Hello, and thanks for choosing to work with me. This is just a plain-English rundown of how we’ll work together on your project, so we both know what to expect. There’s no hidden small print here. By paying the deposit or invoice, or by asking me to make a start, you’re agreeing to the terms below.

Throughout this, “I”, “me” and “my” mean me Lewis Sweeney (hello@lewissweeney.co.uk), and “you” and “your” mean you, the client named in the quote or proposal.

How we’ll work together

I’ll be working with you as a freelancer rather than an employee, partner or agent. In practice that means I run my own business and manage my own hours. I’ll get the work done in whatever way makes sense, always in line with what we’ve agreed and always keeping you in the loop. Neither of us is on the hook for the other’s debts, and neither of us can sign things on the other’s behalf.

What I’ll do for you

I’ll deliver everything set out in the quote or proposal I’ve sent you. Think of that as our to-do list: it says what I’m building and roughly when. Those are the things I’m committed to. If you’d like to add or change something later, that’s absolutely fine, we’ll just pop it in writing first, since it might nudge the price or the timeline. And if a request falls outside what we agreed, I might need to say no or quote for it separately. Nothing personal, it just keeps things fair for both of us.

Timelines

Any dates I give you are my honest best guess rather than cast-iron promises. I’ll do everything I can to hit them, and if something’s going to slip I’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you wondering. Some delays are outside my control, like waiting on you or a third-party service having a wobble, and where that happens we’ll just sort out a new timeline together.

Design

Where the project includes design, I’ll use my experience to create something that fits your brief and does a job for your business. I’ll always take your ideas and requirements on board. All I’d ask is that you trust my judgement on the finer design details, as that’s usually what keeps things moving nicely.

Text content and data entry

Unless we’ve agreed otherwise in writing, adding the words to the site is your job rather than mine. That covers things like uploading products, blog posts and pages, which is really data entry more than development. You know your business best, so you’re the right person to provide the content and to check it’s spot on before it goes live. That means I can’t be held responsible for typos or errors in anything you supply. If I’m ever stuck waiting on content from you and it’s holding the whole project up, I might need to pause or, as a last resort, step away, but I’ll always talk to you before it gets to that.

Images and graphics

If you’d like me to use images or graphics licensed from someone else, please make sure the right permissions are in place your end, as I can’t be responsible for copyright issues on images you’ve asked me to use. I might resize or lightly tidy images so they look their best on the site. And if something you’ve sent over just won’t work well, I’ll let you know and, where I can, suggest a good alternative.

Revisions

For a brand new build or a full rebuild, the price includes two rounds of revisions based on the original brief. Once I send you the first draft, you’ll have 2 working days to have a good look over the front and back end and send me a single, numbered list of any changes you’d like. As long as they’re reasonable and in keeping with what we agreed, they’re covered. If a request would really change the shape of the project, or it’s more of a new feature than a tweak, I’ll treat it as extra work and give you a quote before doing anything. Any rounds beyond the two included are charged at my standard hourly rate. Once the final invoice is paid the project will be treated as complete and revisions beyond that will need to be agreed as part of a separate agreement. If no revisions are necessary or if you don’t provide me with any within 2 working days of receiving the first draft we both agree that the project is complete. 

Fixed-price projects

If we’ve agreed a fixed price, that covers the specific features and deliverables we wrote down before starting. Anything added or changed after that may be charged at my standard hourly rate or as a separate fixed quote, always agreed with you first.

A fixed price doesn’t stretch to cover delays caused by waiting on content, feedback, access or approvals from you. If we hit that, I may reschedule or pause and invoice for what I’ve done so far.

Unless we’ve said otherwise in writing, a fixed price doesn’t include ongoing support, maintenance, hosting, content management, SEO, or bug fixing after sign-off. I’m always happy to help with those, just under a separate arrangement or a retainer.

Access

To crack on with your project I’ll need access to the relevant accounts and platforms. If I ask and it doesn’t come through within a reasonable time (please aim for [3] working days), I might have to pause things, and if I really can’t make any progress, I may need to end the agreement. Either way, I’ll always give you a heads-up first.

Cutting-edge and experimental work

Some projects involve newer or experimental technology rather than the tried-and-tested stuff, and if yours is one of those, it’s worth being upfront with you. This kind of work is exciting, but it comes with more uncertainty. Features can behave unexpectedly, third-party tools don’t always play nicely together, and sometimes an approach has to be reworked along the way. So any timescales or specs for experimental work are estimates only.

I’ll always put in my best skill and care. What I can’t promise is that an experimental feature will be as rock-solid, secure or fit-for-purpose as proven technology, and any third-party tools we lean on could change or disappear outside my control. If something needs extra time to fix or work around, I’ll talk you through the options honestly, though I can’t always promise a perfect fix. By asking me to go ahead with experimental work, you’re happy to take that on with your eyes open.

If things aren’t working out

Either of us can bring the agreement to a close if the working relationship has stopped clicking. If you end it, or if I have to because I honestly can’t carry on, you’ll cover the work I’ve done up to that point plus any third-party costs I’ve committed to for your project. After that I’m no longer obliged to continue, and I’d always aim to bow out respectfully and hand things over cleanly.

I may also need to end things straight away, in writing, if you’re ever unlawful towards me or anyone I work with (such as discrimination, harassment or abuse), if your site is running unlicensed or “nulled” software, or if you’re not keeping up your own legal duties like data protection. I’d hope none of these ever come up, but it’s only fair to be clear about them.

Payment

Unless we’ve agreed otherwise, invoices are due within 2 working days of me sending them to you. A quick, on-time payment is always appreciated and keeps everything running smoothly.

If an invoice does go unpaid, I’m entitled to charge interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998: interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate on the overdue amount, a fixed sum per late invoice, and my reasonable costs of chasing it. I may also pause work until the account’s back up to date.

I hand over ownership and the final files once your final invoice is settled (see “Who owns what” below), so until then the work stays mine. I’m not able to hand over, migrate or release unpaid work.

Staying in touch

Please do keep in touch as we go, since quiet patches tend to slow everything down. If I can’t reach you for a while and it’s holding up the work, I might pause the project, and if it stretches on with no reply, I may treat the agreement as ended, but only ever after giving you written notice and a fair chance to get back to me first.

Our messages to each other are private. Please don’t pass my quotes, proposals or private notes on to anyone else without checking with me, and I’ll do exactly the same with yours.

When surprises pop up

Websites have a lot of moving parts, so now and then I’ll run into a snag that needs sorting before I can finish the agreed work, like two plugins clashing. If that happens, I’ll explain it and, where it’s outside our scope, quote for the fix. If you’re happy, it gets added in. If you’d rather handle it another way, I’ll pause my side for up to 7 days so you can get it looked at by someone else. If it’s still not resolved after that and I genuinely can’t move forward, I may need to close the agreement and invoice for the work done so far.

I can’t guarantee website uptime or any set level of performance, and once a project wraps up I’m not responsible for ongoing maintenance, security or hosting unless we’ve agreed that separately. Keeping the site looked after and updated after handover is down to you.

What I can and can’t promise

I’ll always carry out the work with proper skill and care, to the standard you’d expect from a qualified professional. That’s your right in law too, and I’d never try to sign it away.

Beyond that, I can’t promise the work will be completely error-free. Apart from anything the law says can’t be limited (like liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud), my total liability to you is capped at the fees you’ve paid me for the work in question, and I’m not liable for knock-on losses like lost profits, lost revenue, lost data or business interruption, even if we’d talked about the possibility.

Your side of the legal bits

You’ll look after your own responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, along with any other laws that apply to your site or business. If I end up handling personal data on your behalf as part of the work, we’ll put a short set of data-processing terms in place. And we both agree to keep to the laws that apply to what we’re doing, and not to land the other in trouble.

Refunds and cancellation

Payments for work I’ve already done aren’t refundable, and any deposit reflects the time and work I’ve set aside for you. If you cancel partway through you agree to pay me for the project as a whole. 

Who owns what

“Intellectual property rights” is just shorthand for all the copyright, design rights, trademarks, database rights and similar, registered or not, anywhere in the world.

Once your final invoice is paid in full, the website I’ve built for you and the visual elements I created for it are yours. Anything you provided, like your text, images, specifications and data, was already yours all along (unless it belongs to someone else).

A few parts of most sites are third-party or open-source components, like themes, plugins, libraries and stock assets. Those aren’t mine to give away, so they come to you under their own licences. And until your final invoice is paid, the work I’ve produced stays mine.

The legal wrap-up

This agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales handle any dispute arising from it.

If any part of this ever turns out to be invalid or unenforceable, that part simply drops out and everything else carries on as normal. This agreement stays in place for as long as we’re working together, and doesn’t need renewing.

Thanks again. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.