The agreement.

05The rules, in plain words

1. 1

   Changes. Two rounds of changes are in the price. A round is one list from you, sent at once. New pages, a new direction after you approved one, or work outside part 1: I price it in writing first, and you say yes in writing before I start.

2. 2

   Finished. When the site does what part 1 says, I show it to you. You have 10 days to name anything in part 1 it does not do, and I fix it. When that is fixed, or if you name nothing, it goes live, and the second half is due that day. If you ask me to hold it back, the second half is due all the same.

3. 3

   Who owns it. When the last payment clears, all my rights in what I made for you pass to you, copyright included: the site, the words, the pictures, the files. This paper makes the transfer, and nothing more needs signing. Until then they stay mine, and you may use them as long as your payments are on time.

4. 4

   Other people’s parts. Some parts belong to others, like the fonts and the code the site is built on. They come under their own licenses, and you get the same rights to them that I have. If any of them costs money, I tell you in writing first. My own tools and methods stay mine, and you may use any that are in your site, for good.

5. 5

   What I keep. You let me show the work and the pictures, and say I made them, on my site and when I pitch. If you give me a few words about the work, I may quote them with your name. If you want any of it kept private, tell me in writing and I will.

6. 6

   What you hand me. Your logo, your photos, your words. Handing them over, you tell me you have the right to use them. If someone claims otherwise, you answer that claim and cover what it costs me. What I make is my own work or properly licensed. If someone claims otherwise, I answer that claim and cover what it costs you. I can leave out anything I believe is untrue, or not yours to use.

7. 7

   Days at your place. The visit and the photo day happen at your place, with your permission. Need to move one? Tell me a day ahead and it moves, free. If one falls through on your side with less notice, the next one is extra work under rule 1. Anyone in a picture signs a release first, covering your use and mine. A parent signs for anyone under 18. You get copies of the releases.

8. 8

   What it runs on. The domain and the hosting are in your name, and so are their bills: about $ a year for the domain and about $ a month for the hosting. I set it all up. Those companies are not me. I do not answer for their outages or their prices.

9. 9

   Your accounts. You let me into your domain, your hosting and the other accounts the site touches, for this work and only this work. At handover you change the passwords, and I keep no copy.

10. 10

    After it goes live. The 30 days of fixes in part 1 are free. After that, changes are $150 an hour, and I tell you the hours before I start. A monthly plan is there if we agree one in writing. Nothing holds you to me. What you add or change after handover is yours to answer for.

11. 11

    What I cannot promise. Nobody can promise that Google or an AI assistant will put you first. I promise a site that says plainly what you sell, where you are and when you are open, in a way they can read. That part is in my hands. The rest is not in anyone’s.

12. 12

    The limit. My promises about the work are the ones in this paper, and no others, spoken or implied. Apart from what you owe me for work under this paper, the most either of us can owe the other for anything to do with this work is the total in part 2. Neither of us owes the other for lost profits or lost business. None of this covers fraud, or harm done on purpose or through gross negligence.

13. 13

    If you stop. Tell me in writing. Before I start work on the website, I refund what you paid toward it, within 10 days. Once I have started, and until it is finished under rule 2, I keep the first half. It pays for the weeks I held for you and the work at the start, a loss neither of us could price in advance. You keep what is done, it is yours, and you owe nothing more for the website. Once it is finished, the second half is owed.

14. 14

    If I stop. I tell you in writing. Within 10 days, I refund what you paid, less my hours on it at the rate in rule 10. You never owe me more than you have paid. You keep everything finished and the files, and they are yours.

15. 15

    If it goes quiet. If my calls and emails go unanswered for 30 days, or what part 3 asks for is 30 days late, I tell you in writing that the build is paused. Starting again costs $250 and puts you back in the queue. After 60 more days of quiet, I may end this agreement in writing, and rule 13 decides the money.

16. 16

    Outside our control. If something neither of us controls stops the work, like a storm, an illness or an outage, the dates move by as long as it lasts. If it lasts more than 60 days, either of us may end this agreement in writing, and rule 14 decides the money.

17. 17

    If one of us breaks this. The other says so in writing. If it is not put right within 10 days, the other may end this agreement. If you broke it, rule 13 decides the money. If I broke it, rule 14 does.

18. 18

    Between us. Your numbers, your logins, anything you tell me about how the place runs: I keep it private, unless the law makes me share it.

19. 19

    I work for myself. I am not your employee, and I pay my own taxes. If I bring in help, I answer for their work, and rule 18 binds them too.

20. 20

    Georgia law. Georgia law governs this agreement. If we cannot settle something by talking, it goes to a court in Georgia, in your business’s county if it is in Georgia.

21. 21

    Writing and signing. Writing means paper or email, sent to the addresses at the top, or to new ones either of us gives in writing. We may sign separate copies, in ink or on a screen. Together they are one agreement. A scan or a photo of a signed copy counts as the original.

22. 22

    The whole deal. This paper is the whole agreement. It replaces anything said or written before it. It changes only in writing from both of us, and an email from each counts. If a court strikes one part, the rest stands. Letting something slide once gives up nothing. The rules on ownership, claims, the limit and privacy still hold after the work ends. Neither of us can hand this agreement to someone else without the other’s yes in writing, except that I may hand it to a company I own that does this work.