The invoice went out with a request to raise the limit.
We agreed to fifteen hours every two weeks. Now that I have been inside the environment, I think twenty is more realistic. There is enough work for roughly ten hours a week until the high-priority projects are finished.
The list is already concrete. A firewall needs to be installed at the colocation facility. Linux Virtual Server needs to be set up, which means changing parts of the network. Monitoring needs attention. Several systems need cleanup and a more consistent baseline.
The engagement started two weeks ago with a signed NDA and a request for accounts. I am already at the point where the original cap changes which projects I can take on during the next period.
I asked two direct questions with the invoice: does the format work, and can we raise the limit from fifteen hours to twenty every two weeks?
The work still has to fit around Beatport. That makes the cap useful. It tells both sides how much time is available and forces the infrastructure list into an order. Firewall and network changes come before general cleanup. Production trouble can move everything.
Twenty hours is the request, not the agreement. If the client wants to keep the original limit, I will work within fifteen and adjust the task list. If they approve twenty, I can give the larger projects closer to ten hours a week while the urgent work is still active.
I am waiting for the answer.