Terms and Conditions
Welcome to Dezigner Lane. These Terms and Conditions outline the rules and regulations for the use of our services.
- Introduction
By using our services, you agree to these Terms and Conditions.
- Services
We offer web design and development services to clients who have a contract with us. We also refer clients to other developers who are not affiliated with our company. If you choose to work with one of these developers, please note that we are not responsible for the work they do, as we do not have a contract with them. We are not liable for any damages or losses that may occur as a result of their work.
- Client Responsibilities
Clients are responsible for providing us with accurate and up-to-date information, including but not limited to: website content, images, and other media. Clients are also responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions or licenses for the use of copyrighted or trademarked materials. We are not responsible for any copyright or trademark infringement that may occur as a result of the use of such materials.
- Fees and Payment
Our fees for web design and development services are outlined in the contract between us and the client. Payment is due upon completion of each phase of the project, as outlined in the contract. If payment is not received on time, we reserve the right to suspend work on the project until payment is received.
- Confidentiality
We will not disclose any confidential information about the client or their project without their permission. We will take all reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of the client’s information.
- Termination
Either party may terminate the contract at any time, with or without cause, by giving written notice to the other party. If the contract is terminated by the client, they will be responsible for paying for the services rendered up to the date of termination.
- Limitation of Liability
We are not liable for any damages or losses that may occur as a result of our services or the services of developers we have referred to clients. We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages.
- Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with South African law.
- Changes to Terms and Conditions
We reserve the right to modify these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting on our website.
- Contact Information
If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us at accounts@dezignerlane.com
By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms and Conditions.
We appreciate all enquiries submitted through our contact form, but we reserve the right to choose whether or not to respond to any particular submission. We are not obligated to provide a response or to take any specific action as a result of receiving a submission through our contact form.
Web Contract
In cases where we manage projects, our typical contract – which is open to discussion on a case-by-case basis, and which both we and the client would sign or verbally agree or confirm the work via WhatsApp or email may look as follows:
SUMMARY
About this Contract
We always do our best to fulfil the client’s needs and meet their expectations, but it’s important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what and when, and what will happen if something goes wrong.
In this contract there aren’t any complicated legal terms or long passages of unreadable text. We have no desire to trick anyone into signing something that they might later regret.
As an agreement, this contract must also be in your best interests, not just ours. If there’s anything in here that is not to your satisfaction, then please feel free to discuss it, and we will consider amending it.
In short
The client is hiring Dezigner Lane to design, develop and / or work on a website for the estimated total price as outlined in the brief and spec.
The contract – in its current form at the time – applies to each and all jobs going forward, so there’s no need to sign it each time. We may re-issue it if the wording or terms change significantly.
Signing this contract confirms that it has been read. The contract takes effect on commencement of the job, and applies regardless of whether or not it has been read or signed.
What do both parties agree to do?
The Client
The client has the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of themselves, their company or their organisation. On receiving your 50% deposit or payment for a social media or maintenance contract, all terms and conditions will be considered accepted by the client.
They should provide the assets (pictures, videos, audio etc.) and information (text, sitemaps etc.) that we need to complete the project. They should do this when we ask and provide it via file sharing (email, WeTransfer, DropBox etc. – in the formats we need. They should review our work, provide approval and be available during the process to provide prompt feedback and supply necessary assets. Deadlines work two ways, so the client will also be bound by dates we set together. Deadlines can only be agreed to if all assets are supplied at the start of the job.
The Provider
We have the experience and ability to do everything we have agreed to, and aim to do it all in a professional and timely manner. We will endeavour to meet every deadline that’s set and on top of that we will maintain the confidentiality of everything given to me, including as per any NDAs agreed-to.
THE FINE PRINT
Legal
The client can’t transfer this contract to anyone else without my permission. This contract stays in place and need not be renewed. If for some reason one part of this contract becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of it remain in place.
Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and this contract is a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of a court of law.
Liability
Even though our websites are built with the highest integrity we can’t guarantee that my work will be error-free and so we can’t be liable to the client or any third-party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental, consequential or special damages, even if the client has advised us of them.
If any provision of this contract shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this contract and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Copyrights
First, the client guarantees that all elements of text, images or other artwork they provide are either owned by themselves, or that they have permission to use them.
Then, when the client’s final payment has cleared, copyright will be automatically assigned as follows: the client will own the visual elements that we create for this project. We will give the client source files and finished files and they should keep them somewhere safe as we are not required to keep a copy. (Although we do keep copies in the cloud) The client owns all elements of text, images and data they provide, unless someone else owns them.
Payment and Schedules
We require a 50% deposit upfront for all website builds and design work. This must be paid before the date the project is agreed to commence. This deposit in non-refundable. With all work, the balance of payment is due prior to us either providing your artwork for design work or prior to any website being transferred or going live. This is non-negotiable. Social media retainers/management fees are paid up front for the month and maintenance contracts are paid upfront for the year.
Because we need to carefully schedule jobs, the commence date (and hence also payment of the deposit) must be adhered to. If it is not, then the project will be cancelled and rescheduled.
The client agrees to pay the 50% remainder on the due date, regardless of whether the project is complete or not. This is to prevent situations in which a delay caused by the client – such as not providing content or feedback – causes the project to delay to the point of clashing with the schedule of another project. It’s also to prevent situations where large amounts of additional functionality were requested that were not in the original brief. Additional scope will be scheduled and billed-for separately.
If it is the case that the project is not completed by the due date, we will consider working beyond the due date within reason, and at our discretion.
In the case that a delay has been caused by us, then I will make sure this accounted-for, and we are open to negotiating extra time, and whether or not it’s billable.
We reserve the right to charge interest on all overdue debts at the rate of 1.5% per month or part of a month.
THE DETAILS
Scope
We agree to design and / or build the website within the parameters – schedules and deliverables – defined in the quote, which is based on the specification.
Communication
During the process the client should be on-hand to answer queries.
We cannot be held responsible for missed deadlines in the case of delays in communication.
In the case of a major delay, depending on the degree / duration we may choose to invoice for work up until that point. Please be aware that starting a stalled project up again takes time which will be billed for.
If, at any stage, the client is not happy with the direction the work is taking, they will pay us in full for everything we’ve produced until that point and cancel this contract.
The Design (if one is not provided by the client)
The ideal process is prototypal, involving a workflow consisting of spec ➙ wireframe ➙ mockup ➙ prototype ➙ website.
This allows clients opportunities to review concepts for the finished product.
However in the case of budget or time constraints, and especially where the look-and-feel of the client’s brand is known, we are able to bypass some of these steps, and use an iterative methodology with a set number of revisions which will be defined as deliverables in the quote document.
The Content
As a general rule we are not responsible for inputting content – text, images, audio, video, pdfs etc. – into the content management system or creating every page on the client’s website.
Generally we will produce one sample page for each unique template using either the client’s or dummy content. We also create many reusable elements based on the required design to make the process of populating the website very easy.
If agreed on a per-project basis, however, we will populate the website with the client’s content. This is a model which is preferable to content-driven brochure-type websites.
Changes and revisions
The price, if quoted, is based on the time that we estimate is needed to accomplish everything the client has told us they want to achieve. If the client wants to change their mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem but we will provide a separate estimate for that additional time.
The client may make revisions to the design and functionality of the website to a degree at our discretion. The number of revisions will be defined, possibly on an itemised basis.
As a general rule, two revisions on provided mockups or built designs is customary and normal procedure unless otherwise agreed.
Large, and/or many revisions may require re-quoting, and may impact scheduling.
At least a week – or more, depending on the size of the project – should be reserved at the end to implement the client’s comments and revisions.
After going live
Training
Training is a deliverable which will be defined in the quote.
Maintenance
We are not responsible for maintaining the website. Tweaks down the line may be separately commissioned. We do offer annual maintenance contracts.
Technical support
Two hours of training is provided. We can – if agreed in writing – offer technical support for the websites built as a separately -quoted and scheduled service. Taking on additional work beyond this initial agreement is at our discretion. We may recommend co-designers and co-developers to assist with tasks beyond this agreement.
Security
Although we install and configure security plugins on each website built, we cannot be held responsible for security breaches and hacked websites. Rest assured though that our measures are sound.
Search engine optimisation (SEO)
We do not guarantee improvements to the client’s website’s search engine ranking. That mainly comes down to the content the client puts on the website, and how they market the website.
Note that due to increased competition on the world wide web it is becoming increasingly difficult to compete for a #1 position or a position on page 1 of Google search results. Please enquire about an SEO analysis and Google Ad campaigns if you require your website to rank well.
Communication
Due to project deadlines and client meetings we are not always available via phone. Please use email to clearly formulate new requests, and we will reply after taking your requests into consideration.
THE DOTTED LINE
Note
Signing this contract confirms that it has been read. The contract takes effect on commencement of the job, and applies regardless of whether it has been signed.
As before: The contract applies to each and all jobs going forward, so there’s no need to sign it each time. We will only reissue it if the wording or terms change significantly.