It sounds like he gave them an hourly rate, not a project rate, and emailed every day to let them know how many hours he'd worked and what he still needed, both

It sounds like he gave them an hourly rate, not a project rate, and emailed every day to let them know how many hours he'd worked and what he still needed, both before and after the estimated time frame was blown. It doesn't sound like he did anything irresponsible.