What is a Website Development Agreement Template?
A website development agreement is essentially a contract that lays out the terms of the agreement between a developer(s) and a business for building one or more websites or web apps. It optimizes the scope of services that the developer plans to offer to the business.
It lists the project timetable, deliverables, payment conditions, Intellectual property rights (IPR), assignment terms, termination terms, etc. In other words, the use of a web development agreement enables the client to maintain ownership and copyright of the website and stay away from any legal actions involving intellectual property disputes.
Why should you use a Website Development Agreement template?
As you already know, a website is ‘the face’ or the most crucial touchpoint for any business. It is essential in building credibility and disseminating information to visitors and potential leads. While handling something of this importance, you must have a legally binding contract that safeguards you from disputes as well as sets the expectation clear for both the client and the developer right from the beginning.
However, clearly defining the business relationship between the two parties that details the project scope, pricing, deliverables, timelines, and other pre-agreed items relevant to the project is not easy. If you miss out on any information or structure the terms in any different way, it could lead to further confusion and misunderstandings between the company and web developer or the web development agency. By having clearly defined development agreement terms and conditions in a templatized format, the job not only becomes easy and effective but legally sound too. Let’s look at some of the advantages of a pre-defined template below:
1. Getting the legal upper hand
A web development contract can also be used to prevent liability disputes between the website developer, the website owner or client, and the third party. If the client and the website developer enter into a contract for the development of the website, the developer will be prohibited from taking advantage of the client when it comes time to pay for the services provided.
2. Avoid disputes regarding intellectual property rights
By using a website agreement, the client/customer company can retain ownership and copyright of the website and save the time-consuming process of legal actions involving intellectual property rights.
3. Protects the interests of the parties involved
The terms and conditions mentioned in the agreement shall protect the interests of all the parties involved in the development services.
4. Avoid unnecessary confusion and chaos
If you have a clearly written agreement for your website development you can set forth the right expectations for all the parties. It also eliminates any chance of miscommunication, ambiguity, and disagreements between the client/company and the web developer.
5. Web agreement shall protect business’s confidential information
An all-encompassing agreement safeguards a company's sensitive data by prohibiting the developers from sharing confidential information with outside parties.
6. Saves time and money for client/company
Clients may save time and money by hiring specialists to develop their websites. Additionally, by having a clearly drafted agreement, a developer could have a better understanding of the deliverables and work scope. It not only improves the quality of the development services but also makes the developer’s job easier, ensuring quick completion.
What are the must-haves of a standard Web Development Agreement?
A thought-out and clearly written web development agreement shall provide a better understanding of the deliverables and scope of work for the developer and the obligation the client agrees upon. For those who want to make the perfect agreement, our template provides the important prerequisites that your entire agreement should have.
Introduction/Overview
This section gives a brief summary of the web development project undertaken between the client and the developer. To ensure that the parties involved are in complete agreement with the project, it states the obligations under this agreement precisely and in detail. This in turn helps to clarify the requirements for the entire project. It also answers queries like:
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Will the developer be required to adhere to a particular schedule and finish date?
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In the event of unanticipated circumstances, will there be room for flexibility?
Terms and Conditions
This is the crucial section of an agreement wherein details like the developer’s obligation, client’s obligation, the hourly rate of the developer, termination policy, web hosting service information, expense, and other conditions are clearly written in.
1. Developer’s obligation
This section of the template defines a web developer’s responsibilities and other obligations as agreed upon with the client. It also provides the effective date and other timelines of the project.
2. Client’s obligation
In this section, you should describe a client’s roles and responsibilities in all possible detail. The details contained herein include the services required from the client for a seamless web development lifecycle such as the content for the website like text, images, design, video, and other materials, and any other necessary information.
3. Web hosting
This section includes all the details regarding web hosting services that the developer shall provide to the client. You can mention the server, its performance, and other web hosting and maintenance details.
4. Web design
In the web design section, state the essential requirements and processes associated with the website design. The web design must adhere to the demands of the client.
5. Fees
Herein include the price for website creation, web hosting, and other maintenance work-related payment details charged by the developer to the client or company. It will also include a payment schedule and details on how the client agrees to pay (mode of payment).
6. Invoice
In this section of the template, you can state how the developer shall invoice the client or company. You can also provide the timeline to expect the payment for the generated invoice.
7. Expenses
This is the part where you can give the whole expense details regarding the web development project. You can even include the cost details of the additional resource and materials needed in the project.
8. Term
It specifies that the contract will remain in effect for as long as it takes the parties to complete the services they have agreed to, or until they mutually decide to end it.
9. Termination
Sometimes an agreement can end before the services have been completed. Termination of an agreement can happen because of many reasons such as timelines not being met by the developer, poor quality of the website, the client or company not providing assured support during the project, and more. Either party to the agreement can terminate the agreement upon written notice.
10. Copyright policy
This segment clearly calls out the intellectual property rights (IPR) ownership of the information handled by the developer. This is a crucial segment since this policy clause describes your control over various entities like business name, logo, content, and other information.
11. Confidentiality
This section of the template states the developer’s surety to keep the client's business, proprietary information, trade secrets, and other confidential information private and not to divulge any details pertaining to the client's property to any outside parties. The developer also acknowledges that the client information will only be utilized for business needs.
12. Indemnification
Indemnification usually refers to the vendor's promise to represent you in court in the event that you are later sued for using the technology, including any intellectual property (IP), or services, that the website development vendor delivered.
In some cases, a well-written indemnity clause might defend you in court if a website development contract violation leads to claims from third parties against you and/or your vendor.
13. Arbitration
Arbitration is an out-of-court proceeding in which a neutral third party called an arbitrator hears evidence and then makes a binding decision. This clause is used to settle any disagreement between the parties arising out of or related to the agreement.
14. Miscellaneous
It contains all other terms and conditions related to the agreement and ensures it is compliant with all the governing laws where the agreement is drawn.
Acceptance and signatures
This is the final section of the statement of work. If the service provider and customer agree with the statement of work, they will accept and sign off the statement.
Create single or bulk web development agreements with Revv’s easy-to-use template
Creating web development agreements for your business can be challenging and time-consuming. You might have to create different agreements for each developer or independent contractor. The agreement shall differ depending on the type of website project, timelines, industry, and payment plan opted, among other things. Whatever the requirements are, Revv’s ready-to-use template helps both the company and the developer to easily manage their agreement contracts for the website.
Let’s explore more of Revv’s advanced features that enhance your web development agreements.
Customize the agreement template based on your business need
Revv’s web development agreement template is legally binding and professionally vetted. You will be able to create single and bulk agreements in a jiffy. You can further enhance your agreement with the help of the feature-rich document editor. It allows you to add/edit texts, images, and tables, and integrate your Google Sheets and payment systems.
Unlimited integration possibilities
Websites are not simple as they used to be. Today, developing dynamic websites mean that there are multiple aspects to factor in while you are creating an agreement with the developer. For instance, imagine your website has a specific information architecture when it comes to how a person navigates a product page. While creating the agreement, you need to ensure that no points are left out with respect to terminology or prototypes. You might need specific information and approvals from the product team, marketing team, procurement team, etc to create an all-inclusive agreement. These departments might store information in disparate systems. As a result, you might have to frequently switch between systems while writing an agreement, leading to confusion and complications. With Revv's seamless integration capabilities, you can now easily connect all these different business systems and allow data to flow precisely and continuously.
Seamless collaboration
As mentioned above, the agreement document sometimes needs the active participation of other department team members. For instance, inputs from client’s various internal departments like marketing, sales, procurement, etc are essential to finalize the scope of work for the developer. For the developer to initiate the information architecture of the website, the business model and strategy require finalization from the management. All this means that the agreement can change every now and then causing conflicts and delays. Using Revv’s Notes feature, collaborate with your internal team or external developer agency in real-time. You can tag them with @mentions, add public or private comments, asking them to review or attach documents or images to your existing web development agreement template.
Safe and secure eSignatures
An agreement only becomes legally binding when they are approved and eSigned by all the parties involved in the website development process. To make this process easier, you can take the help of Revv’s eSignature feature. After the final agreement is drawn, you can simply add eSignature tags to the document and add the needed signer to it. Any number of signers can be added to the same agreement document. Revv eSignatures are safe and compliant that follow all local and global laws such as ESIGN Act, UETA, and eIDAS, among others.
Real-time activity tracking
You can track any action taken on your agreement documents from Revv’s real-time Activity tracking feature. It gives insights like who has opened the document, what changes have been made by the person who has access to your agreement, etc.
Legally binding audit trails
Revv provides a legally binding audit trail for all the signed web development agreements.
Utilizing the Revv platform entitles you to these advantages as well as many more. Stop pondering and use Revv right away to get up to speed.
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