Guest Mysiteonline Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I've done a few website designs for other people in the past and i've just secured a small contract to design and manage a site. Although we have agreed all the details via email communications, the buyer has asked me to provide him with a web design agreement, i've never provided a document like this before. Does anyone have any pointers as to what needs to be included? Or even better do any of you web designers have one you would'nt mind me taking a look at and amending for my own uses? All help i gratefully appreciated. Thanks Ashley [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aikdo Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 a web design ageement is a necesity with most long-drawn work and should protect you from non payment or requests for a refund and should also make the consumer comfertable with hireing you... Normaly you need to include at what stage the job is considered compleate, When payment is Due, Under what conditions a refund is/isn't available (if no refund then you must state this [normaly you would say that there is no refund after the customer has approved the proofs unless you do not compleate the job])... You should also consider agreeing in the document who owns the design after completion does the customer own all aspects of it or do you still own in and they are just leasing one copy for as long as they wish, if its the latter you should state they can not re-distribute it/sell/modify it without first seaking your aproval... If it is a custom design you need to agree with the customer if it is to be unique to them or if you will be able to also redistribute them the price is normaly lower for the latter but if you agree to either then remember to include so in your document also... If you can aford it then it is valuable to get a lawyer to create this document for you and make it as legaly bounding on the client as possible without restricting yourself and at the same time giving the customer peice of mind, you should normaly only need to get one made which you can then alter acordingly... I know you only asked for a bit of advice but i am currently having such a document drafted up myself as well as a Hosting T&C and a few other legal contracts that i will in future require customers to agree with, basicaly learning from my own mistakes. Anyoe wishing to hear the horror stories of what can happen if you dont have a TOC with your customers should talk to my lawyer :on2long: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mysiteonline Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Thanks Aikdo, that gives me a great basis to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Another key point is setting the price and payment ie 50% up front and then x amount at every key point in development or you could spend 3 months building a site and they just turn round and go nah no thanks. I word mine like start date - 50% ( cover domain,hosting and admin fees ) design work completed - 20% site completed -20% Sign over site all happy with project final 10% just an idea but sorta covers ur back for some money if it all goes belly up down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 You also want to include clear and explicit reference to the rates that will apply to work outside and beyond the scope of the current project. Note I say "reference", by which I mean that you do not list those costs and prices within the contract but refer to some place, perhaps on a web page, where you quote those rates. Also include an arbitration clause. Most lawyers will try to talk you out of this for the simple reason that in the event of a dispute, your costs of resolution via arbitration are a fraction of those for standard litigation. For simple cases, which most are, it's one flat fee, paid up front and no unknown costs down the road. Also, arbitration can often be had complete from start to finish, in less time than it commonly takes to get your first hearing in a lawsuit, even in a small claims court. Arbitration is so simple and transparent a process that most disputes can be resolved without the need for a lawyer. You can get standard, enforceable arbitration language for insertion into your contract from the American Arbitration Association's web site. A page on the AAA web site (http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=22020#Arbitration) offers the following suggested language inserted into a contract will create binding arbitration: QUOTE Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Commercial [or other] Arbitration Rules [including the Optional Rules for Emergency Measures of Protection], and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. END QUOTE Do not change a single word of that language unless you have legal expertise. It is what is known in legal circles as "boilerplate." For the benefit of our post-industrial audience, boilerplate is a special type of steel created, tempered, tested and proven to contain high pressure while minimizing explosions. Legal boilerplate has the same qualities, plus a general predictiveness as to how a court will apply it. The same web page goes on to explain why that exact language is used. It is valuable to understand those reasons because your client's lawyer is likely to be the first one to want it removed - to your ultimate detriment. Be prepared to provide the rationale from that web page when that happens. I would be very wary of a potential client who refused to accept arbitration. I started using this clause in my contracts ever since my first successful experience with it to collect commissions from a famous clothing designer in 1975. During 8 years ending in 2004 I was an officer of a labor union of freelance writers and that language was used successfully in the contracts of members. If you fool around in the stock market and other volatile playgrounds, you will find that every broker has such language in their standard contract - and they will flat out refuse to alter it. Good luck . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Found this on the web, could be of some use http://nmk.prismix.com/downloads/standardcontract.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nostnevets Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Arbitration is so simple and transparent a process that most disputes can be resolved without the need for a lawyer. Well yea but... If they are a large company, they will have lawyers who won't like that much. They will go thru the agreement and the first thing these bad people will try to take out is arbitration. Obviously, if they have lots of money and lawyers and you work out of a shed in the backyard this is a bad thing. So you need to put something else in there that you are secretly willing to part with-- after insisting it is "hard to imagine" a scenario where you would give up "X" (Using language that seems firm but offers a small opening makes lawyers think they have spotted a weakness and are smart.) Another point that is important to try to fight for is the removal of any "Work For Hire" clauses. There is a lot of debate about what this means to creative/programming types online, but basically work for hire can be interpreted as follows: Anything you create during the course of a project including comps, drafts, code, negatives and paper clip necklaces belongs to the client. This is very bad, as it strips you of any intellectual property rights without compensation. Unfortunately, you may find that one of the above is the thing you have to give up to save the other as they are the only ones that really matter. Anyway, here is another nice thing to say when you give it too them: Projects consist of Time, Budget and Scope. You pick two. I get the third. They always like that - and it is true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Last week, I went over the road to the local Solicitors, asking them how much they'd charge to review some contracts I've created. They wanted £190/hour! I was gobsmacked! I know for a fact that one of the top Patent Lawyers in central London charges only £200! To add insult to insult to injury, I found out (through a secretary who works there that I know socially), that the solicitors aren't expereinced in these web-based contracts covering a certain amount of international Law, so they were going to outsource the work, hence the extra cost!!! If you're going to get legal advice, shop around! It's worth 20 mins on the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nostnevets Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Last week, I went over the road to the local Solicitors, asking them how much they'd charge to review some contracts I've created. They wanted £190/hour! I was gobsmacked! Thought you would get a kick out of this document. It is my template agreement AFTER client's lawyers got through with it...First_theLawyers.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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