My client disappeared for a month. Do I have to restart their project immediately?

You sent the draft, asked for feedback and heard nothing for weeks. You booked other work. Now the client has returned with the missing material and a request to finish by Friday.

The practical question is how to complete the remaining work within the agreement and your actual capacity. Start with the schedule and the dependencies, rather than arguing over whether the client has been inconsiderate.

Check what the original deadline depended on

Read the proposal, statement of work, schedule and relevant emails together. Find the exact wording for client feedback, approvals, access and supplied materials. Then look for a provision explaining what happens when those inputs arrive late.

A missing delay clause does not mean you should invent one. Equally, a client sending overdue files does not prove the original timetable is still workable. Where a fixed deadline remains in dispute, keep the question open and get contract-specific help before treating yourself as released from it.

Reconstruct the pause without exaggerating it

Make a short factual timeline. Include what you requested, when you requested it, reminders, the client's responses and which tasks were blocked. Separate blocked work from tasks you could still complete.

This is a fictional website project:

Suppose you can restart on 21 September and need eight working days after complete inputs. Say that explicitly, including the client's review time. Those dates are a proposal in this example, not a formula that overrides a real agreement.

Do a small restart check before promising a date

Confirm that the client has supplied everything needed, rather than restarting on another partial handover. Check access, the latest approved draft and whether the returning brief matches the original scope.

List the remaining work and any new work separately. A month passing may require you to reacquaint yourself with the project; it does not, by itself, create an agreed charge. If new requirements have appeared, use the extra-work guide to propose an addition, swap or later phase.

Keep payment questions separate too. Check the deposit, completed milestones and when the next payment is due. A deposit is not automatically a cancellation fee, and it does not necessarily reserve unlimited future availability. If payment is overdue, follow the applicable payment and notice terms rather than using an unrelated dispute to justify a new charge.

Send a restart email with a decision the client can make

Adapt this fictional example to the actual agreement:

Thanks for sending the final copy. Page assembly has been waiting on this since 7 August, as noted in my 10 August email. I have other work scheduled now, so I cannot commit to the requested 18 September launch.

My proposed restart is 21 September, with a draft ready eight working days after I have complete copy and access. Please allow a further [review period] for your feedback before we confirm launch.

This assumes the approved page list is unchanged. The new booking feature looks additional; I can quote for it separately or keep it for a later phase. Please confirm the scope and revised dates so I can finalise the schedule with you.

If the client needs an earlier result, offer only options you can deliver: a smaller agreed launch, a later full launch or an agreed handover. Do not promise an urgent slot before checking the work. Any accelerated-work price should be agreed before that work begins.

If you cannot agree a restart, inspect the exit and handover provisions. Document the status of files, completed work and payments. Avoid treating a frustrated email as a substitute for a required termination notice.

Make the next agreement clearer

For future projects, discuss the client's input deadlines, what counts as complete feedback, how delays affect reserved capacity, who sends a pause notice and how a restart is scheduled. If there is a restart charge, define its trigger and basis in advance. Also decide what happens after a long unresolved pause.

The NYC model freelance agreement is a useful local example of writing down services, payment and the parties' agreement. Its legal requirements apply in its own context; it is not a universal client-delay rule.

For a new engagement, follow the freelance contract walkthrough. If the client sends revised terms, compare the actual wording with what you requested before relying on the change.