Terms and conditions.

Last updated 28 September 2026

1. About these terms

These terms cover the websites I design, build, host and look after. "I" and "me" means Thomas Chard, a sole trader trading as tomchard.uk, 47 Sherwood Road, Keynsham, Bristol BS31 1DA. "You" means the person or organisation I'm doing the work for.

When you accept a quote, you're agreeing to these terms and to anything specific written in that quote. If the quote and these terms ever disagree, the quote wins. Nothing here affects your statutory rights.

2. Quotes and prices

Every project starts with a written quote setting out what I'll build and what it costs. Once we've agreed the scope, the price is fixed. There are no hourly surprises.

• A quote is valid for 30 days from the date on it.
• My prices don't include VAT. If VAT applies, it will be shown on the quote.
• If you'd like something that wasn't in the agreed scope, I'll tell you what it costs and wait for your go-ahead before starting it. Nothing is added to your bill without you agreeing first.

3. Paying for your site

• Deposit: 50% of the quoted price to book your project in. I start once it's paid.
• Balance: the remaining 50% when you've approved the finished site, before it goes live.
• Larger projects can be split into more stages. If so, the stages are set out in the quote.
• Invoices are due within 14 days, by bank transfer.
• If an invoice is well overdue, I may pause work until it's paid. I'll always talk to you before doing that.

4. What I need from you

Your words, photographs, logos and feedback are what set the pace of a project. The sites that move quickest are the ones where everything comes back promptly.

• You're responsible for the content you send me, and for making sure you have the right to use it, including photographs and text from other people.
• You're responsible for making sure what the site says about your business is accurate and legal.
• Please keep your own copies of anything you send me.
• If a project stalls because I'm waiting on content or feedback for more than 60 days, I may pause it and fit it back into my diary when you're ready. I may also invoice for the work done up to that point.

Copywriting and logo design are available as add-ons if you'd rather I handled them. They're quoted separately, alongside the site.

5. Previews and changes

You'll see previews as the site takes shape, so you can react to real pages rather than descriptions.

• The price includes two rounds of changes on the design, then a final round of corrections before launch.
• Changes beyond that, or anything that changes the agreed scope, are quoted before I start.
• When you're happy, you approve the site in writing (an email is fine) and we put it live.

6. Owning your site

Your website is yours. It isn't licensed and it isn't rented. Once it's paid for, you own it outright from the day it launches.

• If you ever want to take it elsewhere, I'll hand over the files and help you move, free of charge.
• Your domain stays in your name and on your account. I just point it at the right place.
• Some parts may come from other people under their own licences, such as fonts or stock photographs. I'll only use ones that allow your use, and I'll tell you if any carry a cost.
• I may show your site in my portfolio and case studies. If you'd rather I didn't, just say.

7. Hosting, SSL and backups

Hosting, SSL and backups are included with every site I build, for as long as you have the site, with no monthly charge. There's no renewal and no invoice you'd forgotten was coming.

• Included hosting covers normal use by a small business, society or maker. If a site needs something unusual, such as hosting large video libraries or very heavy traffic, we'll talk about it first.
• I use a large, well-established hosting network, but no host can promise a site will never be unavailable. If there's an outage, I'll do everything reasonable to get your site back quickly.
• If I ever stop offering hosting, I'll give you at least three months' notice and help you move your site, free of charge.

8. Fixing faults

If something goes wrong with the site as I built it, that's mine to sort out, at no charge. There's no clock running and no argument.

This covers faults in my work. It doesn't cover new features, content changes, changes made by someone else, or problems with services run by other companies, such as your domain registrar, email provider or payment provider. I'll still help with those, and tell you first if there's any cost.

9. The Website Care plan

The care plan is optional. Your site works exactly the same whether you take it or not.

Site	Monthly	Yearly
Essentials	£45	£450
Commerce	£65	£650
Signature	from £85	from £850

Charities and volunteer-run societies pay around 20% less, from £36 a month.

• Change time: one hour a month on Essentials, two on Commerce and three on Signature. Changes go in monthly rounds. Unused time rolls over, up to six hours. Rolled-over time ends if the plan ends.
• Extra work: anything beyond your included time is £75 an hour, quoted before I start.
• Turnaround: changes are done within two working days (Monday to Friday, not including bank holidays). If I'm going to be away, I'll tell you in advance. Bigger pieces of work are scheduled with you.
• Also included: uptime monitoring and an honest review of the site once a year.
• Billing: monthly or yearly, in advance.
• Pausing: you can pause the plan by email. Paused months aren't billed and don't add change time.
• Cancelling: cancel any time by email. There's no notice period. A monthly plan stops at the end of the month you've paid for. If you cancel a yearly plan, I'll refund the unused whole months, worked out at the yearly rate.

10. Other work and rates

Not on the care plan? Nothing changes about your site. You just pay for changes as you need them, at £95 an hour, always quoted before I start. Small jobs have a half-hour minimum of £50.

11. Third-party costs

Some things belong to you and are paid directly to the company that provides them. These aren't part of my price:

• your domain name registration and renewal
• email accounts, if you have them
• payment processing fees, such as Stripe's fees on shop sales
• any paid fonts, stock photographs or outside services you choose to use

I'll always tell you about any of these before they're needed, so there are no surprises.

12. Charities and societies

Registered charities and volunteer-run societies pay around 20% less on website builds and on the care plan. The discount is shown on your quote. See charities and societies for more.

13. Cancelling a project

• You can cancel a project at any time by email.
• The deposit covers the work I've done and the time I've set aside for you, so it isn't refundable once I've started.
• If you cancel after more work has been done than the deposit covers, you pay for the work done up to that point, and never more than the quoted price.
• Anything I've finished and you've paid for is yours to keep.
• If I ever have to cancel, I'll refund anything you've paid for work I haven't done.

14. Liability

I'll carry out all work with reasonable care and skill.

• I can't promise a particular Google ranking or amount of business, because nobody honestly can.
• I'm not responsible for indirect losses, such as lost profits or lost business, however they arise.
• My total liability to you for any project is limited to the amount you've paid me for that project, plus any care plan fees paid in the previous 12 months.
• Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow to be limited.

15. Your information

How I look after personal information is set out in my privacy policy. Anything you tell me about your business is kept confidential.

16. Law and changes

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales. If something isn't right, please tell me first. Most things are sorted with a conversation.

I may update these terms from time to time. The terms that apply to your project are the ones in place when you accepted your quote.

Questions about any of this? Email hello@tomchard.uk.