Revised date: 5/20/2014
Between me, Mike Kelly and you, Katy McLaughlin
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. I’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 (Katy McLaughlin), located in Houston, Texas, are hiring me (Mike Kelly) located at 44100 Bristow Circle, Ashburn, Va 20148 to develop and implement a CMS (Content Management System), Theme Implementation (Design provided by you), and Online Location Tracking for the estimated total price of $2500 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 me everything we need to complete the project as and when and in the format we need it. You’ll review my 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.
Me: 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 me.
I will implement to my best effort the provided designs and functionality. Final implementation may vary due to browser capabilities.
You’ll have two or more weekly opportunities to review my work and provide feedback. If, at any stage, you’re not happy with the direction my work is taking, you’ll pay me in full for everything I’ve produced until that point and cancel this contract.
I'm not responsible for writing or inputting any text copy. If you’d like me to write new content or 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 me to search for photographs for you, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
I deliver templates developed from HTML5 markup, CSS2.1 + 3 stylesheets for styling and unobtrusive Javascript for feature detection, poly-fills and behaviours.
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), Mozilla Firefox and Opera. I’ll also test to ensure Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 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. We test our work in:
iOS: Safari, Google Chrome and Opera Mini
I currently don’t test Android, Blackberry OS or Blackberry QNX, Opera Mobile, Symbian or other mobile browsers. If you need me to test using these, I can provide a separate estimate for that.
I'm not a website hosting company so 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 will set up your site on a server, plus any statistics software such as Google Analytics. Updates to the site, and ongoing maintenance will be subject to a 1 year maintenance contract, billed monthly ($50/month) and due on the 1st of the month. The maintenance contract would cover small tweaks such as fixing visual defects on the site, or tech support via email. Enhancements to the site would be billed at $75/hour with a 3 hour minimum. This would cover new functionality such as online billing, newsletter management, or other features requiring development.
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’ll 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 our 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.
Phew.
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 we 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’ll own the unique combination of these elements that constitutes a complete implementation and I’ll license that you, exclusively and in perpetuity for this project only, unless we agree otherwise. I can provide a separate estimate for that.
I love to show off my work and share what I’ve 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.
I’m sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you pay the invoices that I send you promptly. As I'm also sure you’ll want to stay friends, you agree to stick tight to the following payment schedule.
50% ($1250) due on start of work
50% Remainder ($1250) due on delivery of a CMS with a template implementing provided designs and location tracking functionality.
Just like a parking ticket, you can’t transfer this contract to anyone else without my 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 Loudoun County, Virginia courts.
Oh and don’t forget those men with big dogs.
Signed by and on behalf of Mike Kelly
Signed by and on behalf of Katy McLaughlin Date 5/20/2014
Everyone should sign above and keep a copy for their records.