Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions – The Client: Also referred to as ‘You’, the company, business or client, authorized representative of the client, or individual requesting the services of Phase Creative. Phase Creative: Also referred to as ‘I’, ‘Our’, and ‘We’, the primary designer/service provider & employees or affiliates. The Project: Phase Creative will issue you with an estimate and/or proposal either verbally, by post, or via email. Outlining our interpretation of your brief, the scope of work, work method, deliverables, and limitations of service. For this document, Rather The Project may also be titled ‘Work’, ‘Proposal’, ‘Quote’, or ‘Estimate’.
1. ACCEPTANCE – Acceptance of the estimate/proposal Phase Creative provides you with is deemed acknowledgment and agreement to the following terms and conditions. Fixed Fee components of estimates are firm for two months from the date of proposal. Estimates not accepted within that time may be subject to adjustment.
2. PAYMENT – Phase Creative accepts payment via direct bank deposit. Invoices will be sent periodically, relating to work done to that date. The client agrees to settle accounts within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the invoice. Accounts outstanding for a period over 14 days may be subject to an additional administration charge of 5% of the balance due. Creative will be under no obligation to proceed to an ensuing stage of the project until all outstanding invoices have been met in full. In the case of web design and/or development. So reserves the right to withhold the live implementation of The Project until outstanding payments have been settled.
3. CONFIDENTIALITY – Creative may ask you for passwords and details to fulfill
the requirements of the Project. Also, undertakes not to misuse any confidential information that may be made available to us. The client agrees not to disclose the fees charged by Phase Creative or any confidential information we provide to you. The Client is responsible for keeping confidential, any passwords and usernames issued to them by Phase Creative.
4. EXCLUSIVITY – Does not work on an exclusive basis unless this has been specifically negotiated.
5. DEPOSIT – A 50% deposit of the total fee payable under our proposal for The Project is due before work commences. At the discretion of Phase Creative, The remaining amount will be due by the project stages outlined in your proposal. We reserve the right not to commence any work, or further project stage, until the deposit has been paid in full. Or fees payable for previous work have been paid in full.
6. MODIFICATIONS & ADDITIONAL/OPTIONAL/RECOMMENDED SERVICES – Any modification or alteration that increases the time to complete a design (beyond the proposed and stated deliverables) may result in supplementary charges. We will do our best to promptly notify you when we move into additional design time. You will be charged for such additional design time at our quoted hourly rate OR at the fixed fee attributed to that service. If your proposal or estimate contains items marked Additional, Recommended, or Optional, you will be charged for these in addition to the total of base deliverables stated.
7. DISBURSEMENTS & OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES – Fees for Phase Creative’s professional services do not include outside purchases such as. But not limited to, web hosting and domain services, themes, and add-ons, widgets, and Plugins. Printing, photography, stock imagery, color printouts, illustrations, shipping, and handling or courier service. Expenses are itemized on each invoice. If the consultant, training, or supervisory services are required in out-of-town locations, we will bill accommodation, meals, and transportation at cost. Mileage reimbursement is calculated at our then-current rates. These items will not be accrued without your prior knowledge. Known anticipated disbursements will be itemized in The Proposal.
8. TIME – Fees estimated in this proposal are done so for budgeting. The costs are generated from experience based on similar projects. Fees are subject to change. Should there be any additions or alterations to the brief? Phase Creative will keep the client informed of both work and fee status during the design and production program. If The Client does not provide expected information or respond to Phase Creative in a reasonable amount of time. The timelines for the project may be affected. Phase Creative will not be liable for any loss or damage resulting from such estimated periods not being met.
9. CONSULTATION – Where required, milestone meetings/calls/training sessions will be costed into each stage as itemized in The Proposal. Should additional meetings be requested or special presentations required, these will be charged at the hourly rate and reflected on the invoice. You will be notified if a meeting or call is more than the anticipated project scope.
10. PROJECT DELAYS AND CLIENT RESPONSIBILITY – Will let you know of any required information/copy/imagery/services, etc upon The Project proposal being accepted. Any time frames or estimates that we give are reliant upon you providing Phase Creative with accurate and timely information and materials. During development, there is a certain amount of feedback required to progress to subsequent phases. It is required that a single point of contact be appointed from your side and made available on a reliable basis to expedite the feedback process.
You must supply all materials and information required by us to complete the work by an agreed specification. Such materials may include but are not limited to, photographs, written copy, logos, and other printed material. Where there is any delay in supplying these materials to us which leads to a delay in the completion of work. we have the right to extend any previously agreed deadlines by a reasonable amount.
11. COMMUNICATION – Once payment has been received and The Project has commenced,
you must be available via email or phone, able to answer all questions and complete tasks throughout the design and development process. If you require to discuss details of your drafts by phone, please let us know with anticipation to make the proper arrangements.
12. NATURE OF COPY – The Client agrees to exercise due diligence in its direction to us regarding the preparation of materials and must be able to substantiate all claims and representations, and shall only provide us with true, accurate, and correct information and details. You are responsible for all trademark, service mark, copyright, and patent infringement clearances. You are also responsible for arranging, before publication, any necessary legal clearance of materials we prepare. And you promise not to provide to us or request us to include in a Project, any material that infringes the law or any third party rights. Phase Creative will not be held liable for any legal infringements as a result of artwork being distributed or published under the client’s direction.
You indemnify us from all third-party claims made against us in connection with materials included on your website (or otherwise connected with your Project) at your request.
13. ARTWORK APPROVAL, ERRORS, AND OMISSIONS – Another Phase Creative will take all reasonable care to check proofs carefully for accuracy in all respects, ranging from spelling to technical illustrations. However, it is considered the client’s responsibility to check all artwork carefully before the final sign-off on the artwork approval sheet. Phase Creative is not liable for errors or omissions once this sheet is signed. Your signature (or electronic recognition) or that of your authorized representative is required on all illustrations or artwork before release for printing or other implementation.
14. WEBSITE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT – Most Phase Creative utilizes third-party services and open-source technology for web design and development projects. Every endeavor will be made to ensure that the website and any scripts or programs are free of errors at the time of delivery. Cannot accept responsibility for any losses incurred due to malfunction of the website or any part of it. Including where such malfunction is caused by changes to third-party software (such as updates, upgrades, and bug fixes made by third parties to their software or coding). Phase Creative cannot be held responsible for problems or additional costs arising due to any errors made by third parties (or the client), or failure to maintain a current backup of your website.
15. RIGHTS OF ACCESS FOR WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT – The client agrees to allow Phase Creative all necessary access to computer systems and other locations. As required, to complete a website project, including the necessary read/write permissions, usernames, and passwords.
16. WEBSITE HOSTING, DOMAIN REGISTRATION & OTHER THIRD-PARTY SERVICES – And does not offer hosting or domain name registration. So If you ask for a recommendation, Phase Creative will offer you the names of businesses that provide such services. All reasonable care will be taken when recommending hosts and service suppliers. Phase Creative will not accept responsibility for any product failure or consequent production losses. This includes but is not limited to, your site not being online, service interruptions, limitations of these services, security breaches & loss of date. The Client is encouraged to research their hosting solution to ensure the service will suit their individual/business needs.
17. WEBSITE CONTENT APPROVAL – Encourages you to review your content and functionality before putting it live. Phase Creative is not liable for errors or omissions once you have approved the site to go live.
18. WEBSITE SUPPORT PERIOD – You will receive email support for 30 days after your site is deployed (put live). You are to use this time carefully, and, in the case of a WordPress site, load your information and process several test entries to become familiar with your new design’s functionality. After 30 days, there will be a charge for support depending on the frequency and complexity of your questions/edits. The support period is limited to the troubleshooting and fixing of items/content/functionality as specified in the initial proposal. Support or additional training requirements will be considered new work and invoiced at the applicable rate.
19. WEBSITE TRAINING – Offers Website Training for local businesses as an additional service. Unless outlined in The Project proposal, or specifically requested as part of the process. WordPress and other software training are not included. This service is available at an additional cost.
20. LICENSES OF 3RD PARTY PRODUCTS – Services that often incorporate the use of 3rd party services, software, and products. Phase Creative may install these products onto your site utilizing a developer’s license. In these cases, if you wish to terminate your engagement with Phase Creative but wish to maintain the use of these licensed products or services, Phase Creative will notify you of the licensing terms and give you an option to purchase an independent license for your site to continue using it/them.
21. SEARCH ENGINES – And not guarantee any specific position in search engine results for your website. As stated in The Project proposal, we can perform basic search engine optimization (SEO) according to current best practices using third-party supplied tools.
22. CROSS BROWSER COMPATIBILITY – Websites created by Phase Creative will be viewable in the latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari at the time of deployment. If you opt out of the ‘Cross-Browser Testing’ section of the proposal, we cannot guarantee error-free viewing in any specific browser. Compatibility is defined herein as all critical elements of each page are viewable in these browsers. The client is aware that some Internet technologies may require a more recent browser version, operating system, and brand or plug-in. We are not responsible for browser compatibility errors after 30 days from deployment. Unless requested as part of The Project brief, compatibility on phones, tablets, and other mobile devices is not guaranteed.
23. PROPERTY & SUPPLIERS PERFORMANCE – Although reasonable care will be taken when recommending manufacturers, services, and suppliers, responsibility cannot be accepted for any product failure or consequent production losses. Phase Creative will take all reasonable precautions to safeguard the property you entrust to us. In the absence of negligence on our part, however, we are not responsible for loss, destruction or damage or unauthorized use by others of such property. We will use our best efforts to ensure the quality and timely delivery of all printed material.
Although we may use our best efforts to guard against any loss to you through the failure of our vendors, media, or others to perform by their commitments, Phase Creative is not responsible for failure on their part. If you select your vendors, other than those recommended by us, you may request that we coordinate their work. If at all possible, we will attempt to do so, but we cannot in any way be held responsible for the quality, price, performance, or delivery.
24. CANCELLATION – Should the project be postponed or canceled by the client, then the client shall be liable for our fees, costs, and expenses up to the time Phase Creative is notified in writing of such cancellation.
25. LIABILITY – To the extent permitted by law, all express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances, and representations (which are not included in these terms and conditions) about the provision of the services or any other goods or services delivered by Phase Creative are expressly excluded, and our entire liability, and the client’s sole remedy, is limited (at our discretion) to:
(a) concerning the supply of goods: the replacement of the goods or the supply of equivalent goods; the repair of the goods; the payment of the cost of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent goods; or the payment of the cost of having the goods repaired;
(b) concerning the supply of services: the re-supply of the services; or the payment of the cost of having the services re-supplied. The client agrees that in no event will the liability of Phase Creative exceed the fees paid by the client to Phase Creative. Further, Phase Creative will not be liable in any way for any consequential damage that may be caused as a result of any alleged negligence or breach by us of these terms and conditions.
26. PROJECT OWNERSHIP
a) Design (visual components of the site): Unless specifically agreed in writing, Phase Creative owns the copyright to any bespoke visual design work created for The Project. Any third-party photography, stock imagery, and copyright materials will remain the property of the respective third party and, where appropriate, will be used under the license agreement to which they are distributed. Phase Creative agrees to provide access to the terms of the license relating to such third-party copyright if requested by the client.
b) Software: The Project will be developed using a combination of third-party software
solutions (this includes but is not limited to WordPress CMS, Themes and plugins, Fonts, Integrations, and Widgets). Those solutions will be configured for use in the Project, however, all software and code owned by third parties will be used within the license agreement of its respective owner. To that effect, neither Phase Creative nor The Client owns such third-party software or code, and the client (and Phase Creative) may only use such software or code within the rules of the license agreement. Phase Creative agrees to provide access to the terms of the license relating to such third-party software and code if requested by the client.
c) The Website Build and Final Files: Upon final project payment, Phase Creative agrees to provide all files and information relating to the Project in a manner that allows, at the time of deployment. The Client to transfer the WordPress Website build to any host they choose, provided that such host offers access to an appropriate WordPress server setup.
27. PORTFOLIO USE – After the completion of The Project, we might include the design we created for you in our Portfolio and do a mini-feature on our site. This feature is for design purposes only and if you decide you don’t want to be included please let us know before the finalization of your project. You may also be asked to fill in a questionnaire with the option to include a testimonial paragraph for the Phase Creative website. You are under no obligation to do so but your feedback is always appreciated.
