You realize that this sort of requirements change happens all the time in construction projects, right? Granted there are limits to this, but the vast majority of construction overruns are caused by changes in requirements.
It’s still a change before it’s done and it’s pretty constrained. Scope changes too big are just completely impossible because of physical constraints, lack of permits, etc.
The requirements changes in construction projects are child’s play compared to the ridiculous stuff in software. “Oh, now that we have this data visualization app finished, please add in support for collaborative visualization exploration with synchronized views and voice chat.”
Requirements change in non-software projects but rarely do they change the project into a completely different category like "I know we started building an office tower and it's halfway done, but now the client wants it to be an airport." This happens in software all the time.
Yup, in fact this is the strategy for profit maximisation for many, many construction companies. You look at the plans/requirements and if you spot loads of missing things you bid a low price with high prices for changes and make loads and loads of money.
Source: this is what my Dad did for a living, and I spent a couple of years doing it in my twenties.
It is also the strategy for profit maximisation for many, many software companies. "Change request" is a big deal in outsourced enterprise software dev. It is so bad that 'honest' software development groups that estimate accurately and don't have a culture of change requests cannot compete.
