Terms & Conditions.
Application of terms
These terms are the only terms on which Soap Creative Ltd will work with the Customer/Client. They govern the contract and the relationship with the Customer/Client until a mutually agreed end date.
Charges
The following points apply to any work undertaken by Soap Creative Ltd, whether requested verbally or in writing:
Before any work starts, Soap Creative Ltd and the Customer/Client will agree a fixed price for the project, based on an agreed scope. The fixed price covers everything needed to deliver that scope, including but not limited to design, coding, site visits, technical queries and advice or consultancy (written or verbal).
If the Customer/Client changes the agreed scope after the fixed price has been agreed, Soap Creative Ltd will discuss the change with the Customer/Client and agree a revised price before carrying out any additional work.
Any work not covered by an agreed fixed price will be charged at Soap Creative Ltd's standard rate at the time it is undertaken, unless agreed otherwise in advance.
No full payment will be taken until the project(s) are complete. Final payment must be received before a project goes live.
Project start and completion dates can only be agreed, and are only valid, once Soap Creative Ltd has received all requested or required material from the Customer/Client. If delays occur because of incomplete information from the Customer/Client, Soap Creative Ltd will not be held responsible for delays to the originally agreed dates.
When dealing with the Customer/Client's third-party providers (hosting, IT or ISP), Soap Creative Ltd cannot be held responsible for any delays they cause.
Payment
All invoices must be paid on receipt unless otherwise agreed by Soap Creative Ltd.
Best practices
Soap Creative Ltd will use its best endeavours to deliver services by the mutually agreed estimated completion date. However, it does not guarantee a completion date and will not be held responsible for any claims or damages arising from a delay.
Ownership
Any files, graphics or programming work remain the property of Soap Creative Ltd until all fees are paid, at which point the Customer/Client takes full ownership of the work undertaken. This excludes materials provided by the Customer/Client.
Once all fees are paid, the Customer/Client owns 100% of all bespoke code, for use and resale. There is no restriction on selling the original code to someone else, for example when transferring ownership of the business.
Intellectual property
Soap Creative Ltd's methodology for writing and organising code is unique to it. This is referred to as the Intellectual Property and is protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All code is provided under an irrevocable and perpetual licence to the Customer/Client, allowing full ownership, reuse, alteration, transfer of ownership, sale and the freedom to change supplier. Reselling Soap Creative Ltd's unique methodology is restricted unless agreed between both parties.
Promotion
Soap Creative Ltd loves showing off good work, but a lot of what it does is confidential or white label, so it will always ask the Customer/Client's permission before using any work in its marketing. Your secrets are our secrets: at no time will Soap Creative Ltd share any of the Customer/Client's confidential information with any third party.
Content
Design layouts and sitemaps are considered complete once the Customer/Client has approved them, verbally or in writing. Any later changes will be quoted and agreed with the Customer/Client before they are carried out.
Images outside the scope of the project must be provided in digital form, or in a form that can be easily scanned, unless the Customer/Client's contract says otherwise. Any further revisions will be quoted and agreed before they are carried out.
Content must be provided in digital form, unless Soap Creative Ltd is writing the copy. Three rounds of revisions are included in the fixed price. Further revisions will be quoted and agreed before they are carried out.
The Customer/Client is responsible for making sure all content they provide to Soap Creative Ltd is properly licensed and does not infringe copyright. Soap Creative Ltd cannot be held responsible for any copyright claims on copy or images. The Customer/Client must ensure any third-party work is fully licensed before it is used.
Entering data into database applications is the Customer/Client's responsibility. If Soap Creative Ltd enters data, this will be quoted and agreed in advance, unless otherwise agreed with the Customer/Client.
Refunds
Soap Creative Ltd does not take full payment until the Customer/Client's project(s) have been 100% approved and launched. Because the Customer/Client approves each stage of the project as it goes, Soap Creative Ltd does not offer refunds on completed work. It is the Customer/Client's responsibility to make sure they are 100% happy with all work before moving on to the next stage.
If at any stage of the design or build the Customer/Client is unhappy with any aspect of the work, they may cancel the project, 100% risk free.
Soap Creative Ltd reserves the right to keep all design and build work undertaken on the Customer/Client's behalf if no payment is received.
If any problems arise after the project has launched, please see Support.
Support
Soap Creative Ltd offers free support for the first 30 days after the project has been approved and launched. If a problem is found to be Soap Creative Ltd's fault, it will be fixed free of charge. If a problem is caused by the Customer/Client, the fix will be quoted and agreed before it is carried out.
Problems that take less than 30 minutes to fix may be fixed for free, on a case-by-case basis.
Questions about how to use the finished project (such as using the CMS or online store) are supported free of charge.
Updates to codebases (such as WordPress security updates) are covered free of charge while Soap Creative Ltd hosts the Customer/Client's website. Soap Creative Ltd is responsible for making sure all security updates are completed promptly, unless otherwise agreed.
If the Customer/Client hosts their website independently, Soap Creative Ltd will not be held responsible for any security updates.