Terms of service

Italics Bold Terms and Conditions under which we, Italics Bold, provide all design, development, consulting and support services. You (the business) agree to these terms when you accept a quotation. Due to the varying projects that we are able to provide for businesses, it is necessary to create guidelines to improve communication and working relationships with our clients. We take pride in each project and understand that your business must be managed with the highest level of care, consideration and communication.

Italics Bold has two areas of Terms and Conditions:

  • General Project Terms and Conditions
  • Support Terms and Conditions

Please ensure that You (the business) are familiar with all these terms and conditions and please contact us to clarify any questions. Thank you for your business.

GENERAL PROJECT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Quotations and Variations

Quotations supplied by Italics Bold are estimates based on the information supplied by the client. If the design and/or development time and requirements are outside the project scope and quoted amount, or the client is unable to provide a full project specification, Italics Bold may need to amend the quote. Please note that once the quoted project is complete, further support may be required. Please refer to our Support terms and conditions below.

At the time of quoting, we may specify a delivery date for your project. This date will commence from the payment of the deposit amount. If the project journeys outside of the scope of work due to additions or delays, the delivery date may require changing. Italics Bold will ensure that any change to delivery dates is communicated to the client prior.

Quotations are only valid for 30 days and if not accepted in writing may be varied after that time.

2. Accepting Projects with Italics Bold

By accepting a project with Italics Bold it is also your (the business) understanding that ongoing support, outside the quoted project description, will be charged separately. Please refer to our Support Fees below or at this link.

Italics Bold will not commence any project without a paid deposit in accordance with the invoiced percentage, unless otherwise agreed in writing (via email) between Italics Bold and the client.

3. Time tracking and reports

Italics Bold uses task and time tracking software to record and report all hours on all projects. These reports are generally only for internal accounting purposes, but may under some circumstances be provided to Clients upon request.

If The Client requires detailed time tracking for a project, then this must be specified prior to quotation and commencement of the project.

Where time sheets are provided, The Client has seven (7) days to review the times and lodge any query or complaint. After 7 days the times will be deemed accepted and subject to billing.

4. Hosting and Backups

Italics Bold is often asked to provide hosting services in conjunction with website and software development. It should be noted that hosting terms and conditions are separate to these terms and conditions. Hosting fees do not usually include any form of support or maintenance of software, nor do fees associated with the website or software development cover any aspects of hosting.

Software Back up

As digital designers and developers, we do not automatically provide ongoing backups of your website / software beyond the end of the project period. We do however offer Ongoing Support contracts which you can view here. Software/website backups are not part of our standard terms and conditions, and if required, a service agreement can be negotiated.

If you would like Italics Bold to provide ongoing backup of your website then this must be specified in a separate support agreement or hosting agreement.

Maintenance and Security

The online world is forever changing and websites being hacked are a reality. Once your site is live, we are not responsible for any necessary ongoing maintenance or security measures. If you are in need of ongoing support and maintenance, we do offer a monthly support service.

5. Fees

All time is calculated in 30 minute increments minimum. Visits to your site/meetings are charged including travel time with a minimum of 2 hours.

Work required at very short notice may also incur additional surcharges depending on availability of staff/contractors.

Urgent / Priority Projects

Work that is deemed urgent and/or a priority by the client is subject to an additional fee of 15% of the applicable project or hourly fee. Italics Bold should be compensated to complete urgent and/or priority work which is scheduled in front of current projects. This additional 15% fee covers the administration time that Italics Bold will need to shuffle current project timelines and liaising with clients. This 15% fee will be advised at time of quoting.

6. Payment

If not otherwise specified payment terms will be as follows:

  • Projects up to $1,000 – billed upon completion, payable in 14 days.
  • Projects from $1,000 to $10,000 – require a 50% deposit. Final amount will be billed upon completion and payable within 14 days.
  • Projects over $10,000 – Specific terms will be negotiated.
  • Casual work will be billed every 10 hours or less if the task is smaller.
  • Payment plans – Specific terms will be negotiated. Please refer to your quotation/invoice.
  • If a project is delayed beyond 14 days due to delayed supply of content and/or feedback from client or a job is cancelled, a percentage will be invoiced to cover work already completed. Italics Bold will deem the percentage amount based on work completed.

7. Invoice Payment Terms

Invoice total is due fourteen (14) days from date of invoice.

Late payments may incur fees

A fee of 10% of the invoice total will incur if payments are not made within 45 days from date of invoice. A further 10% will be compounded for each 45 days that follow.

Payment Terms and Conditions

By accepting a project with Italics Bold it is your responsibility to make payments or pay in full by the due date noted on your invoice. Italics Bold accepts direct debit transfers for payment. Please note that we do not accept any payments by fax or phone.

Most projects require a 50% deposit on acceptance of a quote. Payment Plans can be negotiated on a project-by-project basis.

The project will not commence until the 50% deposit payment is made and cleared in the Italics Bold bank account detailed on the bottom of each invoice.

On project completion the remaining 50% of the total quoted amount, plus any additional payments agreed to throughout the project will be sent for payment. If the final invoice amount is not received by the due date noted on the invoice, services created by Italics Bold may be terminated and you (the business)  will not have access.  In this scenario, all services provided by Italics Bold will be available for full use again, once payment has been received in full. All artwork and code remains the property of Italics Bold until the final invoice has been paid. At this time, ownership is automatically transferred to you (the business).

By accepting a project with Italics Bold you (the business) agree to make payments on the specified dates and the agreed amounts stated on the quotation and any email communication.

8. Bugs and User Acceptance

Bugs

Once your website goes live, we offer a 30 day period where ‘bugs’ are fixed. Bugs are defined as functionality that is broken. This 30 day period does not include additional interface changes, functionality adjustments, content management or changes to the original project scope.

User Acceptance

It is your (the business) responsibility to do prompt thorough User Acceptance testing to ensure that the design and/or development meets the agreed specifications and to notify Italics Bold within 30 days of project completion if a fault is found. Issues reported after 30 days will be fixed at regular contracting hourly rates as noted in our Ongoing Support Fees page.

9. Web Browser Testing

Websites are viewed using a Web Browser Software. There are many different web browsers in use at any time and the developers are constantly changing how the browsers perform. In addition, browser plug-ins such as Flash, JavaScript, Java, PDFs, Video, Audio are constantly changing and may or may not be installed.

Due to the fact that different browsers interpret HTML code differently it is not possible to ensure that a website looks the same in all browsers. Common variations may include:

  • different screen resolution
  • different fonts and font sizes
  • different colours
  • different positioning and padding between elements

Italics Bold can only be expected to design websites to work with current browser technology, and can not guarantee that the site will function properly in future web browsers.

10. Search Engine Listings

Italics Bold does not guarantee listings on Search Engines and the Client accepts that it is Search Engines and not Italics Bold who determine whom they list and whom they will not. The Client further understands there is no guaranteed placement or rank on the Search Engines and that a new website may never even appear on Search Engines at all. Italics Bold does not control Search Engines’ algorithms and huge shifts can appear daily, weekly and even hourly. Italics Bold strongly recommends The Client seek consultation from a dedicated SEO company if search results are an important part of their marketing strategy.

11. Attribution and Promotion

Italics Bold reserves the right to place our logo and a link to our website on any website or software we develop unless specifically outlined by client before development commences. We may also use The Clients name and website URL and images of the website/software in any promotional materials about Italics Bold.

12. Content Insertion

If copy writing and proofing services are required Italics Bold can provide these services which will need to be quoted separately to the design and/or development of your website project.

In general we do not develop website copy unless specifically scoped in a project. All copy must be provided by the client in a final proofed digital format. Italics Bold will simply copy-paste content directly into the final site designs and will not check content for errors. Any copy corrections will be charged to the client.

In the case of a Content Management System (CMS) based website, it is generally accepted that the client is responsible for entering and publishing all site content. Italics Bold will hand over site editing tools and provide documentation (and training if scoped). It is the client’s responsibility to become familiar with the site editing tools and enter all necessary content prior to the site launch.

The delivery date of a completed CMS based website is not dependant on completion or testing of client copy. Any delay in the creation of content by the client will not delay the final delivery and associated invoicing deadlines.

13. Client provided materials

In most projects, it is necessary for The Client to provide materials such as logos, images, text, site content and data. Where The Client provide such materials to Italics Bold, it is The Client’s responsibility to ensure the correctness of the content, that The Client has full rights to the content and that it does not violate any licenses or copyright.

If The Client changes content or images after it has been provided to Italics Bold then additional fees will be charged for work hours involved.

14. Approval of Final Artwork

While Italics Bold Pty Ltd takes all care to avoid errors, Italics Bold Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for typographical errors, spelling mistakes, or incorrect information on any project committed to print or production. The Client is to proof read and approve all final copy before the production of artwork. The email verification of the Client’s Representative shall be conclusive as to the approval of all artwork prior to their release for printing, implementation or installation. No refunds or reprints are given after a final
approved design has gone to print due oversights by The Client’s proofreading.

SUPPORT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Support Terms and Conditions is defined under which Italics Bold may provide ongoing design, development and technical support once the original project has been completed according to the original quotation.

Ongoing Support Fees

Please refer to our Ongoing Support Fees for full pricing and description.

Italics Bold does not guarantee that emergency support will be available at all times. Italics Bold is unable to provide an instant response to all issues that may arise.

Emergency support outside of business hours (Mon – Friday 9am-5pm AEST, excluding public holidays) is not guaranteed, however if support is provided during this time a premium hourly fee of $200 + gst will be invoiced.

Hourly support fee

Italics Bold offers design, development and website support at an hourly fee of $100 + gst. The exact fees and timeframe will always depend on the specific skills required at the time of a project and will vary if additional resources are required at short notice or with specialised skills.

This support fee will be raised when you (the business) requests one-off support assistance including, but not limited to, website content and image updates, email address set-up, website bugs, assisting new staff with business setup, supplying and updating domain information such as passwords and usernames, supplying duplicate source files, general development updates and fixes.

By requesting support from Italics Bold you, the business, agrees to pay the hourly support fee of $100+gst.

If we find that support is needed on a regular basis, we can offer monthly support outlined on our Support + Maintenance page here.

Invoicing the Support Charge

The hourly support fee will be invoiced in 30 minute blocks if the initial project does not require one hour. The amount of time required will be at the discretion of the developer when commencing support to your business. The approximation of hours needed to assist your business may vary once the developer has initiated the support.