Ownership & Warranty

Why ownership matters

Your website is an investment — often one of the most important your business will make. An investment you don't fully own isn't much of an investment at all.

Plenty of businesses discover, too late, that they can't move their site, can't get their own code, or can't leave their developer without losing everything. I think that's the wrong way to work. You should own what you paid for, completely, and never feel trapped. Being clear about that up front is simply how trust should work.

What you own

Once a purchased project is complete and paid for, it's yours. In plain terms, that means:

• Your websiteThe finished, live site itself.
• The designThe look and layout created for you.
• Your custom source codeEvery line written specifically for your project.
• Your contentThe text, and any images you supplied.
• Your domainRegistered in your name.
• Your hosting accountSet up in your name.
• Your email accountsYours to keep and control.
• Your databaseWhere your project has one.
• DocumentationSo you understand what you have.
• Deployment setupThe configuration that puts your site live, where applicable.

No hidden exceptions — the details are set out in your project agreement, in plain language.

Custom code created specifically for your project becomes yours. Third-party frameworks, libraries and open-source software remain subject to their own licenses.

This applies to a website you buy. On a Managed Website, your domain, content and business data stay yours, the website is provided as part of the active service, and a defined buyout option is available.

What remains mine

To be fair and honest, there's a small, clearly-defined set of things I keep — and it works in your favour.

Over many projects, I build up reusable internal tools, workflows, starter setups, utility components and general know-how. These aren't your website — they're the toolkit I use to build websites well. I keep the right to reuse them, exactly as a carpenter keeps their tools after building your kitchen.

Why this helps you: it means every client benefits from the improvements made on every other project. You get faster, more refined work because I'm not reinventing the basics each time. Your specific site is entirely yours; the general craft behind it stays with me.

Third-party software

Modern websites are built on top of established, widely-used technologies — things like React, Next.js and Tailwind, plus various libraries, icons, fonts and occasionally APIs or plugins.

These aren't mine to give away, and they aren't yours to own outright — they belong to the people who made them, and they come with their own licenses. This is completely normal and true of essentially every professional website in existence. In practice it changes nothing for you: you use your site freely, exactly as you'd expect.

What "open source" means

You'll sometimes hear that a website uses "open-source" software. In plain English, that just means tools built by a community and shared freely for anyone to use — the foundations much of the modern web is built on.

There's nothing to worry about here. Open-source components are free to use, well-maintained, and standard practice. Your website runs on them the same way a house runs on standardised electrical fittings — dependable, everywhere, and entirely fine to rely on.

Domains & hosting

For a purchased website, your domain (your web address) and your hosting (where your site lives) should always be in your name. This is one of the most important ownership points, and one the industry most often gets wrong. With a Managed Website, hosting is part of the service — but your domain always stays yours.

Your data

Any customer information, enquiries, uploaded files, databases or business information generated through your website remains yours. I don't claim ownership of your business data, and I don't use it for any purpose other than providing the agreed services.

It's your business's information, gathered through your website — and it belongs to you, fully and only.

Accounts in your name

Wherever a project needs an account — hosting, code storage, a database, analytics, or services from the likes of Cloudflare, Vercel, GitHub, Firebase, Google or Microsoft — those accounts should be yours.

I'm added as a collaborator only to build and maintain your project, and that access can be removed at any time. You hold the keys; I'm simply invited in to do the work. Nothing important is ever locked inside an account only I can reach.

Warranty

If something I built doesn't work as agreed after launch, I fix it — at no extra cost. That's the promise.

This isn't about being restrictive — it's about being clear. Fixing something that was meant to work is a warranty. Adding something new is a fresh piece of work. Keeping those separate keeps everything honest.

If you notice an issue during the warranty period, simply get in touch. I'll investigate it promptly and, if it's covered by the warranty, fix it at no additional cost.

Your warranty period is confirmed in your project agreement

Warranty vs care

These two get confused constantly, so here's the clean distinction:

For purchased websites, you're never signed up to a care plan automatically. Some clients want the peace of mind; others prefer to reach out only when they need something. Both are completely fine.

If we stop working together

However a purchased project ends, the principle doesn't change: you keep everything that's yours — your site, your code, your domain, your accounts. With a Managed Website, your domain, content and business data always stay yours, and the buyout option agreed in your contract applies.

If you'd like, I'll help with a smooth handover — making sure another developer, or you, has everything needed to carry on. No drama, no withholding, no leverage games. Just a clean, professional exit if the day ever comes.

Total transparency

There are no hidden ownership clauses on this page or anywhere else. No surprise licensing that quietly limits what you can do. No fees just to access your own website. Nothing in the small print that undoes what's written here in plain sight.

If anything about ownership is ever unclear, ask — and I'll give you a straight answer.

Ownership questions, answered