By placing an order with LS25 Web Design, you confirm that you are in agreement with and bound by the terms and conditions below:

1. AUTHORISATION

The named client (hereafter referred to as the “Client”) is engaging Matthew Gibbons trading as LS25 Web Design/LS25 Web Solutions, a sole proprietor, and independent contractor (hereafter referred to as the “Developer”) for the specific purpose of designing a website. The Developer will select the appropriate website platform for your requirements.

2. CHANGES TO TERMS

The Developer reserves the right to alter these terms at anytime, without prior notice or warning. All changes or modifications will come into effect immediately upon posting to them to the Developers website. In the unlikely event that the Developer is unable to fulfil part of a previous agreement – a refund or an alternative will be offered.

3. WORKFLOW / DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The total time to complete a project varies depending on the size and complexity of a website, and the speed at which the Client communicates and provides their content to the Developer; therefore no guarantees can be made.

- Consultation – the Client must provide their requirements and or specification to the Developer.

- Content – the Client must provide all content necessary for completion and is responsible for ensuring that all content (including logos and images) are legal.

- Initial Payment – an initial payment of 40% of your design fee is due before work commences, refer to “payment” section.

- Web domain registration – the Developer registers a web domain name, for the Client to use.

- Website Built - the Develops builds the website based on the Client’s approval of the design draft.

- Pre publication approval - the Developer will provide screenshots of the Client’s completed website for final approval prior to publishing the site to the web.

- Full Payment - the remaining 60% balance must be paid by the Client prior to the site being published by the Developer.

- Completion – the point in time where all services contemplated in this agreement have been fulfilled. The Developer will provide unlimited edits to the existing site for the first 30 days after it is published. If additional pages are required during this time, there will be an additional charge payable and the Developer will provide the client with a quote for the additional work required.

4. CONSULTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Client must provide their business details, their requirements and or specification to the Developer. The Developer will only meet with or visit the Client, or designated representatives, at their own discretion. Face to face meetings are not essential for development, however they are recommended. No quote or consultation fees will apply unless stated in advance by the Developer. All advice given to the Client by the Developer is given in goodwill; the Client understands that the Developer cannot provide legal advice and that the Client is solely responsible for the resulting consequences of any decision made based on the recommendations or advice given by the Developer.

5. PAYMENT

A. PAYMENT METHODS ACCEPTED

The Developer accepts Debit/Credit Card, GoCardless (https://gocardless.com/) or bank transfer as valid payment methods. The Client is responsible for ensuring that the Developer receives full, valid payment in a timely manner. Work will not commence until valid payment is received successfully. 

If monthly payment terms for hosting fees are agreed with the Developer the Client must pay via GoCardless Direct Debit.

All recurring fees (e.g. for hosting or website maintenance plans) must be paid via monthly or annual GoCardless Direct Debit.

B. INITIAL PAYMENT

The Developer requires an initial payment of 40% of your design fee to commence work. Alternatively, the Client can pay 100% up-front if they are able to do so.

C. COMPLETION

The Developer will inform the Client upon completion of the project. Full payment of the remaining 60% balance, plus the first year's hosting fees and any additional expenses incurred, must be paid prior to the website being published.

D. ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT TERMS

From time to time we may agree alternative payment terms in order to make your website more affordable. If alternative payment terms are agreed, the client must ensure that all payments are made promptly.

E. FAILURE TO PROVIDE VALID PAYMENT PROMPTLY

If any payment is not received from the Client when it is due, no further work will be completed until the necessary valid payment is received in full and the Developer reserves the right to add a 5% late payment fee to the outstanding monies owed. If payment is not received from the client for hosting or design services (if an instalment plan has been agreed) once the Client's website is live the Developer reserves the right to suspend their services and unpublish the Client's website.

6. FEATURES – DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Unless otherwise stated – this agreement contemplates the creation of a website. Specific details of the agreement, and the features which are included, are outlined either on the Client’s contract or on a receipt/invoice.

A. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

This agreement contemplates the use of on-page SEO techniques to optimise the Clients website. This includes, but is not limited to: creating unique, accurate page titles; use of the “description” Meta tag; use of the “copyright” Meta tag; use of the “keywords” Meta tag; alternate image text; efficient URL structure; and other practices deemed necessary or appropriate by the Developer. No guarantees can be made regarding the effectiveness of this service.

B. CROSS BROWSER COMPATABILITY

Compatibility is defined as all critical elements of a page being viewable in multiple web browsers. Our agreement contemplates the creation of a website viewable by the most common web browsers. The website will be tested for compatibility using Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome, unless otherwise stated.

The Client is aware that some advanced features online may require visitors to use a more recent browser version or plug-in. Different browsers and versions to those specified are highly likely to also be compatible; however, the Client understands that the Developer does not test on other browsers extensively.

C. CONTACT/ENQUIRY FORMS

This agreement contemplates the creation of 1 contact/enquiry form for the Clients website, unless otherwise specified. Contact/enquiry forms will allow visitors to enter information which will be sent to the Client via email.

D. LOGOS AND IMAGES

All content, including photography and logos, must be provided by the Client to the Developer.

E. GOOGLE MAPS AND YOUTUBE EMBEDDING

Google Maps, YouTube videos, and other media or plug-ins may be embedded onto the Clients website. The Developer reserves the right to determine what is inappropriate and has the right to refuse to embed such content.

F. FACEBOOK AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

The inclusion of social networking plug-ins, such as the Facebook “like” button or the Twitter “tweet” button, can be included on each page of the website. Other plug-ins may be included at the Developers discretion.

G. SITE MANAGEMENT AND UPDATE SERVICES

After this agreement has been completed, the Developer is not required to update the Clients website without receiving additional payment. 

Only the Developer may access the web host provider or the domain name account if they were provided free of charge for the Client. The Client is required to pay the Developer to update content or to modify the website.

7. CONTENT

A. TEXTUAL

All textual content (such as articles, products information, or other information) must be supplied by the Client.Textual content must be provided in Microsoft Office formats (such as ".doc", ".docx", ".xls" etc) or a PDF format.

The Client may only provide printed or hand-written content at the Developers discretion. The Developer reserves the right to refuse poor-quality, printed or hand-written content.

The Developer is not responsible for writing any text copy unless we specified it in the original estimate. We'll be happy to help though, and in addition to the estimate we will charge you at £20 per hour, including a free initial consultation, for copy writing or content input.

B. GRAPHICAL

It is anticipated that the Developer will receive, from the Client, all the graphic elements necessary to complete the Client's website. This includes, but is not limited to: the company logo, ancillary images, photography and video.

The Developer is responsible for creating the websites design and layout – they are not responsible for creating content. This agreement does not contemplate the Developer purchasing any photography or graphics during development at the Client’s request. The Developer may purchase additional content, photography or graphics on the Clients behalf; however these costs will be counted as additional expenses which the Client must pay for.

Submission of content of can be made: via our Customer Content Submission area on our website; email; on CD; on DVD; on a memory stick; via the Dropbox file sharing service; or by an agreed alternative method.

All content must be provided to the Developer within 60 days of signing this agreement. If content has not been provided in full by this time, the Developer reserves the right to cancel the agreement and no refunds will be paid.

8. FEATURES – 

ONLINE SERVICES

​We provide an all inclusive package of online services which includes domain name registration (and renewal), Web Hosting, CMS (if requested during the initial consultation process) and email addresses at the price agreed with the Developer. Our online services can be paid annually unless alternative payment terms have been agreed with the Developer.

In order to take advantage of all inclusive hosting, the Customer’s web domain if they already have one must be transferred to the Developer’s third party web host (this is free of charge for a .co.uk, .org.uk or a .me.uk domain but a charge of £10 will apply to other domains).

If the Client does not renew the Online Services the hosting will expire and your site will no longer be live. LS25 Web Design excludes liability for any loss of profit caused to the customer by the expiration of the hosting as a result of the Client's failure to renew the Services.

The Client can cancel their agreement at any time but they understand that this will result in all our hosting services being withdrawn and the Client’s website will no longer be live and they will no longer be able to access their email accounts.

A. DOMAIN NAME

The Developer will secure 1 domain name requested by the Client under the following terms.

Only publicly available domains with a .CO.UK or .ORG.UK or .ME.UK domain extension are offered free of charge.

The client understands that once a domain has been purchased – it cannot be renamed, modified, or refunded. It is not compulsory for the Client to use this feature – they may decline this offer, invalidating their entitlement to it.

Should the Client desire a domain name with a different extension, .COM or .NET or .ORG or .BIZ or .INFO for example, this would be counted as an additional expense, and the hosting fees would be increased accordingly.

When registering a domain name, the Developer will serve as the registrant and control the domain name. The Client will be registered as the owner and will have full ownership interest in any such domain name.

Yearly renewals of said domain are included in our all inclusive hosting fees. The Developer will re-register the domain name on behalf of the Client, subject to their hosting fees being fully paid – alternatively the domain will expire and will become available to the public.

The Developer is not obliged to provide any additional services after the agreement is fulfilled.

B. WEB HOSTING

The web hosting provider is a third party so no guarantees can be made as to the availability or interruption of this service by the Developer. The Developer cannot accept liability for losses caused by the unavailability, malfunction, interruption or termination of this service, or for loss of turnover, sales, revenue, profits or indirect, consequential or special loss. 

Only the Developer is authorised to access the web domain account. Modifications and updates to the website, after the initial developments completion, must be paid for by the Client. The Developer is not obliged to provide any additional services after the agreement is fulfilled.

The Developer has the right to withdraw the web hosting should the Client default on their payments.

C. CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)

The Developer will provide the Client with access to our CMS portal (if requested during the initial consultation) that they can use to update the content on their site. The CMS cannot be used to add extra pages to the site and can only be used to modify the existing content. If you wish to expand your site and add additional pages, the Developer will need to do this and additional charges may apply.

The Developer reserves the right to refuse to handle in any way, material which may be deemed offensive, illegal or in any way controversial, and also to terminate the free hosting service should the necessity arise.

D. DOMAIN NAME TRANSFERS

If the Client already has a domain name, the Developer will only coordinate redirecting the address to the new host at their discretion. The cost of domain name transfers is an additional expense and must be paid for in full by the Client in advance. The Developer reserves the right not to offer, or to charge for this service, at their discretion. The Client has the right to secure domain names independently – this requires no support from the Developer.

E. EMAIL ACCOUNTS

The Developer will create an email accounts for the Client using their chosen domain name. Email accounts require a domain name and web hosting. The Developer will provide the necessary account details and basic instructions to assist the Client to setup email accounts on their computer. The Developer agrees never to access, or attempt to access, the Client’s email accounts without specific permission in advance from the Client.

F. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Should the Developer agree to take on social media management work for the client, this will be carried out on a best endeavours basis and the Developer provides no guarantee of the success of this in terms of the number of followers gained, the level of exposure the marketing will bring or the amount of revenue that this will generate for the client.

The client will need to work with the Developer and provide any information requested in order for the Developer to carry out this role effectively. The client will also be required to work closely with the Developer on an ongoing basis throughout the period that Social Media Management services are being provided to the client.

9. LIMITED LIABILITY

The Client agrees that any material submitted for publication (whether on the Client's website or for social media publication) will not contain anything leading to an abusive or unethical use of the web hosting service, or the Developers services. Abusive and unethical materials include, but are not limited to: pornography, obscenity, nudity, violations of privacy, computer viruses, harassment, any illegal activity, spamming, advocacy of an illegal activity, and any infringement of privacy. 

The Developer reserves the right to determine what is and what is not inappropriate. The Client hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Developer from any claim resulting from the Client's publication of material or use of those materials.

10. INDEMNIFICATION

The Client agrees that it shall defend, indemnify, save and hold the Developer harmless from any and all demands, liabilities, losses, costs and claims, including legal fees associated with the Developer's development of the Client's website or from management of said website or social media channels. This includes liabilities asserted against the Developer, its subcontractors, its agents, its Clients, servants, officers and employees, that may arise or result from any product sold or service provided by the Client, its agents, employee or assigns.

The Client also agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Developer against liabilities arising out of any injury to person or property caused by any products or services sold or otherwise distributed over the Client's website. This includes infringing on the proprietary rights of a third party, copyright infringement, and delivering any defective product or misinformation which is detrimental to another person, organisation, or business.

11. LAWS AFFECTING ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

The Client agrees that they are responsible for complying with the laws, taxes, and tariffs related to ecommerce, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend the Developer and its subcontractors from any claim, suit, penalty, tax, or tariff arising from the Client's use of electronic commerce.

12. WEBSITE COMPLIANCE

It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that their business complies with all relevant laws and this includes website compliance. It's the customer's responsibility to be GDPR compliant and provide the relevant legal policies for their website. The Developer will not accept liability for non-compliance of any applicable laws.

Existing customers prior to 21st October 2023: If the Developer has previously provided a privacy policy, it is the customer's responsibility to ensure that this is fully compliant and that it is relevant to your business practices.

13. COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP

The Client represents to the Developer and unconditionally guarantees that any content, text, information, or graphics furnished to the Developer for inclusion in the Client's website are owned by the Client, or that the Client has permission from the rightful owner to use those elements, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend the Developer and its subcontractors from any claim or suit arising from the use of such elements furnished by the Client. The Client is responsible for ensuring that content which they provide can be used legally.

The Developer retains the right of ownership to custom designed graphics created by the Developer, source code, files, text, and any other program specifically designed or purchased on behalf of the client for the completion of this project. Use of graphics or source code produced by the Developer for any purpose other than the purpose of the website being designed, is not permitted.

All work and assets remain property of the Developer until full payment is received, including payment for additional expenses and fees if applicable.

All content provided by the Client, including textual and graphical content, will always remain property of the Client, unless otherwise stated, however the Developer receives ownership rights to store, backup, and archive such files. The Developer reserves the right to permanently store a copy of the completed website as a record of achievement. This copy may be shown to other Clients to demonstrate the Developers work.

Full-size screenshots of the website and its content may be shown on the Developers website.

All unused designs, layouts, graphics, coding, other files, and ideas remain the property of the Developer at all times.

Additional ownership and usage terms of features, such as domain names, are stated in the “Features” sections.

14. DESIGN CREDIT

The Client agrees that the Developer may place a byline (accreditation) on the bottom of every webpage – establishing design and development credit. The Client agrees not to remove, hide, or discredit said byline. The Client also agrees that the website created for the 

Client may be included in the Developer's portfolio.

The Client can request that this byline be removed from their website for an additional charge. 

15. NONDISCLOSURE

The Developer, its employees and subcontractors agree that, except as directed by the Client, it will not at any time during or after the term of this agreement disclose any confidential information to any third party. Likewise, the Client agrees that it will not convey any confidential information obtained regarding the Developer to another party.

16. COMPLETION

The Developer and the Client must work together to complete the website in a timely manner. An anticipated project completion date can be outlined in discussion, however the Developer will not be held responsible for miscalculations of this timeline.

17. TERMINATION AND REFUND POLICY

In the event that the work is postponed or cancelled at the request of the Client, is cancelled due to other factors caused by the Client which are unacceptable and makes fulfilment of the agreement basically impossible, or cancelled because the Developer was misled and or has not been provided with the necessary details or content in a timely manner – the Developer shall have the right to retain the initial payment.

Unforeseen or sudden termination or postponement of a project, declared by the Developer, must have sufficient reasoning – examples of such include, but are not limited to: illness or accident which makes it impossible for the Developer to work; illness or accident which could significantly affect the Developers quality of work; bankruptcy; legal action either related to the Client, or action which may affect the project.

In this situation, the Client must be informed of the termination or postponement, and the reasoning for it, by either the Developer or their designated representatives. In this situation, the Client accepts that they are not entitled to compensation from the Developer but they will receive a full refund of monies paid.

If and when the Developer is able to continue the project – the Client will be informed of the options available to them.

Services may be offered as an alternative to a cash refund; for example: additional web pages or web hosting.

No refunds are given on services stated as “free”, “free of charge”, “complimentary” or of a similar description. Note that the Client will only receive the ownership of any assets, which they have paid for, after the conditions and quantity of any refund are agreed by both parties.

No refunds can be given on Domain, Hosting and CMS services.

18. ENTIRE UNDERSTANDING

This agreement, and any additional terms or appendices attached, thereto constitute the sole agreement between the Developer and the Client regarding this project. Specific details of the agreement, and the features which are included, are outlined either on the Client’s Invoice.

This agreement becomes effective immediately when the Client pays the initial payment, or any financial payment, for a project to the Developer.

It is the spirit of this compulsory agreement that this will be a mutually beneficial arrangement for the Client and the Developer.

The Client hereby agrees to these terms when they engage LS25 Web Design as an independent contractor for the specific purpose of developing and/or improving a website project. 

​This contract is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of English courts.