Before work starts
We will work with the client to agree a personal specification before any work on a project starts. This will be decided jointly and agreed before a price is given for the project. Any cost estimate we provide before a full specification is agreed may change. A full specification will normally define the new website’s functionality and where all its content will be sourced.
After a specification is agreed, we will provide the client with a final price and estimated start and completion dates (dependent on deposits being paid on time). Quotes and proposals will be valid for 28 days and may have to be re-negotiated after that period passes.
Payment and deposit
After a price is agreed with a client, we will invoice for a 50 per cent deposit. This must be paid and cleared by my bank before any work starts. Payment of the initial 50 per cent deposit signals agreement with the above terms.
Payment for other work or a support contract also signals agreement with the applicable terms as set out on this page. we will invoice for the remaining 50 per cent after our agreed work on the project is complete, regardless of any complications or delays caused by involvement of other parties engaged by the client.
The final payment of 50 per cent must be paid within fourteen (14) days of my work on the project ending. Ownership of the designed and developed website is automatically transferred to the client upon receipt of the final payment. If the final project invoice remains unpaid for fourteen (14) days after the invoice date, any released material to the server will be suspended. If the project takes longer than one month, we will require an interim payment(s) based on work completed. Any such interim payment(s) will be deducted from the final 50 per cent payment. The deposit is only refundable if no work starts. For smaller-budget jobs, the deposit may vary, at our discretion.
Completed, invoiced content update work must be paid within fourteen (14) days. Accounts that remain unpaid for twenty-eight (28) days after the invoice date will be subject to a service charge in the amount of the higher of two and one-half percent or £35 per month. For an annual support contract, we will send an invoice for the full amount payable before we start the work. No refunds are given. We are not VAT registered.
Completion date
We will make every effort to meet the agreed completion date. In exceptional circumstances, this may become impossible and in such cases we will notify the client as early as possible, and agree a workable alternative timescale for them.
Any requests for additional work or changes to the agreed project specification must be supplied in writing (for example by email). Where such requests are made after the specification is agreed or the project started, the agreed completion date and price will be affected.
We will provide quotes promptly for any requests for extra work or specification changes and, if these fees are agreed, will invoice for them in advance as an interim payment. If for any reason the client wishes to bring forward the agreed completion date, a “rush fee” will apply, which will be agreed before the rush work is started. While we will carry out comprehensive testing and checks to every finished website, it is the client’s responsibility to also check over any finished project.
Technical standards
We build every website to current web standards (within the agreed specification and budget), and test them to ensure they support the latest versions of Safari, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Any further browser support needed should be discussed at the start of the project and can be included in the initial quote and price.
We test every website on Mac and Windows platforms. Where the site specification includes a mobile device-friendly design (a responsive design), we will test the site on Apple iOS and Android devices. Further testing can be arranged at an additional cost.
Supply of materials
Clients must supply text content for their web pages in either Apple Pages, MS Word or email (or similar) documents. Content must be structured and titled page by page as per the agreed web pages for the new website. Clients must also provide the agreed content to the timescale mutually agreed at the start of each project.
As a small business, we need to ensure programmed work is carried out as per the agreed schedule and will on occasions reject offers for new work to honour the timescales we have committed to. On any occasion where delay in provision of information and/or content prevents us from progressing a project, the project deadline will be extended by an appropriate amount, and we reserve the right to impose a surcharge of up to 20 per cent.
If a client fails to provide agreed information and/or content within a month of the agreed supply date, we reserve the right to close the project. Deposits are not refundable and any balance remaining that exceeds the deposit will become payable immediately.
Web Hosting costs
Web hosting is payable yearly in advance or monthly by standing order. To cancel this service, clients must notify us by email. No refunds are given if hosting is cancelled.
Where due payment has not been received, web hosting accounts will be suspended, making the website invisible to visitors, a week after the associated invoice is due. The service will be restored on full payment of the invoice. For more details please see our separate Conditions of use for Web Hosting.
Domain names
Where a client requests a domain name, we purchase this on their behalf and they own the name.
Conditions of use for our Web hosting
General
Registration of domain names is carried out on my clients’ behalf on a “best endeavours” basis. Circumstances may make it impossible for us to secure a requested domain name, even after we have provisioned it on our server. Under these circumstances, we will only be liable to offer a refund, or at the client’s request to register a domain name at the equivalent price.
If payments due to us or our nominated agents are not received on schedule, we reserve the right to suspend, withdraw or cancel services. Domain and hosting renewals are due on the renewal date. Should a client wish to cancel or make changes to these services, we must be notified in writing (for example by email) before the renewal date. Where a client cancels their account, no refund of fees already paid will be made.
Your webspace
Back-ups of data stored on our server are not guaranteed. However, if you have a support contract with us, we make back-ups every month. A charge may be made for the recovery of files. Clients may not run server processes (for example talkers/IRC bots) via our server. Shell accounts (telnet or Secure Shell (SSH)) are not available on our web hosting packages, except at our discretion.
We shall not be held liable for any loss or damages caused by the use or misuse, unavailability or removal of services. When a client closes their account, all files (including web pages) will be deleted. Each hosting product includes a set bandwidth which is agreed with the client. If a client’s site exceeds the agreed bandwidth so much it has an adverse effect on other clients’ websites, we reserve the right to disable that site until bandwidth usage is appropriately reduced, and charge the client for bandwidth used over and above their allocation.
Clients may alternatively request that we upgrade their hosting account to cover the bandwidth used, which will incur a charge.
Email usage
To protect clients’ privacy we never distribute their names or email addresses to any third parties. Clients must not participate in any form of unsolicited bulk emailing (UBM) or spam through websites we host for them. Where a client has a legitimate requirement to bulk email through a site we host, they must contact us and agree with this first.
Commercial use of our hosting and email services is permitted. Clients will be responsible for the content of their website and emails, for obtaining any appropriate legal permission for any works they publish, and for ensuring their contents do not violate UK law. Email attachments are subject to a size limit of 20 megabytes (MB).
By default, all email accounts on our server are screened from persistent senders of spam and UBM. We cannot guarantee clients will never receive junk emails, but their occurrence should be significantly limited by our efforts and our server’s configuration. Clients wishing to opt out of this service should notify us by email. By default, all emails through our server are examined electronically for virus content.
Any suspect emails are quarantined. It is impossible for us to absolutely guarantee emails are totally virus-free and we strongly recommend clients use permanent, active anti-virus protection on any computer connected to the internet. Our server does not allow the sending of .exe files (or .zip files containing .exe files) by email.
Domain names
Purchase, transfer, renewal and use of domain names on our and our partner companies’ equipment will always comply with the relevant Nominet, Tucows OpenSRS, CentralNic and ICANN rules and guidelines, as amended from time to time and published on their respective websites.
We do not charge for transferring domain names away from our server. However such transfers will only be effected once all outstanding associated invoices have been settled in full.
Legal
Clients will be held responsible for, and accept responsibility for, any defamatory, confidential, secret or other proprietary material published on their website or in their email.
We reserve the right to remove material deemed offensive from clients’ web pages without prior notice. We do not allow our server to be used for any illegal purpose, or for adult content.