What should a UK web design contract include?

A UK web design contract should name the parties, the pages and breakpoints, the CMS, how many revision rounds are included, who supplies content and by when, the fee and deposit, whether the client gets an assignment or a licence of the design and code, and what happens if they cancel or pay late. Sign it before first mockups. Start from our website build agreement.

This page is England and Wales first. Copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is UK-wide. The money-claim route for an unpaid invoice is the England and Wales procedure in Client won't pay a freelance invoice.

Ten blocks do the work:

The 40% / 40% / 20% split and 25% kill fee are examples, not a statutory rate. They match the shape of our template. Write the numbers you actually use.

Contracts for web designers is the shorter audience page. What should a UK graphic design contract include? is the brand-job sibling. Contracts for developers is the code-heavy sibling. What goes in a freelance or contractor agreement compares templates.

Do not email a Word file and hope v4_final is the one they signed. Both sides should edit and e-sign one shared draft.

Write a list of pages, a list of breakpoints, the CMS, and what is out of scope. “A website” is not a list. “Home, about, five service pages and a contact form, desktop and mobile, on the named CMS, handed over at staging” is a list. Extra pages are a priced change, not a courtesy.

A working scope answers five things:

• Pages and templates. Named URLs or template types. A blog index is not a shop. A landing page is not a members’ area.
• Breakpoints and browsers. Desktop and mobile as a minimum; tablet if you are selling it. Named current browsers, not “everything”.
• CMS and stack. WordPress, Webflow, a static export, a headless CMS — named. Who hosts the staging site.
• What is out. An app, paid ads, copywriting, photography, ongoing SEO, a second language — unless they are on the in-list.
• Hosting handoff. DNS, domain, CMS admin, repo. Ongoing hosting is usually a retainer, not the build.

A revision limit is not change control. Revisions polish the agreed pages. A change adds a sixth service page, a shop, or a new breakpoint. Mixing the two is how a “third round of amends” becomes a new product at no fee. See Client keeps adding extra work and change control.

If the contract says variations must be in writing and signed, a Slack yes does not rewrite the job. Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd [2018] UKSC 24 gives effect to that clause.

Example

Deliverables are the pages, templates and breakpoints in Schedule 1, built on the CMS named there. Two rounds of consolidated feedback are included per breakpoint set. A round is one written set of comments on the then-current staging site. Further rounds, extra pages, or work outside Schedule 1 are quoted and agreed in writing before work starts. Hosting, domain renewal and a care plan after go-live are not deliverables unless Schedule 1 says so.

In Plain English: they get the named pages, on the named CMS, at the named sizes. Two packed rounds. Anything extra is priced first. Hosting after launch is a different paper.

A graphic design contract is the right paper if the job is a brand, not pages. Repeat clients often sit under a services agreement plus a statement of work per job.

Cap revisions at two consolidated rounds per breakpoint set. A round is one packed set of comments, not a drip of Slack notes. Client copy, photos, logos and logins have dates. If they miss those dates, the launch moves and the fee does not drop. You are not in delay for waiting on their assets.

A working pair:

A revision limit polishes the agreed pages. A new page, a shop, or “can it also do bookings” is change control. See revisions and acceptance.

If they say nothing, write a deemed-acceptance window. Ten working days on the then-current staging site is a common commercial pick, not a legal minimum.

If the client redlinesredlineA redline is a proposed edit on a draft contract — words added, struck out or rewritten — not a signed change.More in the glossary the limit down to “unlimited,” that is a price issue, not a courtesy. See Your client redlined your contract.

Example

Two rounds of consolidated feedback are included per breakpoint set. A round is one written set of comments on the then-current staging site, sent within 10 working days of notice that it is ready. If the Client does not comment in that window the Deliverables are accepted. The Client will supply copy, images, logos and access by the dates in Schedule 1. If those dates are missed, the launch date moves by the same number of working days and the Fee does not reduce.

In Plain English: two packed rounds. Ten working days to comment, or the staging site stands. Late copy moves the launch. It does not cut your fee.

Name who buys the licence, in whose name it sits, and that you do not assign it. Plugins, stock photos, fonts, maps and analytics stay on their own terms. Paying you does not buy those licences. If the client wants a paid plugin, they buy it, or they repay you on invoice.

A working third-party clause answers four things:

• What. Named plugins, a stock library, webfonts, a map embed, a form tool.
• Who buys. Usually the client, in the client’s account, so the licence survives a later designer.
• What you warrant. That you will not drop in unlicensed material. Not that a third-party plugin will stay compatible forever.
• What happens on handoff. Logins and licence keys go to the client. You do not keep a copy as a hostage.

You cannot assign a licence you do not own. CDPA 1988 s.90 is the rule for your copyright. It does not move a WooCommerce, Unsplash or Google Fonts licence. Keep those as pre-existing materials or as third-party licences, not as assigned finals.

If you are sharing an unpublished build before the deal is signed, a mutual NDA or the NDA generator sits next to the build paper.

Example

Third-party plugins, stock, fonts and tools remain on their own licences. The Client shall obtain and pay for those licences in the Client’s name, unless Schedule 1 says the Designer will buy them and recharge. The Designer does not assign those licences. The Designer warrants that, to the Designer’s knowledge, the Deliverables do not include unlicensed third-party material that the Designer introduced.

In Plain English: they buy the plugins. You do not pretend to sell WordPress. You do not sneak in unpaid stock.

You own freelance web design and the code you write until you assign it. CDPA 1988 s.11 makes the author the first owner. An assignment is not effective unless it is in writing, signed. Paying the invoice does not move title. Assign bespoke pages on full payment if they are buying ownership. Licence your theme, components and earlier work.

Two copyright piles sit on most sites. The look — layouts, graphics, UI art — is an artistic work. Section 4 includes a graphic work irrespective of artistic quality. The code is a literary work: a computer program, and preparatory design material for a computer program, under section 3. Section 11(1) then says the author is the first owner of each. The employee exception in s.11(2) applies to employees, not to a designer on a contract for services.

GOV.UK on ownership of copyright works is blunt about commissions: the first legal owner is the person who created the work, not the commissioner, unless you otherwise agree it in writing. If the contract is silent, courts may find a limited implied licence for the purpose of the commission. That is not ownership. Silence is how a client takes the Figma file to another studio and argues they thought they had bought it.

CDPA 1988 s.90(3) is the assignment rule. An IP assignmentIP assignmentAn IP assignment is a transfer of ownership in the work, so the client owns it instead of the person who made it.More in the glossary has to be in writing, signed by you or someone signing on your behalf. A licence is permission to use the work. It is not a transfer of ownership. See IP licence vs assignmentIP licence vs assignmentAn IP assignment transfers ownership of copyright or other intellectual property. A licence is permission to use it; the author still owns it. In England and Wales there is no work-made-for-hire first-owner rule for freelancers: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s.11. An assignment must be in writing and signed: s.90. Say which you mean, and when it happens.More in the glossary.

A US “work for hirework for hireWork for hire is a phrase, common on US-style papers, meaning the client is treated as the author and owner of the work from the start.More in the glossary” heading does not do that work in England and Wales. See work for hire. Write assignment or licence in English words.

Keep four piles:

• Bespoke design and code — the named pages and templates. Assigned or licensed on full payment.
• Your libraries — components, earlier themes, starter kits. Licensed for this job, not assigned.
• Third-party — plugins, stock, fonts. Their own licences. You cannot assign them.
• Working files — Figma, source repos beyond the handoff. Not included unless priced.

Moral rights sit beside copyright in the artistic work. You have the right to be identified as author, which must be asserted, and the right not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment. Those rights cannot be assigned. They can be waived in writing, signed by you. Identification and integrity rights do not apply to a computer program — CDPA 1988 s.79(2)(a) and s.81(2). Portfolio credit for the code is a contractual promise, not that moral-rights clause. See moral rightsmoral rightsMoral rights are the author’s personal rights in a copyright work: to be identified as author, and not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment. In the UK they sit in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ss.77–80. They cannot be assigned. They can be waived in writing, signed by the person giving them up, under s.87.More in the glossary.

In a business-to-business services contract there is an implied termimplied termsImplied terms are obligations the law reads into a contract even when the parties did not write them down. In England and Wales they come from statute — for business services, reasonable care and skill under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.13 — or from common law where a term is necessary for business efficacy.More in the glossary that you will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill — Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.13. For a consumer client, Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.49 implies the same care-and-skill term. Neither section moves copyright.

Example

On receipt of full payment the Designer assigns to the Client the copyright in the bespoke design and code of the Deliverables. Until then the Client has no licence to copy, publish, communicate or adapt them except as the Designer agrees in writing. Pre-existing materials, themes, component libraries and third-party plugins stay with the Designer or their licensors and are licensed only as part of the Deliverables.

In Plain English: they own the custom pages once they have paid. They may not launch unpaid work. Your starter kit and the plugins stay on their own terms.

Write that in the intellectual property assignment clause. If they publish unpaid work, see Client using your work without paying.

Name staging as the place they test, and go-live as a separate step after acceptance. A staging URL is not launch. Write a test window, what a defect is, and that silence after that window is acceptance. DNS, domain and CMS admin move on go-live, not on first mockups.

A working split:

A defect is a failure to match Schedule 1 — a missing page, a broken form, a breakpoint that was in the paper. “We have a new idea” is a change, not a defect. See change control.

If variations must be in writing and signed, an oral “just go live with the extra page” is not a variationaddendumAn addendum is a short, written change to an existing contract, signed by both sides so the original terms stay the same except for what the addendum updates.More in the glossary. Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd [2018] UKSC 24 gives effect to that clause.

Example

The Designer will give notice that the Website is ready on the staging URL. The Client shall test it within 10 working days and either accept it in writing or list defects against Schedule 1. Silence after that period counts as acceptance. Go-live on the Client’s domain follows acceptance. Hosting, DNS and CMS administrator access are handed over on go-live as set out in Schedule 1.

In Plain English: they get a private site to poke. Ten working days. If they say nothing, it is accepted. The public domain comes after that, not instead of it.

There is no default UK right to keep a deposit or charge a kill fee. Both sides have to agree the sums. A deposit is money before work starts. MilestonesmilestoneA milestone is a defined point in a project, often tied to a deliverable and a payment.More in the glossary split the balance. A kill fee is due if they cancel. For a business client the charge must not be a penalty. For a consumer, a 14-day cancellation right can apply.

A deposit of 30–50% on signature, with work paused until it lands, is the usual freelance shape. Our website build template uses 40% on signature, 40% on design approval and 20% on launch. Write the numbers you will actually wait for. A kill fee sits next to it: work done plus a named share of the remaining fee if they cancel for convenience. See cancellation and kill fee and payment milestones and deposits.

Who the client is then splits the page:

• A business client. An agreed cancellation charge that is really a sum on breach must not be a penalty. Cavendish Square Holding v Makdessi [2015] UKSC 67 asks whether a secondary obligation imposes a detriment out of all proportion to a legitimate interest in performance. Tie the figure to time held, costs committed and other work turned down. A flat 100% from the day they sign, with no link to those interests, is the shape that looks like punishment.
• A consumer. Distance and off-premises contracts carry a 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Cancellation terms are also tested for fairness under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A “non-refundable deposit, no cooling-off” line does not remove a right those Regulations give. For a consumer, the trader must also perform the service with reasonable care and skill (CRA 2015 s.49).

The longer split, with the sliding-scale example, is Client cancelled: can you keep the deposit?. This page is the web-job version of the same money lines.

Example

The Client will pay 40% of the Fee on signature, 40% on written design approval, and 20% on go-live. The Designer will not start until the first sum is received. If the Client cancels for convenience after work has started, the Client shall pay for work done to date and a cancellation fee of 25% of the remaining Fee. Sums already paid are credited to that total. Intellectual property in work not fully paid for stays with the Designer.

In Plain English: 40% lands before you start. 40% on the look. 20% when it goes live. If they call it off once you are working, they pay for what is done plus a quarter of what is left. They do not own unpaid work.

Those percentages are examples, not a statutory rate. For a consumer client the same shape still has to be fair, and cannot remove a 14-day right the 2013 Regulations give.

Write a short due date, a right to pause if an invoice is overdue, and that no licence or assignment bites until payment in full. For a UK business client, statutory interest on late commercial payment is 8% above Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed recovery sum. We do not print the current base rate.

Payment terms should name:

• when invoices go out — on signature, on design approval, on go-live
• how many days to pay — net 14 or net 30Net 30Net 30 means the client has 30 days from the invoice date to pay.More in the glossary beats an open-ended “when procurement next runs”
• a pause right if an undisputed invoice is overdue, including a right not to go live
• that copyright, or any licence to use the work, passes only on full payment

For a qualifying business-to-business debt, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 sets statutory interest. GOV.UK on late commercial payments states the rate as 8% plus the Bank of England base rate. Once that interest runs, a fixed recovery sum is also due: £40 under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to under £10,000, and £100 at £10,000 or more, plus any reasonable recovery costs not met by that sum. See late payment interest. The 1998 Act does not apply to a consumer client.

A contract rate, if you name one, is the rate you point to instead of the statutory rate. A late feelate feeA late fee is an extra charge, or interest, added when an invoice is not paid by the due date.More in the glossary is that contract rate. Do not invent a figure that has no link to the statute or to the paper.

Example

Each undisputed invoice is due within 14 days of its date. The Designer may pause work, and is not obliged to go live, while any undisputed invoice is more than 7 days overdue. Copyright and any licence to use the Deliverables pass to the Client only on payment in full. Until then the Client has no right to copy, publish, communicate or adapt the Deliverables.

In Plain English: they have two weeks to pay. After a week late, work stops and the site stays on staging. They do not own it, and they may not use it, until they have paid.

The chase sequence — written demand, letter before action, money claim — is Client won't pay a freelance invoice. Net 30, net 14, on receipt is the due-date page.

The build ends at staging sign-off or go-live. After that, bug-fix days, plugin updates and hosting sit on a retainer, or they sit with the client. Write the handoff list: repo, CMS admin, DNS, third-party logins, and a short warrantywarrantyA warranty is a promise that something is true, such as “this work is original” or “we have the right to grant this licence.”More in the glossary window. Do not leave “we will keep an eye on it” as an open promise.

Our website build template uses a defect window after launch — bugs reported in that window are fixed at no charge; later support is paid. Write the number of days you will actually honour. That is a contractual warranty, not a statutory add-on to CDPA.

A working handoff answers five things:

• When the build ends. Acceptance on staging, or go-live, named.
• What moves. Repo, CMS administrator, DNS, domain registrar, analytics, plugin accounts.
• What stays. Your local tools, unused option files, libraries you did not assign.
• The warranty. Defects against Schedule 1 for a named number of days.
• The retainerretainerA retainer is an arrangement where a client pays a regular fee to secure a set amount of time or ongoing access to a supplier.More in the glossary. Hours per month, response times, whether unused hours roll, how it ends.

If they want you on call after launch and there is no retainer, that is a new job. See Contracts for developers for the support-after-launch shape.

Example

The build ends on go-live. The Designer will hand over the repository, CMS administrator access, DNS records and third-party logins listed in Schedule 1. Defects against Schedule 1 reported within 30 days of go-live are fixed at no charge. Hosting, updates and further changes after that window are a separate retainer, or are quoted as extra work.

In Plain English: you ship, you hand over the keys, you fix real bugs for a month. After that they pay for care, or they run it themselves.

Only if the contract says so. An assignment of the finals does not, by itself, give you a right to put the site on your page. Write a licence back: named channels, whether you may name the client, and whether confidential work stays off the portfolio until they launch.

A working portfolio clause answers four things:

• Where. Your website, social, printed showreel, award entries.
• What. The live site, not unpublished options or the rejected route.
• When. After go-live, or after a named embargo.
• Credit. Whether you name the client, and whether they name you. For the visual design that sits next to the moral rights assertion. For the code, credit is a contractual line.

See publicity and portfolio use. If the job is confidential — an unlaunched product, a site still in stealth — write that the licence starts on their public launch, or on written consent. Silence is how a case study goes live the week before their announcement.

Example

The Designer may reproduce the live Website in the Designer’s portfolio and on the Designer’s website and social channels, and may name the Client as the commissioner, after go-live, or earlier with the Client’s written consent. This licence does not extend to unpublished options, staging URLs or confidential informationconfidentialityConfidentiality is a promise to keep shared information private and to use it only for the agreed purpose.More in the glossary.

In Plain English: once it is public, you may show the live site and name them. You may not show the routes they killed, or leak the launch.

If they refuse any portfolio use, that is a price issue. Some brand work stays off the site. Get that in the paper before you start, not in a later brand-guidelines PDF.

On Contracts.io both sides draft, negotiate and e-signe-signatureAn e-signature is any electronic way of showing agreement to a document, such as a typed name, a drawn signature or a click.More in the glossary one shared website build agreement, so the scope, the IP line and the kill fee are the version you both signed. Describe the job in a sentence. Lex, our AI host, drafts. You share one link. Nobody emails v4_final.docx back and forth.

The client opens that link. They can Accept, Counter or Decline on the same version, then both of you e-sign it. The other side never pays and does not need an account.

Start from the website build agreement. Repeat work can hang a statement of work under a services agreement, or sit on a freelancer agreement. After launch, a retainer covers care. You can also start from the AI contract generator or the contract generator. If you are sharing an unpublished build before the deal is signed, the NDA generator sits next to it.

That does not chase an invoice for you. It does mean the revision limitrevision limitA revision limit says how many rounds of changes are included in the fee before extra work is quoted.More in the glossary, the IP assignment or licence, the deposit and the kill fee are the words you both signed, not a line lost in email.

Free £0, then paid plans from £15 a month — see /pricing.

Try it on contracts.io: describe the website job in one sentence, share one link, and e-sign before first mockups.

Contracts for web designers is the wider set of terms that sit around this paper. Contracts for graphic designers is the brand sibling. Contracts for developers is the code sibling. Should I start work before the contract is signed? is the day-one rule.