Freelancer web developer agreement

What is a freelancer web developer agreement and when should you use it?

This Freelancer Web Developer Agreement has been designed for use by an individual freelance web developer contracting personally to provide his/her services to a business client.

This agreement is for the development of a website only and does not allow for hosting or support services.

It’s important to ensure that a freelancer/contractor is not an employee in disguise – even if that outcome is inadvertent.

This agreement aims to reduce the risk that the freelancer might be deemed to be a de-facto employee of his/her client rather than a sole trader who is a self-employed contractor.

However, whether s/he is treated by Revenue, a tribunal, or any other body, as self-employed will depend not only on what is contained in the contract but also on all other circumstances: those circumstances will include the way in which the contract is implemented and the conduct of the client, the freelancer and anyone the freelancer engages to do any of the work for the freelancer, and all related arrangements between them.

Nevertheless, a carefully worded contract ensuring the independence of the freelancer is a key starting point.

As a self-employed freelancer (rather than as an employee of the client), the web developer is, for example, free to engage a suitably qualified person to do some or all of the work in his place, is free to determine when, where and how work is completed (subject of course to the client’s requirements), is free to take on other clients, and most importantly may be subject to penalties if the work is not completed on time.

Our guide contractor or employee also provides helpful background.

Payment under this agreement may take the form of a single flat fee or initial fee followed by a series of milestone payments.

Moreover, the fee also serves as consideration for the assignment to the client of the copyright (and any other IP rights) in the work produced by the web developer.

This assignment of all copyright and other IP rights in the work to the client by the web developer means that the client will own all of those rights exclusively, and so the client will be free to use and exploit the work as it wishes.

The web developer is not granted any right to use or exploit any of the work, and consequently s/he will not be permitted to make any use of any of the work for his/her own (or any third party) purposes.

Each party provides warranties and indemnities to the other with regard to the non-infringement of third-party intellectual property rights.

Check out our guide to intellectual property to learn more