Revised: November 25, 2013
Between us (Kernel Panic Consulting) and you (Company Name)
We’ll always do our best to fulfill your needs and meet your expectations, but it’s important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what and when, and what will happen if something goes wrong. In this contract you won’t find any complicated legal terms or long passages of unreadable text. We have no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. What we do want is what’s best for both parties, now and in the future.
So in short;
You, Company Name, located at Company Address, are hiring us, Kernel Panic Consulting, located at 168 Mount Pleasant Street, Rockport, ME 04856, to design and develop a website for the estimated price of $750 as outlined in our previous correspondence and discussions. The actual price should not vary more than 10% from this estimate. Additionally, you are paying us $10 per month to host this website and administer the company.com domain. It’s a little more complicated, but we’ll get to that.
As previously agreed, for the first year we will spread out the payments for website design and development and lump them together with the payments for hosting and administration. This works out to an estimated total price of $870. Over twelve months that comes to an estimated $72.50 per month. After the first year, we will continue to provide hosting and administration for $10 per month. We will perform updates and revisions to the website for $50 per hour. You can make minor changes to some sections of website content yourself without our help using a content management system.
You: You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organization. You’ll give us everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we need it. You’ll review our work, provide feedback and approval in a timely manner too. Deadlines work two ways, so you’ll also be bound by dates we set together. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out at the end of this contract.
Us: We have the experience and ability to do everything we’ve agreed with you and we’ll do it all in a professional and timely manner. We’ll endeavor to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that we’ll maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.
We create designs and flexible layouts that adapt to the capabilities of many devices and screen sizes. We create designs iteratively and use predominantly HTML and CSS so we won’t waste time mocking up every template as a static visual. We may use static visuals, mockups, or wireframes to indicate a direction that the design and interaction will take (for example, color, texture, and typography).
You’ll have opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. If, at any stage, you’re not happy with the direction our work is taking, you’ll pay us in full for everything we’ve produced until that point and cancel this contract. At that point you have the option to enter into another contract that reflects the revisions you desire.
We develop using the latest versions of web standards, including HTML5 markup, CSS2.1 + 3 stylesheets for styling and unobtrusive Javascript and jQuery scripts and frameworks for feature detection, poly-fills, and behaviors.
We host your website and administer your domain. Included with this hosting is a content management system that allows you to make minor revisions and updates to some pre-determined areas of content on the website. We will perform major revisions, updates, and redesigns to the website that are not supported by the content management system.
We’re not responsible for writing or transcribing any text copy. If you’d like us to write new content or input text for you, we can provide a separate estimate for that.
You should supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format. You should supply photographs in a high resolution digital format. If you choose to buy stock photographs, we can suggest stock libraries. If you’d like us to search for photographs for you, we can provide a separate estimate for that.
Browser testing no longer means attempting to make a website look the same in browsers of different capabilities or on devices with different size screens. It does mean ensuring that a person’s experience of a design should be appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device. Attempting absolute pixel perfection wastes your time and ours.
We test our work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Mozilla (Firefox), and Microsoft (Internet Explorer). We’ll work to ensure that users of browsers that are not fully standards-compliant (such as older versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer) get an appropriate, possibly different, experience. We won’t test in other older browsers unless you specify otherwise. If you need an enhanced design for an older browser, we can provide a separate estimate for that.
Testing popular small-screen devices is essential in ensuring that a person’s experience of a design is appropriate to the capabilities of the device they’re using. We test our work in Safari and Google Chrome running on iOS 6 and 7.
We currently don’t test using Android, Blackberry OS or Blackberry QNX, Opera Mobile, Symbian or other mobile browsers. If you need us to test using these, we can provide a separate estimate for that.
We agree to design and develop the site in a timely manner. Design and development of the site are estimated to require 1 month, after which minor updates can be performed by you using the content management system.
Included in this contract and estimate is one hour of support and training in using the content management system. We will provide additional training and support for $50 per hour.
We know from experience that fixed-price contracts are rarely beneficial to you, as they often limit you to your earliest ideas. We don’t want to limit your ability to change your mind. The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the length of time we estimate we’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told us you want to achieve in our previous correspondence and discussions, but we’re happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as we’ll provide a separate estimate for that.
We can’t guarantee that our work will be error-free and so we can’t be liable to you or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if you’ve advised us of them. Finally, if any provision of this contract shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this contract and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Phew.
First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by you, or that you have permission to use them. A notice to this effect will be included on your website to protect your rights.
Then, when your final payment for design and development has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows:
You’ll own the visual elements that we create for this project. We’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as we’re not required to keep a copy. You own all elements of text, images and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.
We’ll own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete design and we’ll license that you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise. We can provide a separate estimate for that.
We love to show off our work and share what we’ve learned with other people, so we reserve the right, with your permission, to display and link to your project as part of our portfolio and to write about it online, in digital form, and in print. In addition, we reserve the right to include a link on your website giving us credit for the design and development of your website.
We’re sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that we send you promptly. As we’re also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick to the following payment schedule.
- December 1, 2013: $72.50
- January 1, 2014: $72.50
- February 1, 2014: $72.50
- March 1, 2014: $72.50
- April 1, 2014: $72.50
- May 1, 2014: $72.50
- June 1, 2014: $72.50
- July 1, 2014: $72.50
- August 1, 2014: $72.50
- September 1, 2014: $72.50
- October 1, 2014: $72.50
- November 1, 2014: $72.50
After November 2014, regular monthly payments of $10 will cover website hosting and domain administration. There will be no benefit or penalty for paying for multiple months in advance. Updates and revisions to the website that are not covered by the content management system will be billed at the rate of $50 per hour.
We reserve the right to retain copyright of the website should payment not be made in full. We reserve the right to suspend hosting of the website if payment is not received in a timely manner. Unpaid invoices are subject to a late fee of 10% after 30 days. Should you feel you will have trouble making payments, please contact us in advance so we can make alternate arrangements.
Just like a parking ticket, you can’t transfer this contract to anyone else without our permission. This contract stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and this contract is a legal document under jurisdiction of courts of the State of Maine.
Signed by and on behalf of Kernel Panic Consulting:
Signed by and on behalf of Company Name:
On this date:
Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.