Website development contract: what must be spelled out
Most disputes between client and contractor arise not from bad faith but from important points never being fixed in writing from the start.
Rights to the finished site
The contract should explicitly state that after full payment, all rights to code, design and content transfer to the client. Without this clause, a contractor can restrict access to source code or refuse to hand it to another developer later.
It should also state who owns the domain: it should be registered to the client or their company, not the studio's account. If the studio owns the domain, a dispute can cost you access to your own site.
Deadlines and what happens if they slip
The contract should list per-stage deadlines — layout, build, final launch — rather than one blanket 'turnkey' date. This surfaces delays early rather than a week before promised launch.
A useful clause covers what happens if the contractor causes the delay: a penalty, a discount on the next stage, or a firm new date.
Revisions and sign-off
Fix how many free revision rounds each stage includes and what extra revisions cost. Without this, every small design tweak can turn into a separate invoice.
Sign off in stages rather than only at the end — after design, after build, after launch — protecting both sides from complaints piling up until the very end.