- Revised date: 02/12/2014
Between us [company name] and you [customer name]
I’ll always do my best to fulfil 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’ve 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 ([customer name]), located at [customer address] are hiring us ([company name]) located at [company address] to [design and develop a web site] for the estimated total price of [total] as outlined in our previous correspondence. Of course it’s a little more complicated, but we’ll get to that.
You: You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company or your organisation. 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: I have the experience and ability to do everything I've agreed with you and I’ll do it all in a professional and timely manner. I’ll endeavour to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that I'll maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to review our work and provide feedback. I will share our working Dropbox with you and have regular, possibly daily contact. If, at any stage, you’re not happy with the direction of my work is taking, you’ll pay in full for everything that has been produced until that point and cancel this contract.
I’m not responsible for writing or inputting any text copy. If you’d like for me to input text for you, I 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, I can suggest stock libraries. If you’d like for me to search for photographs for you, I 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.
I test my work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), and Mozilla Firefox. I can also test to ensure Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 for Windows users get an appropriate, possibly different, experience.
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. I test my work in:
iOS and Android 4.x devices
I currently don’t test Blackberry, Opera Mini/Mobile, Windows Phone or other mobile browsers.
I am not a website hosting company therefore I don’t offer support for website hosting, email or other services relating to hosting. You may already have professional hosting and you might even manage that hosting in-house; if you do, great. If you don’t, I can set up an account for you at one of my preferred hosting providers. I can set up your site on a server, plus any statistics software such as Google Analytics and I can provide a separate estimate for that. Then, the updates to, and management of that server will be up to you.
I know from experience that fixed-price contracts are rarely beneficial to you, as they often limit you to your earliest ideas. I 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 I estimate I will need to accomplish everything you’ve told me you want to achieve, but I’m happy to be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as I’ll provide a separate estimate for that.
I can’t guarantee that my work will be error-free and so I 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 me 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.
First, you guarantee that all elements of text, images or other artwork you provide are either owned by your good selves, or that you’ve permission to use them.
Then, when your final payment has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows:
You’ll own the visual elements that I create for this project. I’ll give you source files and finished files and you should keep them somewhere safe as I’m not required to keep a copy. You own all elements of text, images and data you provided, unless someone else owns them.
I love to show off my work and share what I have learned with other people, so I reserve the right, with your permission, to display and link to your project as part of my portfolio and to write about it on websites, in magazine articles and in books.
Signed by and on behalf of [company name] Signed by and on behalf of [customer name] Date [date]
Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.