What you can expect from me, what I need from you, and what happens if something goes wrong.
These are the terms I work under. I have written them to be read rather than skimmed past, because the point of a contract is that both of us understand it before there is a problem, not after.
These terms apply between you and Joe Stone Web Development, referred to here as I or me. You are the client. They apply from the moment you engage me for work and continue for as long as I am building, hosting or supporting anything for you.
Where a signed proposal, statement of work or quote says something different from this page, that document wins for that project. Everything it does not mention falls back to these terms.
Depending on what we agree, the work may include:
The specifics of any given project are whatever we wrote down before it started. If the scope changes along the way, I will tell you what that does to the price and the timeline before I do the work, not after.
Unless we have specifically agreed otherwise, these are yours to arrange:
I quote a fixed price for the project before it starts. You will know what it costs before I write a line of code. I do not bill by the hour, so there is no meter running while you think about a decision.
Invoices are issued through the client portal. You get an email when one is ready and can pay it by card directly from the invoice page. Card payments are handled by Stripe, so I never see or store your card details. If you would rather pay by bank transfer, say so and I will send details instead.
Delivery follows payment. Where an invoice is marked in the portal as due before launch, I will not push the site live, transfer code ownership or hand over final deliverables until it is settled. The portal shows you exactly which invoice is holding a launch and what it covers, so this is never a surprise. Everything up to that point, including staging access and review, carries on as normal.
Payments slip sometimes and I would rather talk about it than escalate. If an invoice passes thirty days overdue I may pause hosting until we have sorted it out, and I will contact you before I do anything of the sort.
If you need more time, that is fine, just tell me. Where a project sits waiting on you for more than thirty days I may need to reschedule it around other work, and I will discuss that with you rather than quietly deprioritise it.
Everything you give me stays yours: text, images, logos, data, all of it. You are responsible for having the right to use what you hand over.
Once the project is paid in full, the custom code written for your site is yours. You can take it elsewhere. You would lose the hosting that comes with staying, but the work itself goes with you and I will help you move it.
The infrastructure, tooling and reusable components I use across projects remain mine. You get a site that works, not a claim over the workshop it was built in.
I hold full-time employment alongside this work. My employment agreement means I cannot take on past or present clients of my employer. If that turns out to apply to you I will tell you immediately and stand down, before any work or money changes hands.
Sites I build are hosted on hardware I own and operate rather than rented space in someone else's data centre. In practice that means:
If you decide to move to another provider, I will export everything and help with the handover at no charge. I would rather you leave cleanly than feel stuck.
Should I ever be unable to keep providing hosting, you get at least ninety days notice and my help migrating somewhere else.
Your projects, invoices, files and our conversations live in the client portal at joestone.co/portal. Sign-in is by emailed link rather than a password. Anyone who can read your email can get into your portal account, so keep that mailbox secure and tell me straight away if you think it has been compromised.
Where you are on a support plan with a stated response time, that target covers my first response to a ticket, measured during business hours. It is not a promise to have the underlying problem fixed inside that window, because how long a fix takes depends on what the problem turns out to be.
My total liability for any claim arising from this work is limited to what you have paid me for the project it relates to. I am not liable for lost profit, lost business or other indirect losses.
That is a real limit and I would rather be straight about it than bury it. It is what makes it possible to do serious work at prices a small business can actually pay. If your project needs cover beyond that, tell me early and we will talk about what is appropriate.
Once it ends: your content and, if paid in full, your code go with you. I will help you migrate. Outstanding invoices are due within thirty days. I keep backups for ninety days afterwards in case you need something you forgot to take.
Email me first at [email protected]. Nearly everything that goes wrong between a client and a developer is a misunderstanding about expectations, and those get solved by talking rather than by lawyers.
If that genuinely fails, these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, and any formal dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts of Illinois.
I may update this page. Changes do not apply retroactively to work already underway unless the law requires it, and I will tell you directly about anything significant rather than quietly editing the page.
These terms plus any proposal or statement of work we have both agreed to are the entire agreement between us. Changes need to be in writing, and email counts.
If a court finds part of this unenforceable, the rest still stands.
If any of this is unclear, ask me before you agree to it. I would much rather explain something twice now than argue about it later.
Joe Stone Web Development
[email protected]
Usually a reply within one working day.