What Belongs in a Web Design Contract: Ownership, Delivery and Exit
Nobody reads the contract while the project is going well. It is signed during the enthusiastic phase and filed away. It gets read at a bad moment: delivery has slipped, the relationship has ended, or the site must move to another team. 📑
At that moment one question matters: what do you still hold? Whose name is on the domain, can you reach the code, where are the backups, who owns the content. If the answers are written down, the crisis becomes a procedure. If not, it becomes a negotiation.
This article reads the contract as a risk map rather than a legal text, across three sections: ownership, definition of delivery, and the exit procedure. This is general guidance, not legal advice — have your contract reviewed by a lawyer.
Ownership: What Do You Own at the End?
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- Domain and hosting registration
- Source code and design files
- Content and image rights
- Data: analytics, form records, customer information
A website is not one asset but five connected ones: domain, hosting, source code, content and data. 🔑 Each can be registered to a different party, and usually is.
Domain and hosting registration
The domain must be registered to the company name and a company email address. The agency can hold administrative rights but not ownership. Hosting follows the same logic. A domain in the agency’s name makes your site a rented shop — and rent is renegotiated at the worst moment.
Source code and design files
Delivery should include the files that produce the site, not just the running site: theme code, custom plugin code and design source files. Closed proprietary panels make this impossible. State the handover format explicitly. 💾
Content and image rights
Perpetual usage rights for agency-produced copy and imagery should transfer to the company. Where stock imagery is used, the licence type must be stated — some licences prohibit use beyond the website. Raw photography files belong on the delivery list too.
Data: analytics, form records, customer information
Analytics and search console accounts should be opened under the company’s own account. Form submissions and customer data must sit where the company can reach them, not solely on agency infrastructure. Data processing responsibilities should be documented. 🔐
Definition of Delivery: When Is “Done” Actually Done?
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- An acceptance checklist
- Revision rights and limits
- What happens when either side is late
- The exclusions list
Most projects stall not on the delivery date but on the definition of delivery. 🕰️ The agency says finished, the client says not yet, and both are right because no definition exists.
An acceptance checklist
Attach a numbered acceptance list: all pages live, forms tested, mobile verified, speed measured and shared, redirects applied, backup taken. The project closes when every item is ticked. Without one, the final payment is always disputed. ✅
Revision rights and limits
Revisions should be tied to stage and number: two rounds at prototype, two at design, unlimited bug fixes during build. The unit price of additional rounds belongs in the contract too.
What happens when either side is late
Delay clauses should be mutual. If the agency is late, what follows? If client approval is late, how does the schedule shift? Write the approval window — for example, feedback within five working days. A one-sided delay clause never operates in practice. ⏳
The exclusions list
The distinguishing mark of a good contract is that it states what is not included: brand identity, professional photography, product data entry, third-party licence fees. A quote with an exclusions list has defined its inclusions too.
The Exit Procedure
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- What the handover package contains
- Notice period
- Keep build and maintenance separate
- Confidentiality and portfolio use
Nobody wants to discuss separation at the start. 🚪 Yet the exit clause is the most useful part of the contract, because it disciplines both the relationship and the price.
What the handover package contains
List what is delivered on exit: full backup, database, source files, credentials and a technical note. The technical note explains how the system was built and is the most valuable part of the package. A system handed over without documentation has not really been handed over. 📦
Notice period
Maintenance agreements should define a notice period, commonly thirty days, within which handover completes and access transfers. Without it, one party ends up waiting on the other indefinitely.
Keep build and maintenance separate
Build and maintenance should be two contracts. That way, dissatisfaction with maintenance doesn’t force you to rebuild the site. A long maintenance commitment offered as a discount is a lock dressed as a saving.
Confidentiality and portfolio use
State whether the agency may feature the project publicly. Most clients allow it; some cannot for confidentiality reasons. A mutual confidentiality clause protects commercial information learned during the project. 🤝
Quick Summary
- Assign five assets: domain, hosting, code, content, data.
- Domain in the company name; agency as administrator only.
- No acceptance list, no definition of delivery.
- Revisions tied to stage and number.
- An exclusions list is a trust signal.
- Write the exit procedure and handover package up front.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
Before signing, mark three things: ownership clause, acceptance list, exit procedure. 🎯 If all three are present, the draft is sound.
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Ownership. If domain, hosting and source code are not documented as the company’s, the protective value of other clauses is limited.
If the contract says so, yes. It is not a default right; delivery scope must be explicit, especially for custom development.
Commonly three instalments: kickoff, design approval, launch. The final one falls due when the acceptance list is complete.
Annual and renewable is healthy. Long commitments trade flexibility for discount. Define a thirty-day notice period.
It depends on the contract. Permission should be written, or restricted through a confidentiality clause.
A warranty period is usually defined; ninety days is common. Functional faults are fixed free within it; new features are not covered.