Website design and build contract template
A website design and build contract sets out what a designer will deliver to a client, by when, for what price, and who owns the result. It covers deliverables and what is not included, what the client provides, revisions and approval, the deposit and payment, launch and handover, hosting and ending the contract. A designer or agency uses one for each web client.
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What changes each time
16 values. Everything else is your wording, kept exactly.
The parties
- Designer's name or company name
- Address
- Company number
- Client's name or company name
- Date of proposal
The project
- Deliverable and description
- Target date
- Not included
- Platform
What you provide
- Content deadline
- Content and access to provide
- Days on hold before invoicing
Revisions and payment
- Working days to approve
- Deposit and balance
Hosting and data
- Hosting provided by designer
- Sub-processors
The rules it usually needs
Written in plain English when the template is set up.
- Only when…
“Include a company number for the designer or client only when that party is a company”
The company number appears after the address.
- Once for each item
“One row for each deliverable.”
The table gets a row per deliverable with its description and target date.
- One of several wordings
“Treat a deliverable as approved if the client does not respond in time, or remind the client and move the timetable back.”
The approval clause reads as the chosen option.
- One of several wordings
“State prices as exclusive of VAT, or not subject to VAT because the designer is not VAT registered.”
The VAT wording reads as the chosen option.
- One of several wordings
“Make the deposit non-refundable once design work has started, or refundable less the value of work done if cancelled before design starts.”
The deposit clause reads as the chosen option.
- One of several wordings
“Waive moral rights in the bespoke work, or keep them, including the right to be identified as designer.”
The moral rights clause reads as the chosen option.
- One of several wordings
“Include a credit link in the footer that the client may remove, or no credit link.”
The portfolio and credit clause reads as the chosen option.
- Only when…
“Include the hosting section only when the designer hosts the website”
The hosting terms and processor clause appear.
- One of several wordings
“Require the client's prior written consent to a new processor, or general consent with notice of changes.”
The processor clause reads as the chosen option.
- Only when…
“Include the consumer cancellation section only when the client is a consumer and the contract is made at a distance or away from the designer's premises”
Clause 11 sets out the right to cancel and a model cancellation form.
Questions people ask
What is a website design contract?
A written agreement between a designer or agency and a client for the design and build of a website. It sets out the work, price, timetable and ownership.
What should it include?
The deliverables and what is not included, what the client provides, revisions and approval, the price and payment, ownership, launch and handover, hosting and how it can end.
Who owns the website?
The agreement deals with ownership of the bespoke work and of any tools or materials the designer already had. Rights usually pass to the client on payment.
What if the client is slow to provide content?
The dates move back by at least the same amount, and if the project is on hold for long enough the designer may invoice for work done.
Does it cover hosting?
Optionally. If you host the website, the hosting section applies, including the terms for handling personal data.
Use this template
It opens in DocuWeave as a template you can check, change and publish. Nothing is used until you do.