Terms

The client’s approval for work to commence shall be deemed a contractual agreement between the client and SurfDesign. The approval for the work to commence and payment of the advance fee indicates that the client accepts the terms and conditions outlined on this page.

SurfDesign will hold intellectual copyright of any material, including any source code and original images created for the client until payment of the final invoice. At this time we will transfer this intellectual copyright to the client.

In situations where the client provides images, text, animations or any other content for their website they are legally responsible for ensuring that this material does not infringe any copyright. Although SurfDesign creates many original images and photographs in the construction of the website some may have been purchased under licence from stock image suppliers. These images are generally only licensed for use on a single website and may not be used in publicity material. The website owner is legally responsible for ensuring that this does not happen. If you wish to use any images from the site for other purposes please contact us for clarification.

SurfDesign offers managed hosting with all our websites to guarantee operational quality and speed and to be able to immediately respond to a client's needs.

SurfDesign will not put one of its websites on another host due to the lack of control over quality and performance.

There may be cheaper hosting companies but they are cheap for a reason. They sacrifice hardware quality to keep prices to a minimum. Servers are often overloaded, making sites run slowly. When there are problems SurfDesign is not there to help and you have to sort things out with an often uncontactable service centre.

Using SurfDesign Hosting gives you the following benefits:

Maintenance

Website software needs to be updated at least yearly to stay on top of the latest technologies. Both hosting and browser technologies change frequently and websites quickly become obsolete if not updated. The website will also need to be reviewed and updated as new tablets, smartphones are launched.

Backups

Regular backups are done to get the site back up and running should something go wrong. Websites can be attacked by viruses or mistakes can be made by clients editing the site. Being able to restore a site and avoid downtime is essential to any business.

Incidentally SurfDesign uses software less liable to virus attack but it's better to be sure.

Service

SurfDesign gives advice and support for anything to do with communicating with your clients and will be on hand to help with edits to your site. Long term relationships are important and your beautifully crafted site will be happier in good hands.

Search Engine Optimisation

Website data needs ongoing adjustments to continue to be searchable by Google.

Site Traffic

Regular reports will be generated informing you of who is viewing and where in the world they are.

Larger Mailboxes

Most hosting companies provide mailboxes between 1mb and 400mb. SurfDesign can offer 2gb or more.

Guarantee

All hosting companies use different technologies with varying specifications.

Hosting with the company that designed the website will give you a guarantee that the site will run smoothly on the system it was created on.

Transfer

If you wish to transfer a website to another hosting provider SurfDesign will unlock the site on request and provide DNS Control panel passwords.

SurfDesign is unable to upload a site to another provider but will supply the website files and databases on a disk or provide access to the website's control panel to access the files directly.

All outstanding fees must be paid before the website is transferred.

SurfDesign recommend that clients register their own domain names so that they have full ownership of these but where we have registered a domain name on the client’s behalf we agree to transfer the registration of the domain name to the client immediately upon request and without charge.

SurfDesign are not responsible for the client’s on-going web site promotion. Should the client require the site to be promoted on an ongoing basis a separate contract must be agreed. The order in which websites are ranked in the natural search results is controlled by the search engines. While we can optimise your site and have had much success doing so SurfDesign is unable to make any guarantees about the success of any search engine promotion activity.

When email mailboxes are ordered through SurfDesign, clients will be supplied with all the information to configure all mail programs on computers, tablets and mobiles. SurfDesign is not responsible for this configuration or problems that arise with client hardware.

The most common problem that can arise is being asked for a Verification Certificate, particularly when changing location. This is normal and all that is necessary is a tick of the box to verify.

Allowing the mail program to use any outgoing server can help connectivity.

Should the client wish to cancel at any point during the process they shall remain liable for the work that has taken place and shall be invoiced accordingly.

We are a small business. To remain efficient we must ensure that work we have programmed is carried out at the scheduled time. On occasions we may have to reject other work and enquiries to ensure that your work is completed at the time arranged.

This is why we ask that you provide all the required information in advance. On any occasion where we cannot progress your website because you have not provided the required information when you have agreed to do so, and we are delayed as result, we reserve the right to impose a surcharge of up to 25%. Also, if your job involves Search Engine Optimisation we need the text content for your site in advance so that the SEO can be planned and completed efficiently.

If you agree to provide us with the required information and subsequently fail to do within four weeks of project commencement we reserve the right to close the project and the balance remaining becomes payable immediately. Simply put, all the above condition says is do not give us the go ahead to start until you are ready to do so.

Text content should be delivered as a Word document on a disc or via email with the pages in the supplied document representing the content of the relevant pages on your website. These pages should have the same titles as the agreed website pages. Contact us if you need clarification on this.

Conceptualising is the process of producing website concepts for clients. Concepts can include site mock ups, graphics and design proposals. For complex websites this will be included but for smaller sites (less than 10 pages) please bear in mind that only one concept is normally possible. You should therefore ensure that you let us have your preferred colour scheme and design requirements beforehand. If you don’t do this we will design the website appropriately but if it is not to your taste we may not be able to rework the website without additional charges. It is often a good idea to show us another website or other design that you like as an example of what you require.

Travelling time to and from customer premises is not generally included in our estimate. SurfDesign reserves the right to make a charge for travelling time at our normal consultancy rates. Likewise Surfdesign reserve the right to charge for travelling expenses based on 45p per mile. There will be no charges for travelling time or expenses incurred before you give your approval for work to commence.

The price quoted to the client is for the work agreed on the quotation only. Should the client decide that changes are required after work on the website commences, then we will accept these changes with the provision that additional charges may have to be negotiated.

Payment

A concept development fee is usually charged to start the creative process. This is a modest cost of between £100 and £500 depending on the project. After work commences this is non-refundable.

Once the concept is agreed and the go ahead to build the site is given an advance of 50% of the total cost of the project less any initial payment is required before development work can commence. After development commences this is non-refundable.

The remaining 50% is payable on completion. This will be due within 14 days of final invoice date. Full publication of the Web Pages may take place only after full payment has been received. Any material previously published may be removed if payment is not received. When this occurs a minimum charge of £50 will be required to have the site restored.

Payment is accepted by bank transfer or cheque or bankers draft in UK Pounds Sterling, unless otherwise agreed. If your cheque is returned by the bank as unpaid for any reason, you will be liable for a "returned cheque" charge of £25.

Late Payment

Accounts that have not been settled within 7 days of our final reminder will incur a late payment charge of 10% of the amount outstanding. You will also be charged statutory interest of 8% above the reference rate (fixed for the six month period within which date the invoices became overdue) pursuant to the late payment legislation.

The website is provided to and accepted by the client as a fully functioning, completed work. SurfDesign is not responsible for future support. This support can normally be provided upon request and for an agreed fee. No guarantee of future support is given unless an ongoing hosting package is negotiated.

Unfortunately malicious software, spyware, viruses and website hacking are facts of life on today’s Internet. It is highly unlikely that these will affect your website, and SurfDesign will endeavour to protect it from this as much as we can during its creation. We cannot be held responsible for problems that develop on completed sites as a result of illegal activity.

We design websites in accordance with the client’s specifications. It is the client’s responsibility to ensure that the website and its content comply with standing regulations. It is also the client's responsibility to be happy with the security of the site. We cannot accept responsibility for any failure to comply with regulations related to accessibility, selling online or those related to a specific business or trade. We can research this on the client’s behalf upon request, but in any business where complex compliance issues exist we recommend that the client takes legal advice from their company lawyer.

The client owns the website and will take full responsibility for its content and security.

SurfDesign is only responsible for creating and hosting websites. It does not accept liability in the event of server downtime or wider internet problems.

Surfdesign recommends that clients take out online business insurance or ensure their normal business insurance covers their website.

Should SurfDesign waive any of these terms on an individual basis, this shall not affect the validity of remaining clauses or commit SurfDesign to waive the same clause on any other occasion.

By agreeing to these terms and conditions your statutory rights are not affected.

SurfDesign reserves the right to change or modify any of these terms or conditions at any time. Should clarification of any of the above be required please contact us.