Website development broadly refers to the tasks associated with developing websites for hosting via intranet or Internet. A web development agreement is essentially a contract between a website developer and his / her client. Like all commercial or business contracts, this contract too is governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Information Technology Act, 2000, making such agreements binding on all parties. Any breach thereof can cost the violating party dearly. Such agreements, inter-alia, outline the scope of work involved, role and responsibility of each party, payment mechanism, including a penalty for late payment and / or poor service.
A comprehensive website development agreement checklist includes – identification of parties, definition and purpose of web-site, web site developer’s responsibilities, scope of work, schedule, demonstration of web site, advertising/transaction fees, web-site hosting related clauses and finally a detailed payment schedule. Many-a-disputes arise due to faulty or vauge definations of payment schedule. Web development companies usually take 50% of the total billable amount upfront prior to commencement of work or at the time of signing the contract and the remaining at defined project completion deadlines. Additionally, one thing that is usually overlooked is how change requestes are handled. Web development agreements usually have clauses that a minimum fee of X amount will be charged, over and above the decided billable amount, for every change request posted by clients. This tends to help reduce unwaranted changes on the web development project and unnecessary time delays. Lastly, delivery timelines are important as this helps determine completion date.
With the advent of technology such contracts have come of age and are increasingly gaining popularity. Such contracts not only apply to web development projects but also application development and design projects. We at Evaluer help you create Web Development Agreements online that allows you to define each parties role and responsibility, leaving no room for ambuiguity, giving you a legal document that’s customized for your situation.