Terms of service

My services are provided to businesses, sole traders and organisations, not to consumers. You confirm you are entering this contract in the course of business.

A demo homepage is exactly that: a free, no-obligation preview built so you can judge my work. Until you buy, the demo remains my property, is clearly marked as a preview, is not a live business website, and can be taken down by me at any time. Buying a package converts the demo into your real site. If you do not buy, neither of us owes the other anything.

Each package includes exactly what its description on the services page (or your written quote) lists, nothing more and nothing less. Anything not listed is out of scope and can be added as a priced add-on or a new quote. Quotes are valid for 30 days.

Work beyond the agreed scope (extra pages, new features, extra revision rounds, third-party integrations) is only carried out once we have agreed a price for it in writing (email is fine).

You agree to: (a) supply accurate business information (name, contact details, services, prices, opening hours) and check it before go-live; (b) only supply content you have the right to use, including your logo, photos, text and reviews; (c) respond to reasonable requests within 10 working days so the project can move; and (d) tell me promptly if something is wrong.

You are responsible for the accuracy and legality of the claims your site makes about your business (qualifications, certifications, memberships, ratings). I will never invent these, and I rely on what you confirm. You will indemnify me against claims arising from content or instructions you provide.

If you go quiet for more than 30 days mid-project, I may pause or close the project. Money already paid for work already done is not refundable in that case, and restarting may be quoted as new work.

Each build includes two rounds of revisions before go-live. A round is one consolidated list of changes. Further rounds are charged as an add-on. Cosmetic preferences after acceptance are new work; genuine defects are always fixed free (see clause 8).

The site is treated as accepted when you tell me you are happy or when you have used it for 7 days after go-live without reporting a problem, whichever comes first.

The one-off build price is payable on acceptance, before or at go-live. Larger projects (over £500) may be split 50% to start and 50% at go-live. The care plan is billed monthly in advance.

Prices are the full amounts stated; if VAT becomes chargeable it will be added at the prevailing rate and shown on the invoice. Late invoices may attract interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. If an invoice is more than 14 days overdue I may suspend the site or services after giving you 7 days written notice.

The monthly care plan covers hosting, SSL, security updates, backups and small content changes (up to 1 hour of changes per month; unused time does not roll over). It runs month to month. You can cancel any time and cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing month. No long contracts, no exit fees.

Because the care plan includes hosting, cancelling it means the site stops being hosted by me. On cancellation I will provide your site files and content within 14 days on request, and I will cooperate with transferring your domain. Keeping the site online somewhere else after that is your responsibility.

If something I built does not work as described (a broken link, a form that does not send, a layout fault), report it and I will fix it free of charge, whether or not you are on the care plan, for 90 days after go-live, and for as long as you remain on the care plan after that.

This does not cover faults caused by changes made by you or third parties, third-party outages, or anything outside the site I built.

I build sites properly: fast, mobile-first, with genuine local SEO foundations and structured data. But no honest developer can guarantee search rankings, traffic volumes, lead counts, revenue, or how third-party platforms (Google, AI assistants, social networks) will treat your site. Marketing statements like "websites that get the phone ringing" describe the goal of the design, not a promised outcome, and nothing in our contract is a guarantee of business results.

Once the build price is paid in full: you own your domain name, your content, and the finished website's design and text as it appears on your site. I keep ownership of underlying tools, code libraries and techniques I reuse across projects, and you have a permanent licence to use them as part of your site.

Imagery generated for your site is yours to use for your business. Third-party services (fonts, maps, hosting) remain subject to their own licences. Until full payment, everything I have built remains mine.

I may show the finished work in my portfolio and marketing unless you ask me not to in writing.

Each of us complies with UK GDPR. For enquiries your site receives, you are the controller of your customers' data and I act only as a processor to the extent I host or maintain the site: I process it only to provide the service, keep it secure, use no sub-processors beyond the hosting and database providers disclosed to you, and delete or return it on request or on termination. My own use of your contact details is described in the privacy policy.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.

Subject to that: my total liability for all claims arising out of or connected with a project is capped at the total fees you paid me in the 12 months before the claim arose; and neither of us is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business, or loss of data (beyond restoring the most recent backup where I provide hosting).

Websites depend on third parties (hosting platforms, domain registrars, email providers, map and font services). I choose reputable providers and keep backups, but I am not liable for their downtime or changes. A failure caused by events outside reasonable control (force majeure) is not a breach of contract.

I do not build sites for unlawful activity or content, and I may decline or stop any project that would involve misleading claims, infringing material, or content I reasonably consider harmful. If I stop a project under this clause, you pay for work done to date and no more.

You can end a build mid-project by written notice; you pay for work done up to that point (measured against the package price) and any non-refundable third-party costs already incurred. I can end the contract if you materially breach it and do not fix the breach within 14 days of written notice, or in the situations in clauses 4, 6 and 13.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. Neither of us can transfer the contract without the other's consent, except that I may use trusted subcontractors while remaining responsible for the work. If any clause is found unenforceable, the rest still stand. Changes to these terms only bind you from your next purchase; the version in force when you buy is the one that applies to that project.

Questions about these terms: jamal@hitpapers.uk, Codex Services, Preston, Lancashire, UK.