Terms & Conditions: Website Design

(Last updated June 2023)

Definitions: The client: Company or individual(s) requesting the services of M35 Web Design.
M35 Web Design: Primary designer/site owner and employees or affiliates.

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The acceptance procedure for Website Design Build is as follows:-

Prior to commencement of work the client shall make payment of a non-refundable deposit to M35 Web Design, which is 50% of the Design Fee, unless otherwise agreed in writing by M35 Web Design in advance.
All client content must be supplied in a suitable digital format unless agreed otherwise beforehand, otherwise a charge may be made for processing content for website use, and/or for purchase of suitable website images.
When M35 Web Design considers the design to be completed, the website will be uploaded to a test domain for the client to preview. The client will receive notification by telephone or email. The client will have seven working days from the notification to carry out an appraisal of the design and inform M35 Web Design of any changes required to correct any errors.
M35 Web Design will carry out the agreed amendments within seven working days. The client will then have a further seven working days to appraise the changes to the design and inform M35 Web Design of any errors in the changes. After this period the design is considered as accepted and the client will be invoiced for the outstanding costs and any further amendments are chargeable.
The website will not be placed on the client’s domain until the final payment has been received by M35 Web Design and has cleared M35 Web Design’s bank account.
Further amendments after this time are chargeable, unless they are very minor and/or agreed with M35 Web Design.

Whilst every endeavour will be made to ensure that the client’s website and any scripts or programs are free of errors, M35 Web Design cannot accept responsibility for any losses incurred due to malfunction, the website or any part of it.
The client understands that all files, web pages, graphics and programming work, except those provided by themselves, are the property of M35 Web Design until any and all fees are paid in full at which time the client retains ownership.
Any scripts, cgi applications, php scripts, or software (unless specifically agreed) written by M35 Web Design remain the copyright of M35 Web Design.The client may not edit, reproduce or distribute any source code supplied without M35 Web Design’s written prior permission.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to assign subcontractors in whole or as part of a project if needed.
If the client does not provide M35 Web Design with the material needed to complete the design of the web site and/or does not give requested feedback on designs to M35 Web Design within the Allocated Build Period, M35 Web Design then reserves the right to consider the working arrangements made by the contract to be at an end and to invoice the client for the monetary value of all materials, services and time charged at the prevailing hourly rate, incurred while constructing the client’s web site up to and including the end of the Allocated Build Period if it exceeds the amount of the deposit whether the web site is completed or not.
All information, drawings, specifications, documents, design material and all other data which M35 Web Design may have imparted and may from time to time impart to the client relating to its know-how, business, prices, services, the website, contracts (including the Contract), website design and content is proprietary and confidential.
The client hereby agrees that it will use such confidential information and all other data solely for the purposes of the Contract and that it will not at any time during or any time after the completion, expiry or termination of the Contract use or disclose the same whether directly or indirectly, to any third party without the M35 Web Design’s prior written consent.
Proofs of all work will be submitted for client’s approval and M35 Web Design shall incur no liability for any errors not corrected and communicated by the client in proofs so submitted. Any alterations suggested by the client and additional proofs necessitated thereby may result in additional charges.
A design credit with a link to M35 Web Design’s website will appear on the main home page of the client’s website in text format. The link will be discreet and designed to fit the overall design of the website. M35 Web Design retains the right in all cases to use the Services in any manner, at any time and in any part of the world, for the purposes of advertising or otherwise promoting M35 Web Design’s work, which will also benefit the client.
The client must provide M35 Web Design with copies of the client’s Terms and Conditions and any Privacy Statement etc. that the client wishes to be incorporated into the design.
In the event that M35 Web Design is unable to complete a website because of lack of text and/or pictures from the client, then Latin text may be added, plus appropriate library pictures. At this point the website will be considered completed and invoiced accordingly.
All content must be supplied in a suitable digital format unless agreed otherwise beforehand. Failure to supply material in digital format may result in extra charges being made for processing content for website use. Where content is provided in a form where a significant amount of copywriting is required, a further charge may be made in agreement with the client.
All programming and source code carried out by M35 Web Design is designed to run on Fasthosts Windows Servers only. M35 Web Design will not be responsible for installing or rectifying faults on any server other than these Servers.
If M35 Web Design provides website marketing of the client’s website the client accepts that the listing and ranking of their web site is at the discretion of third party Internet search engine companies. M35 Web Design will not be liable for any loss arising directly or indirectly from not being listed at all, a low ranking and/or a excessive time delay in being listed by individual Internet search engines or for any other loss arising there from. See also M35 Web Design SEO Terms & Conditions.
The client accepts that M35 Web Design will not be liable for any loss or expense of any kind arising directly or indirectly from any data stored on the client’s web site, the client’s email account/mail box or any of the client’s emails being lost, corrupted or hacked nor any loss or expense of any kind arising directly or indirectly from their web site not being available to the internet or World Wide Web.
M35 Web Design will not be held liable for any loss of business incurred due to the failure of any of its services. This includes, but is not restricted to, loss of turnover, sales, revenue, profits or indirect consequential or special loss.
M35 Web Design will not be held responsible for the fraudulent use, or any other misuse, of any material held on our computers, in particular any Credit Card information held thereon.
M35 Web Design’s responsibility for typographical, pricing, or other errors shall be strictly limited to correcting such errors if they are pointed out to us during timely proofreading and site testing. It is the client’s responsibility to proofread all work and to ensure that it is (a) satisfactory, (b) correct as to size, content etc, (c) suitable for intended use, and (d) within proper copyright and other restrictions before the website is opened to the public.
Any additions to briefs provided by the client will be carried out at the discretion of M35 Web Design and, where no charge is made by M35 Web Design for such additions, M35 Web Design accepts no responsibility to ensure such additions are error free and M35 Web Design reserves the right to charge an according amount for any correction to these or further additions.
M35 Web Design will not be liable or become involved in any disputes between the site owner and their clients and cannot be held responsible for any wrongdoing on the part of a site owner, e.g. any disputes re content/images that have been provided to us for inclusion on the site.
M35 Web Design will not be liable for any costs incurred, compensation or loss of earnings due to the work carried out on behalf of the client or any of the clients appointed agents.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to cancel immediately if it believes that the client maintains an operation which is, or is connected with, an illegal arrangement and M35 Web Design may from time to time make changes in the specification of its web sites and the client’s web site which are required to comply with any requirement of law provided they do not materially affect either their quality or their fitness or purpose.
M35 Web Design cannot take responsibility for any copyright infringements to a third party caused by materials submitted by the client. The client must ensure that all content provided by the client including website text, graphics, photos and videos are owned by the client and free of any copyright infringement, not copied from other websites, or saved from a Google search (or another search engine).
M35 Web Design will endeavour to ensure that any developed / designed site or application will function correctly on the server it is initially installed on and that it will function correctly when viewed with the web browsing software Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 9 and above and to an acceptable level with Mozilla browsers. M35 Web Design can offer no guarantees of correct function with all browser software.
Unless a specific delivery date has previously been agreed in writing the date for completion of the Specification is an estimate. M35 Web Design will not be responsible for costs incurred, compensation, or loss of earnings due to the failure to meet agreed deadlines.
After site completion the client or a third party of their choosing may wish to edit their website code themselves to make updates. However, the client agrees that in so doing they assume full responsibility for any issues which occur as a result of changing the code themselves. If the client or a third party of their choosing edits the web site code and this results in functionality errors or the page displaying incorrectly, M35 Web Design reserves the right to quote for work to repair the web site.
M35 Web Design cannot be held responsible for websites that have stopped working and/or become faulty over time due to the website becoming outdated. Websites can become outdated for many reasons, such as new browser software, outdated web code, scripting etc. M35 Web Design cannot be expected to keep client websites updated in every aspect without being paid to do so.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing with M35 Web Design, the client agrees that it is their responsibility to have regular backups of their website and software made by themselves or third party services in case of a software or hardware failure.

WEB BROWSERS

M35 Web Design shall make every effort to ensure sites are designed to be viewed by the majority of visitors. Sites are designed to work with the main browsers Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox latest releases. The client agrees that M35 Web Design cannot guarantee correct functionality with all browser software across different operating systems.
The client agrees that after handover of files any updated software versions of the main browsers Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, domain name set-up changes, or hosting set-up changes thereafter may affect the functionality and display of their web site. As such, M35 Web Design reserves the right to quote for any work involved in changing the website design or website code for it to work with updated browser software, domain name or hosting changes.

PRICE AND PAYMENT FOR SERVICES

The client shall pay the Design Fee to M35 Web Design as follows:-

Prior to commencement of work the client shall make payment of a non-refundable deposit to M35 Web Design, which is 50% of the Design Fee, unless otherwise agreed in writing by M35 Web Design in advance.
Once a website has been designed and completed in accordance with M35 Web Design’s payment terms the final balance of payment is then due before the site goes live. There are no exceptions to this, i.e. if the client decides they no longer want the site, as they have commissioned the work and paid a deposit they are still obliged to pay for the work that has been done. This includes domain name registrations and web hosting, purchases of stock photographs, agreed software etc. specifically for development of the client’s website. Non payment will result in legal action being taken if necessary. Once full payment is received for a website, it is assumed that the project has been completed to the client’s satisfaction and no refunds can be offered.
In respect of any Contract where the completion date is more than two months after the Contract date, then M35 Web Design may increase the Design Fee pro rata to correspond with any increase in the price of labour and/or other pertinent costs between those two dates.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to vary the Design Fee in the event of increased costs caused by or attributable to: delay caused by failure of the client to provide appropriate, adequate, correct or complete information to enable timely performance of the Services; and/or change or alteration in design, quality or specification details by the client; and/or correction of errors made by the client.
Should the client fail to make any payment required in respect of any work to be carried out on his behalf, whether prior to commencement of such work or during the production of such work, then M35 Web Design shall have the right to deem such failure to be a repudiation of the Contract (in which case it shall so inform the client in writing) without prejudice to any other right or remedy of M35 Web Design. M35 Web Design may:-Cancel the remainder (if any) of the Contract concerned and recover from the client damages for any loss suffered by M35 Web Design as a result of such cancellation and/or Cancel any other contract or the remainder of any other contract which M35 Web Design may have with the client and recover from the client damages for loss suffered by M35 Web Design as a result of such cancellation; and claim interest from the due date on the unpaid amount at the annual rate of 5% above the base lending rate from time to time of Natwest Bank plc, accruing on a daily basis until payment is made, whether before or after any judgment; or Claim interest from the due date on the unpaid amount accruing on a daily basis at the rate prescribed by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (interest) Act 1998; and Suspend any further work under the Contract or any other contract until payment is made in full and in addition M35 Web Design may, by notice in writing to the client, treat any such Contract as repudiated by the client and to recover all losses and expenses suffered by M35 Web Design as a result of such repudiation.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to remove work carried out for the client from the internet if payment is not received.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to decline further work on a project if there are invoices outstanding with the client.
M35 Web Design will charge interest on any sums outstanding at the Due Date at 5% above the base rate of Natwest bank in force from time to time.
All client invoices are submitted by email, except where required otherwise by regulations, or agreed at M35 Web Design’s discretion.
M35 Web Design reserves the right to change the costs of our services.
M35 Web Design has the right to terminate the project, for any reason we deem fit, at any time. Should that happen, payments received to that point for work that is unfinished or unfulfilled will be returned to the client.

LOGIN DETAILS/ACCESS CODES

Should a client wish to move their website away from M35 Web Design’s control and/or services, then FTP access codes, login details, including for Google Ads and any other accounts, will not be handed over until all outstanding invoices are paid, in full. There are no exceptions to this.

PREMIUM RATE WORDPRESS THEMES & PLUGINS

Should a client wish to move their website away from M35 Web Design’s control and/or services, then the Client may need to purchase their own site license(s) in order to continue to receive updates and support from any Premium theme/plugin authors.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Informal

Anyone who experiences a problem with their web service provided by M35 Web Design should raise the matter directly using our online contact form, giving sufficient information to locate the material (such as an url) and clearly outlining the grounds for complaint. M35 Web Design will respond with a view to resolving the matter to the satisfaction of the complainant.

Formal

The formal complaints procedure should only be used where the complainant feels that the nature of the complaint is too serious to be dealt with informally, or where a satisfactory conclusion has not been reached after following the informal procedure. A formal complaint should be made in writing to M35 Web Design. We will acknowledge receipt and ensure that the matter is looked into as soon as possible. An initial response to any complaint can be expected within seven days of its receipt; a full and considered response to the complaint should be completed within 30 days and any subsequent remedy implemented with the minimum of delay.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

This Contract shall be governed by English law and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. By accepting a quotation or making a payment of invoice to use the services supplied, the client acknowledges to have read, understand, and accept the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement, and agrees to be legally bound by these Terms and Conditions. M35 Web Design reserves the right to amend these Terms & Conditions without any prior notice.

M35 Web Design’s domain name storage, email & hosting service is provided through Fasthosts. All users of this service are bound by Fasthosts’ terms and conditions, which can be seen here.