitely.

Why missed

Milestone payments tied to approval

When payment milestones are tied to approval, delayed approval = delayed payment. The two problems are structurally linked.

What can go wrong

The downstream consequences.

Project drags for months

A six-week project becomes a six-month project because approval at each phase takes weeks instead of days. The original timeline is meaningless.

Stale work gets re-reviewed

When approval is delayed long enough, new stakeholders get involved. Work approved two months ago gets re-opened. Extra rounds, no extra pay.

Payment delayed at every phase

Milestone-based payment only flows when milestones close. No approval = no closed milestone = no payment.

Opportunity cost

While the project drags, you're turning away or deferring new work. The extended engagement costs more than the project value.

Red-flag wording

These phrases leave approval open-ended.

The absence of an approval window is the most common version of this risk. But some phrases actively make it worse.

Red flag

No approval window specified

If the contract doesn't set a window, there's no window. The client can take as long as they need.

Red flag

"Client will approve in a timely manner"

"Timely" is not a definition. Courts have held that it means different things depending on context. Write a number.

Red flag

"Upon client approval"

Without an approval deadline, "upon client approval" means "whenever the client gets around to it."

Red flag

No deemed-approval language

Even if a window is specified, without deemed-approval language, the clock has no consequence when it runs out.

Safer pattern

The approval window clause that closes the loop.

The approval window clause gives the client a defined time to respond, specifies what counts as a response, and converts silence into deemed approval after the window closes. It's one of the most protective clauses in a service agreement — and one of the shortest.

BizDraft includes approval window and deemed-approval language in all project-based service agreements by default.

The pattern

Define the window. "Client has [N] business days from Provider's submission of a deliverable to provide written approval or written feedback. The clock starts on the date and time of Provider's submission."
Define deemed approval. "If Client does not provide written approval or written feedback within [N] business days, the deliverable is deemed approved. The project proceeds on that basis."
Handle partial feedback. "Partial feedback (e.g., approval of some elements but not others) does not restart the approval clock on the approved elements."
Connect to payment. "Milestone payments tied to approval are due within [N] days of the approval date or the deemed-approval date, whichever is earlier."

Most affected