Web Development Contract Clauses

Contract for Web Development Services

This article details sections of web development contracts that may prove useful to the typical Web Developer offering web development services. If you are looking for a template of a complete web site development contract you will want to visit our article featuring a sample of a generic Web Site Development Contract. We are not guaranteeing the accuracy of this information and will not be held responsible for any damages that incur as a result of use or misuse of this information. Remember, as with any legal matter, always consult an attorney. And these are only suggestions written in laymens' terms - you need to change these clauses to fit your specific needs and situation.

Clauses Based on Services

Your web development contract is going to differ based on the unique services you provide as web developer. For this reason you must first ask yourself what is it you are offering? If you work in more than one industry (for example, e-commerce and graphic design), you may want to have contracts that are tailored to each projects' individual needs. Regardless of specialty, however, your contract should contain at a minimum the following sections:

Authorization

First and foremost you want to have a clause that authorizes you to work on the project your client is hiring you for.

Services Rendered

In this section you describe the types of services you will perform. The more specific you are the more you cover yourself in the event that there is a misunderstanding between you and your client in terms of what you were expected to perform. You may also want to reference your estimate by identification number as the estimate will contain further details regarding the services you agreed to perform.

Industry Specific Clauses

This is where you can elaborate on services that are dependent on your industry and mention specifics and exceptions for particular types of work. For example, as a graphic designer you may want to specify the types of deliverables you will provide; while for e-commerce projects you may want to detail how much consulting you provide in the process - since a typical e-commerce package involves shopping cart configuration and installation, merchant account setup, payment gateway setup, security (SSL) certificate installation, and more. Also, if you offering hosting services you will want to include details here (such as what happens if your client exceeds their allocated bandwidth).

Payment Details

Be very specific as to what the client owes you, how payment is to be delivered, and when. This should include your hourly rate in the event that you work overtime on tasks not detailed in the original estimates. It should also include upfront payments that are due to you, usually expressed as a percentage of your total estimate. For webmasters you can also include "maintenance" (upkeep) details - explaining how long and for what periods of time and for what cost you will support the site you have created. Finally, if you are offering hosting services detail the cost breakdown here.

Timeline and Deadlines

This is where you report when your client can expect to have their work delivered. Careful - you may want to specify a work time-period, as opposed to a specific delivery date, in the event that you and your client agree on a date, but you don't receive the content you need to begin work on time. For example, say it's January and you agree to have the work completed by March, therefore anticipating to have two months work time. But what if you don't receive the materials you need to get started until late in February? If in doubt on your wording consult an attorney.

Revisions

You want to make sure that a client doesn't waste all your time with revisions and updates, and backtracking on steps you didn't allocate time for.  For this reason, you should outline in the beginning how many revisions a project phase (such as requirements gathering, deployment, testing, etc.) entails, and include the revision number in every correspondence.  For example, you might allow 3 revisions for a particular project.  You submit an initial draft of the project, after which the client has two weeks to submit updates, at which point you release revision 2.  They then have another two weeks to get in final changes before you release revisions 3, at which point the contract is concluded.  If they want further changes they'll have to pay for them. 

Subcontracting and Outsourcing

Is the job too big to get done on your own? Will you need to outsource the work? This is always a good clause to have in the event that you do need to hire help.

Liability

You'll need a clause that, simply put, covers your butt. Your liability clause should state that you, and any other person involved in the creation, production, or delivery of your work will not be held liable for any damages (general, direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential) arising out of the operation of or inability to operate [whatever it is you worked on / delivered to your client].

Copyrights and Trademarks

You'll want to specify copyrights and trademarks of any data involved in your project, which may include text, graphics, logos, branding, source code, files, photos, etc. In other words, you need to detail who owns the copyright and when, if it can be transferred, etc. You'll also want to specify your rights to use and/ or display the copyrighted work.

Web Developer Credits

Here you can take credit for your work. For example, you may want to specify that you have the right to display branding (in case of websites a link to your site) on client's work for a period of up to one year.

Sole Agreement

Here you explain that this agreement is between you and your client. You should detail how long the contract is valid for, and what needs to be done if any changes are made to the contract, including how this affects the additional contract. For example, you may want to say that the pricing structure is valid for one year, and any changes to the contract must be offered up in writing and approved by both parties.

Litigation

Here you specify where and how any disputes are litigated. Usually you will want these to take place in your county, especially if you are working with clients in other states, and particularly if working with overseas clients, as other states and countries have different laws - meaning this contract may apply differently depending on where it is litigated. Finally you state that both you and your client agree to the terms of this contract.

Signing the Contract

The last part involves attaining the signatures of both you and your client. Make sure that they not only sign your contract but provide their title, and the date of their signing.

If you have anything to contribute, or have questions or comments you wish to share, please comment below.