Any significant investment should be accompanied with a clear understanding of what product or services are being delivered, and what exceptions both the buyer and seller may have. When you buy a television from your local best buy this agreement may be largely implied, but when purchasing an as yet to be delivered service, a contract should be involved.
The contract serves as a legal record of the agreement and helps to inform and protect both parties. A well written contract should be a tool to avoid any potential disputes rather than to resolve them. Mine is constantly in flux and depends on the particular client and project, but the following serves as a good example.
Sample Website Design Contract:
Client Information
Business Name:
Contact Name:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
Fax Number:
Authorization
The above-named client is engaging Design Onslaught/ Craig Bauer, a Sole Proprietor, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as an independent contractor for the specific project of developing and/or improving a website to be installed on the client’s web host provider of choice.
The client hereby authorizes Design Onslaught to access this account, and authorizes the web hosting service to provide Design Onslaught with any needed access for this development project.
Terms, Amends & Revisions
This development project will be completed in a maximum of thirty (30) days upon the signing of this contract. This deadline may depend upon client cooperation, submission of content and data, and timely feedback. The client will receive a maximum of two (2) revisions to the original design and product specification and acknowledges that a maximum of five (5) hours will be allotted for not specified alterations.
Services
This development projects will include the following services.
- Website design consultation.
- Website layout and graphic design (1 front ‘Welcome’ page and 1 back page).
- Logo and header design.
- Website coding and design implementation.
- Content import into new website. (7 existing pages and their content)
- Product delivery and installation.
- Maintenance and content management system consultation.
Maintenance & Updates
This agreement includes minor website maintenance and update for up to two weeks after the completion of a website to total not more than 5 work hours.
The following services are to be allotted free of charge for up to 6 months subsequent to project completion:
- Six month follow-up Consultation
- Functional or browser compatibility corrections
All others services not specifically delineated will be available at a rate of $50 per hour. This rate is to be guaranteed six months after product delivery, but is subject to change thereafter.
Fees
Payment for this project will be a flat fee of $1,000 for the delivery of agreed upon services.
Payment of Fees.
Fees to Design Onslaught are due in full upon completion of the website or design project. In the event that the client has not secured viable web hosting by the completion of the project, the website may be delivered to the client as an email attachment.
All payments will be made in US funds. We accept checks made out to Craig Bauer. In addition, we accept credit cards/money transfers as processed by the third party payment processor PayPal through the account assigned to Craig(at)DesignOnslaught(dot)com.
If an amount remains delinquent 30 days after its invoice date, an additional 5% penalty will be added for each month of delinquency.
Assignment of Project
Design Onslaught reserves the right to assign subcontractors to this project to insure the right fit for the job as well as on-time completion.
Legal
Design Onslaught does not warrant that the functions contained in these webpages or the Internet website will meet the client’s requirements or that the operation of the webpages will be uninterrupted or error-free. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the webpages and website is with client.
In no event will Craig Bauer (DesignOnslaught.com ) be liable to the client or any third party for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of the operation of or inability to operate these webpages or website, even if Design Onslaught has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Trademarks and Copyrights
Copyright to the finished assembled work of webpages produced by Design Onslaught is owned by Design Onslaught /Craig Bauer. Upon final payment of this contract, the client is assigned rights to use as a website the design, graphics, and text contained in the finished assembled website.
Rights to photos, graphics, source code, work-up files, and computer programs are specifically not transferred to the client, and remain the property of their respective owners.
Design Onslaught and its subcontractors retain the right to display graphics and other Web design elements as examples of their work in their respective portfolios.
Litigation
Any disputes arising from this contract will be litigated or arbitrated in Ramsey County, Minnesota. This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota, USA.
