Service terms & conditions

These terms apply to all website design, development, hosting, domain, email and maintenance services provided by South West Web Design. They are a summary of the principal terms; your project quotation and any service agreement may add further details. If anything is unclear, contact us before you proceed.

1. Acceptance

You do not need to sign these terms for them to apply. If you accept a quote, proceed with a design project, or use any hosting, domain or email service from South West Web Design, you are deemed to have read and accepted these terms in full. Any purchase or use of our services confirms that acceptance.

2. Quotes, charges and payment

Charges are set out in the quotation you receive by email or in writing. Quotations are valid for 30 days, and we may revise or decline a quotation after that period.

Unless agreed otherwise, website design projects may require an advance payment of at least 25% of the project total, or £250, whichever is greater, before the work is supplied for review. The remaining balance is due on completion, or after 31 days from the initial payment, whichever is sooner, before the website is uploaded or materials are released.

We accept bank transfer, PayPal, credit or debit card, and cash. Bank details appear on your invoice. Invoices are due on receipt. Accounts that remain unpaid 15 days after the invoice date may be charged a service fee of the greater of 20% or £30 per month of the amount due. Accounts unpaid after 30 days are considered in default, and we may suspend or remove services without notice.

Additional expenses, such as special fonts, stock photography or third-party licences, are charged to you at cost and must be paid before we purchase them.

3. Design projects, content and approval

We will provide an opportunity to review the appearance and content of your website during the design phase and again once development is complete. Materials are deemed accepted unless you tell us otherwise within 10 days of them being made available or the website going live.

We aim to deliver by the date in the project proposal or agreed after the initial payment, provided you supply the content and feedback we need. Please nominate one person as the primary contact for the project.

If you agree to provide content by a particular date and do not, progress may be delayed. We may apply a surcharge of up to 25% for the delay, and if the content is still missing one week before the completion date, we may close the project and invoice the remaining balance immediately. Content should be supplied as Word, PDF or email documents, with the page titles matching the agreed website pages.

You are responsible for making sure any text, images, logos or other material you supply do not infringe anyone else’s rights, and for obtaining any permissions needed to use them.

4. Managed hosting, maintenance and support

Websites hosted by South West Web Design are covered by a monthly hosting and maintenance package. This includes hosting, DNS management, security updates, backups and monitoring, and may include up to one hour of updates per month where agreed. Anything beyond that scope may be charged separately, and unused hours do not carry into future months.

We aim to make periodic updates to sites we host, subject to fair use and the monthly charge being paid. We may decline update requests that exceed two hours of development time per site per year, and updates are only provided while your maintenance plan is up to date.

We cannot guarantee that a website will work correctly in every browser or operating system, now or in the future. We support current, popular browsers, and further work to adapt a site to future technology may be quoted separately.

5. Contract term and cancellation

New website projects begin with a 12-month contract, made up of any one-off design payment and 12 monthly management payments at the agreed rate. After the first year, the plan continues as a rolling monthly contract with a notice period of one calendar month.

You may cancel during the initial term, but an early termination fee equal to the remainder of the 12-month contract applies and must be paid within seven days. After the initial term, cancellation requires at least one calendar month’s written notice by email. Telephone cancellations are not effective until confirmed in writing.

If you cancel, we will invoice any design work already completed, and we can transfer the website files to a third-party provider on request. Transfers are charged at one hour of work at £40 per hour. Once hosting and maintenance end, we no longer provide updates for the site’s framework, dependencies or third-party libraries.

6. Domains, email and services on cancellation

Domain names purchased by South West Web Design remain our property unless ownership is transferred to you for a £20 fee. We handle renewal and payment while the domain is managed by us. You are responsible for keeping track of any payment dates if you own the domain or have agreed otherwise.

On termination, any email, domain or other services we provide may also be cancelled. Once cancelled, these cannot be recovered. The website itself is supplied as a zip, tar or rar archive as it stands on the date of termination. It is your responsibility to keep a copy.

If a client remains in default for more than 45 days, we may terminate and delete all services without further recourse. Any domain names, files, media or other services used for those services remain our property.

7. Copyright, design credit and portfolio

You keep the copyright to data, files and logos you provide, and grant us permission to publish and use that material for your project. You must obtain permission for any third-party copyrighted material you supply.

Unless agreed otherwise, a small “designed by South West Web Design” credit may appear at the bottom of your website. If you ask us to remove it, a fee of 20% of the total development charge applies, or £100 if the total development charge is under £500. We may also show the website in our portfolio and on social media.

8. Liability and service levels

We aim to keep hosted websites available at least 95% of the time in any calendar month, excluding outages caused by factors outside our control, your equipment, scheduled maintenance, denial-of-service attacks or force majeure. If availability falls below that level, service credits may apply as set out in our full service level agreement. Credits are your sole remedy for non-availability and must be requested in writing within seven days.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for loss or damage caused by inaccuracy, omission, hosting downtime, delay or error in producing the website, or loss of artwork or photos supplied by you. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the charges paid for the services in question.

All services may be used for lawful purposes only. You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from your use of the services or your failure to obtain the necessary rights for content you supply.

9. General and governing law

These terms replace any previous representations or agreements. Acceptance by email, text, payment of an invoice or payment online confirms your agreement to them. If any provision is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

This agreement is governed by English law. If you have a question about these terms, email sales@southwestweb.co.uk before you proceed with a project.