Revision date: 20 July, 2013
Between me (Claudine Chionh)
and you [customer name]
I will 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. I have no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. What I do want is what’s best for both parties, now and in the future.
In short:
You ([customer name]), located at [customer address], are hiring me (Claudine Chionh), located at [my address], to 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 will give us everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we need it. You will review our work and provide feedback and approval in a timely manner. Deadlines work two ways, so you will 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.
Me: I have the experience and ability to do everything I have agreed with you and will do it all in a professional and timely manner. I will endeavour to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that I will maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.
You and I will meet for four hours over the course of the first two weeks of the project to develop and agree to a detailed set of requirements and deliverables for the project. We will develop wireframes for the general appearance of different sections of the website. If custom visual elements or design work are required, we will agree to a process for hiring a graphic designer to provide these.
At the conclusion of the planning stage, we will both have the opportunity to revise the budget and costs for development of the website. We will have two weeks to discuss and agree to this estimate. We will also develop reasonable deadlines for me to deliver work and for you to provide feedback on the work.
I will install and configure a development (draft) website according to the specific requirements and wireframes developed during the planning stage. Unless otherwise specified, the website will be built using version 7 of the Drupal content management system and the Pixture Reloaded theme, which supports desktop, tablet, and phone displays.
You will have an opportunity at the end of each week to review my work and provide feedback. If, at any stage, you are not happy with the direction my work is taking, you will pay us in full for everything I have produced until that point and cancel this contract.
Correspondence will take place primarily on the Basecamp project management website, with opportunities for phone or face-to-face conversations if necessary. Both you and I will endeavour to respond to all queries within two business days.
TODO Inactive/cancellation...
I will create a user account for you on the development website, with the ability to add and edit text content, and instructions for doing so.
I am not responsible for writing or inputting any text copy. If you would like me to write new content or input text for you, I can provide a separate estimate for these tasks.
You should supply graphic files in PSD or SVG format. You should supply photographs in a high resolution digital format (PNG or JPEG). If you choose to buy stock photographs, I can suggest stock libraries. If you would like 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 will test the website in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla Firefox and Opera. I will also test to ensure Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 for Windows users get an appropriate, possibly different, experience. I will not test in older versions of Internet Explorer.
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 in:
- iOS: Safari, Google Chrome and Opera Mini
- Android 4.1: Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera Mini
- Android 3.2: Browser, Firefox and Opera Mini
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 can be flexible. If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as I will provide a separate estimate for that.
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, or on my own server.
If you choose to host on my server, I will provide an estimate for hosting and system administration fees.
If you choose to host elsewhere, I can set up your site on a server. Then, the updates to, and management of that server will be up to you.
I can also provide estimates for additional services such as server monitoring, Google Analytics configuration and reporting, newsletter publishing, and email hosting.
After all features have been developed and tested, I will deploy (copy) the development website to a new site on your chosen hosting provider, with an appropriate domain name for public use. You will have two weeks from the date of final deployment to provide feedback and request any final changes.
Building a website is not a once-off exercise; from time to time, your site will require software updates for security purposes. I can provide ongoing maintenance and support after final deployment, on an hourly basis paid for in advance as a package of prepaid hours.
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.
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 will own the visual elements that we create for this project. We will 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 will 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 on websites, in magazine articles and in books.
I am sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that I send you promptly. You agree to stick tight to the following payment schedule:
- Payment of planning fee of $400 + GST prior to commencement of planning stage.
- Deposit of 50% of development fee prior to commencement of development.
- Payment of 25% of development fee halfway through development period.
- Final payment of remaining 25% of development fee at time of final deployment.
For the last two payments, payment terms are 15 days from receipt of invoice.
Payment can be made by direct bank deposit, credit card, or Paypal.
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 exclusive jurisdiction of Australian courts.
Signed by and on behalf of [company name]
Signed by Claudine Chionh
Date [date]
Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.