The following terms and conditions, together with a signed project proposal, form an agreement that is intended to protect both parties, and is no way meant to trick or deceive you. I have tried to keep the wording as plain as possible, but if anything is unclear I will be more than happy to clarify it with you.
In short, [CLIENT NAME] — referred to as "you" — is engaging [MY NAME] — referred to as "I" — to undertake the work as specified in the attached proposal, under the requirements of these terms and conditions.
I will do my best to meet all agreed deadlines. You agree to review my work and provide feedback and approval in a timely manner. You accept that delays in supplying required information or materials might result in significantly longer delays to the delivery of the finished work.
You agree to keep to the payment schedule set out in the project proposal.
I will issue the final invoice as I near completion of my involvement of the project. This may not necessarily mean the project is finished, for example:
- I have completed the website build but you are still to supply content
- I am working with other parties and they still need to complete their involvement in the project
Fees for any incidental expenses accrued during the project will be agreed as they arise and added to the final invoice.
You agree to pay all invoices within one week upon receiving them. Work will not be scheduled, or commence, until the first invoice has been paid. Final work will not be released, nor websites put live, until payment has been received for the final invoice.
You will have ample opportunities to review my work and provide feedback throughout the project. Any requests for revisions or alterations will be questioned against your business goals for the project. All decisions will be made based on evidence of what works and what doesn't, through the testing of user journeys and prototypes.
If any person within your organization wishes to provide feedback, request alterations and/or contribute to the project, they must be involved from the outset and included in all discussions throughout.
You should supply all text copy in an electronic file format such as email, Word document or text file. Unless stated otherwise in the project proposal, I am not responsible for writing, editing, proof reading or inputting any text content.
You should supply graphic files in an editable, digital, vector format. You should supply photographs in a high-resolution digital format (JPG or PNG, not RAW). If you choose to buy stock photographs, I can suggest stock libraries. Unless stated otherwise in the project proposal, I am not responsible for providing any photography or searching for and/or purchasing stock images.
It is assumed that you will obtain all the necessary permissions, licenses and/or usage rights for all text, images, logos, trademarks and any other materials you supply to me.
I will test to ensure the website is accessible and works in a similar way across a variety of browsers (in their most current versions) and devices, but not necessarily in an identical way. Instead I focus on ensuring a person’s experience of a website is appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device.
Current devices for testing:
- PC (Win 8)
- Mac (OSX)
- iPhone 5s (iOS 9)
- iPad Mini (iOS 9)
Current browsers for testing: (latest versions on public release)
- Chrome (PC, Mac)
- Firefox (PC & Mac)
- Safari (Mac & iOS)
- Internet Explorer 11 (PC)
I can provide a separate quote if you need me to test for devices or browser versions not listed.
I provide a one month warranty period following the delivery of the live website, during which I will provide bug-fixes, advice, guidance and support. After this warranty period I can provide support, maintenance and upgrades to the CMS software, as and when required. These will be chargeable and quoted for separately.
I do not provide hosting, email or domain name registration services. I can provide recommendations for a suitable provider for these services and help you set everything up.
You agree to ensure the correct database and software versions are installed and provide me with full, unrestricted access to the server and control panel while I install the website. Problems arising from incorrect software versions or improper server setups may result in additional costs being incurred.
I am not responsible for any loss of files or data from websites once installed on your hosting space. I am not responsible for any back-ups of your website files or data.
I have good on-page SEO principles built into my websites as standard, however SEO services — including, but not limited to, keyword research, competitor analysis, content optimization and link building — are not provided, and I make no guarantees, implied or otherwise, that your website will obtain a specific placement in search engine rankings.
Upon payment of the final invoice you will be automatically granted rights to use the finished work as specified in the proposal only. Ownership and Intellectual Property rights remain with me unless otherwise surrendered for an agreed fee and specified as such in the proposal.
All rights to preliminary sketches, design elements, source materials and source code (HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript) used to produce the finished work are reserved to me and/or their respective owners.
I reserve the right to include a discreet authorship credit on all works where appropriate, and to display, and link to, your completed project as part of my portfolio.
I may also write about the project in articles for blogs and publications, and talk about it in presentations and workshops, to help others learn about design. I will always be sensitive and considerate to your business if I do so, and I will not publish anything until the project has gone live.
I reserve the right to assign sub-contractors to the project to ensure on-time completion. I will ensure that all sub-contracted work meets the same high standards as my own.
If at any stage you wish to cancel, or place an indefinite hold on the project, I will invoice pro-rata for any completed work up to that point. If at any stage I feel that the completion of the project is at risk of being derailed — for reasons including, but not limited to, persistent requests for alterations, excessive delays in supplying materials and/or feedback and inability to contact anyone in your organization regarding the project — I reserve the right to cancel this project and invoice pro-rata for any completed work up to that point.
Fees for third party products and services — including, but not limited to, stock images, fonts and specialist software products, purchased for use on your project — are payable in advance and as such cannot be refunded.
I aim to provide a solution that is user-focused and designed to achieve your business goals, however, once the work is put live, there are many factors outside of my control that can greatly affect its performance — including, but not limited to, your brand reputation, marketing efforts and website traffic — as such, I cannot be held responsible for a project not achieving its goals.
I cannot guarantee that the functions contained in any web page templates or in a completed web site will always be error-free and so cannot be liable to you or any third party for damages including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of the operation of or inability to operate this web site and any other web pages, even if you have advised me of the possibilities of such damages.
Also, due to the constant evolution of devices, browsers and Internet technologies, I cannot guarantee that my work will remain error-free over time, and therefore I cannot be liable to you or any third-party for damages, losses or causes of action.

Although I have aimed to keep the language plain and simple, the intentions are serious and this contract is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of New York State courts.
By signing this, you are confirming that you have the authority to enter into this agreement on behalf of your company or organization.
The undersigned confirm they have read, understood and agreed to the requirements of this agreement and the attached proposal.
Name: [MY NAME]
On behalf of: [MY COMPANY NAME]
Signature:
Date:
Name: [CLIENT NAME]
On behalf of: [CLIENT'S COMPANY NAME]
Signature:
Date: