Buyer's guide · Updated August 2026
What belongs in a website development contract
We've inherited a lot of projects from other agencies. Almost every one went wrong at the same few clauses — or at the absence of them. Here are the twelve worth getting right before you sign anything.
The checklist
Twelve clauses, and what each should actually say
Ordered roughly by how often we've seen each one cause real trouble. The first two are non-negotiable — if you fix nothing else, fix those.
- 1
Who owns the code, and from when
Default Indian copyright law gives the author ownership unless the contract assigns it. Without an assignment clause the agency owns your website. State that all code, design files and content transfer to you — and say whether that happens on final payment or progressively.
- 2
Who owns the domain and hosting accounts
Separate from code, and the single most common trap. The domain must be registered in your company's name with your email as registrant contact. If your developer registered it, you don't control your own website address.
- 3
A deliverables list specific enough to argue with
"A 10-page responsive website" is not a deliverable list. Name the ten pages. Name the forms, the integrations, the CMS access, the number of design revisions. Anything unnamed becomes a paid change request later.
- 4
Payment tied to milestones, not to dates
30% advance, 30% on design approval, 30% on staging delivery, 10% after go-live. Never pay the final instalment before the site is on your server and you have the credentials. That last 10% is your only leverage.
- 5
What a change costs, agreed upfront
Scope will change — that's normal. What causes disputes is discovering the rate afterwards. Fix an hourly or per-change rate in the contract, and define what counts as a change versus a fix.
- 6
Revision rounds, counted
"Unlimited revisions" is a red flag, not a benefit — it means the agency has priced defensively or plans to argue. Two or three named rounds per stage, with a rate for anything beyond, is healthier for both sides.
- 7
Timeline with client-delay handling
Most website projects run late because content arrives late. The contract should state what the client owes and by when, and what happens to the timeline if it doesn't. Otherwise every delay becomes the agency's fault by default.
- 8
A defined bug-fix window after launch
Thirty to ninety days of free fixes for defects, clearly separated from new features. Without this line, every post-launch problem turns into a negotiation at the worst possible moment.
- 9
What maintenance costs, if you want it
Price it in the same contract even if you're unsure. Agreeing maintenance rates while the agency still wants your business gets you a better number than agreeing them after launch.
- 10
Third-party costs, named and owned
Hosting, domain, SSL, payment gateway fees, premium plugins, stock images, SMS and email credits. State who pays and whose account they sit in. These are small individually and add up to real money.
- 11
Handover: what you receive on completion
Repository access, database export, hosting and domain credentials, design source files, a deployment runbook, and admin accounts in your name. List it explicitly. Handover disputes are the most common reason projects end badly.
- 12
Termination and exit rights
How either side ends the engagement, with how much notice, what's owed for work completed, and what you receive on the way out. You'll never regret having this clause. You will regret not having it.
Payment structure
A milestone schedule that protects both sides
Front-loaded payment protects the agency. Retention protects you. A fair contract does both, and this split is what we'd sign ourselves.
| Milestone | Share | Triggered by | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance | 30% | On signing | Covers discovery and mobilisation. Fair to the agency — nobody should start unpaid. |
| Design approval | 30% | You sign off the designs | Pay when you have seen and approved every page design, not when design 'starts'. |
| Staging delivery | 30% | Full site on a test URL | You should be clicking through a working site before this instalment leaves your account. |
| Go-live + handover | 10% | Live, with all credentials in hand | The retention that gets your handover done. Never release it early. |
The 10% retention is the part people give away most easily and regret most often. It is the only thing that reliably gets a handover completed on time. Hold it until every credential is in your hands and you have logged into each one yourself.
Red flags
Six terms worth walking away from
Any one of these should stop the conversation until it's resolved. Two together and you're looking at the wrong agency.
If you see these in a proposal, don't sign it yet
- 01No written contract at all — a quotation and a WhatsApp thread is not an agreement
- 02The agency refuses to assign IP, or wants to license your own site back to you
- 03100% advance payment demanded, or 50%+ before any deliverable exists
- 04The domain will be registered in the agency's name "for convenience"
- 05No handover clause, and visible discomfort when you ask about one
- 06Deliverables described only in adjectives — "modern", "premium", "world-class"
A note on fairness
A one-sided contract isn't protection
We've been handed agreements with unlimited revisions, no delay clause, and payment due entirely on completion. Every good agency turns those down, so the only people who sign them are the ones who can't afford to say no — which is not who you want building your website. The clauses on this page are balanced deliberately. They give you ownership, leverage and an exit. They also give the agency a paid start, a defined scope, and protection when your content arrives three weeks late. That balance is what makes a contract hold up when something goes wrong.
Questions
What people ask before signing
Not covered here? Ask us directly — we answer scoping questions without putting you into a sales sequence.
Who owns a website after it is built in India?
Under Indian copyright law the person who creates the work owns it by default, so without an explicit assignment clause your development agency owns your website's code and design. Ownership only transfers to you if the contract says so in writing. This is the single most important clause to check, and it is missing from most small-project agreements in India.
What payment terms are standard for website development in India?
The common structure is 30% advance on signing, 30% on design approval, 30% on staging delivery and 10% after go-live and handover. Avoid paying more than 40% before you have seen a working deliverable, and never release the final instalment before you hold the domain, hosting and repository credentials — that retention is your only real leverage.
Should the domain be registered in my name or the developer's?
Always yours. The domain must be registered to your company with your email as the registrant contact, and you should hold the registrar login. Developers often register it themselves for convenience, and that convenience becomes a serious problem the day you want to change agencies. If your domain is already in someone else's name, transferring it requires their cooperation.
How do I protect against scope creep in a website contract?
Two clauses do most of the work. First, a deliverables list specific enough to argue with — name every page, form, integration and CMS role rather than describing the site in adjectives. Second, a pre-agreed rate for changes, plus a definition of what counts as a change versus a defect. Disputes happen because the rate is discovered after the request, not because scope changed.
What should I receive at handover?
Repository or full source code access, a database export, hosting and domain credentials, design source files, a deployment runbook, and every third-party account created for your project registered in your name. List these explicitly in the contract as conditions for the final payment. Handover disputes are the most common way website projects end badly in India.
Do I need a lawyer for a website development contract?
For projects under about ₹2,00,000 a well-structured written agreement covering the twelve points on this page is usually enough. Above that, or where the site handles payments, customer data or is central to your revenue, have a lawyer review it. The specific clauses worth professional attention are IP assignment, liability limits and data protection obligations.
Want a proposal you can actually check against this list?
Our scopes name every page, every integration and every handover item before you pay anything. Send us your requirement and see what a specific proposal looks like.
Request a scoped proposal
