When a web developer gives their Terms and Conditions to a customer and the customer agrees to them, the Terms and Conditions then form a legally binding contract between the web developer and that customer. Terms and Conditions should therefore be drafted with the web developer’s business interests in mind.
As a web developer, your Terms and Conditions are also an opportunity for you to cover some practical issues which could potentially be the cause of a dispute between you and your customers. Some of these issues have been set out below:
Responsibility of the customer
To enable you to provide your services, your customer must work with you throughout the web development process and cooperate. Accordingly, your terms and conditions should clearly outline the responsibilities of the customer. In particular, the customer should:
- make payments on time and as agreed;
- ensure that any information provided for the services is true, accurate and complete;
- warrant that they have rights to use any intellectual property that they provide for use in the web development process;
- agree to be responsible for delays and/or failures which are a result of their action or inaction; and
- provide feedback throughout the development process.
Payment
It is important that your Terms and Conditions set out when invoices will be issued and when you expect the invoices to be paid. To ensure that you are not out of pocket, or providing services without being paid, you can also state that where invoices are unpaid after the payment due date, you will suspend and/or terminate all services.
Variations
The Terms and Conditions should also address what happens if the customer wants changes to the required final product. The provision relating to variations should state how many times you will make a revision to a design and when these changes become new work outside the scope of the original quote. You may want to put an hourly rate in this section to detail how much extra work will cost.
Work approval process
Another crucial section in the Terms and Conditions is the work approval process. This is essentially a process by which the customer can notify you of whether or not they are satisfied with your work. Having a clear process with specific timeframes in which feedback can be provided can help prevent disputes between you and your customers, and gives you an opportunity fix up any unsatisfactory work.
Other issues
Other matters that a well-drafted set of Terms and Conditions would cover include the following:
- ownership of domain names and web hosting;
- additional expenses;
- disclaimers;
- liability and indemnity;
- intellectual property; and
- confidentiality.
Conclusion
As a web developer, it’s vital that you have a strong set of Terms and Conditions to protect you and your business. If you have any questions relating to business law or intellectual property, speak to one of our lawyers today! If you require assistance in drafting or reviewing a web development agreement, we would also be happy to provide you with a fixed-fee quote.
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