In this increasingly unpleasant litigious society of ours it seems everyone is reluctant to perform their day to day work without some sort of a legal contract in place. In my opinion “legalese stuff(iness)” can leave our heads spinning and take enjoyment away from our work. Rather than referring to this as a contract I prefer to approach this documentation as a mutually binding agreement of trust and respect. I will not oblige you to sign anything. An old fashioned word of honour and a handshake is good enough for me if it is also acceptable for you. However, all that said, IT project work from inception to completion is complicated so if you feel more comfortable with a written contract I will be glad to accommodate your request. I will leave it up to you to decide.
In addition to project work agreement details outlined here, Ataraxis Web Design, hereafter referred to simply as “Ataraxis”, is agreeable to conform to a non-disclosure agreement to protect all proprietary or strategic business information of a Client. Clients are responsible for providing any documentation to cover all such requests.
Business functions of Ataraxis are designing, developing, and hosting Internet domains as well as IT project management consulting services for those same functions. Freelance writing services are also offered as an auxiliary supporting service. A Client hires Ataraxis as an independent contractor to design, develop, as well as to provide managed VPS host services. Ataraxis acknowledges that all work performed on any project or through managed VPS host services are provided with an understanding that Ataraxis will act as a contractor to any Client. It becomes solely responsibility of Ataraxis to collect and remit any applicable provincial or federal employment taxes, provincial sales taxes, as well as goods and services taxes.
My Internet information technology work revolves around three phases of consulting as well as an IT project life cycle. Phase One of IT project consulting processes provides a Client an opportunity to gain a full understanding and appreciation of potential benefits to be derived from an online presence to promote their work. At phase one a Client will know whether or not they should proceed with a development project. Phase two is a time for Ataraxis to perform research to prepare for an IT project development. Phase three produces a website design blueprint report. Please read my IT project development consulting presentation for an in depth understanding.
Each IT project development time line is unique. Ataraxis breaks down those processes into three phases.
Each project is influenced by a multitude of variables. It is not practical to try to assign a project completion time line before all requirements have been assessed and discussed. Clients will receive a project development completion estimate during this IT consulting stage. Any such estimate can be adversely affected by change requests initiated by a Client. As an estimate though, once all necessary material has been submitted by a Client it should take 30 days days or less. It will depend on how many domain pages are likely to be required.
After project development has been completed it is put through a series of tests to ensure that everything is performing to expectations prior to uploading a live production version to the Internet:
It is not uncommon to have to make adjustments to elements or content of a project during development or post-production to a live domain. All such requests are handled on a case by case basis. If the nature of a Client's request is minor no project surcharges will apply. However, if a change request is deemed to be significant a Client will be provided with an explanation as to why it is and that a surcharge may apply. Surcharges are dependent on whether a change request affects a single page, multiple pages, or an entire domain. If a change request is due to an error or oversight caused by Ataraxis then no surcharges will apply. Post-development change requests are governed by technical support time allotment as outlined in my managed VPS host agreement.
A Client agrees to provide, in a timely manner, all agreed upon copywritten content as determined during project consulting phases. After mutual agreement of Phase 2 is established Phase 3 of a project development process will begin. During this time a Client will provide copywritten documentation, logos, images, audio or video files, databases, as well as any other content deemed necessary. All this material must be received by Ataraxis in electronic format or else there will be a surcharge to convert it into a workable electronic format. The aforementioned does not apply to portions Ataraxis has agreed to provide. Timely receipt of this data is critical to an IT project time line completion.
By entering into a project agreement with Ataraxis a Client is bound to an unconditional guarantee that all materials of text, image graphics, audio or video files, or other artwork provided to Ataraxis by a Client for domain inclusion are owned by the Client. If a Client is not a rightful owner of all such material then the Client must provide proof of having obtained all necessary permissions and/or waivers from rightful trademark or copyright owners to use any such material. Any referenced trademark images, names, or terms must be indicated at point of use by applying a “™” symbol and acknowledged in the page footer. A Client agrees to protect and defend Ataraxis from any claim or suit of wrongful use of any such material.
All copyrights to any text, image graphics, as well as audio or video files produced by Ataraxis will be assigned, and become the rightful intellectual property of a Client, at the time that full project payment has been received by Ataraxis. All server side applications which are not owned by Ataraxis, but are used as per applicable licence agreements, are for Client use only. All such server side applications remain the property of their respective trademark or copyright owners.
A Client understands and acknowledges that upon completion of the project development phase that a VPS host account is created for a Client on a virtual private server of Ataraxis. This account is known as managed VPS hosting. From that point onward all business transactions between a Client and Ataraxis will then be governed by the managed VPS host agreement. All Clients who have had a minimum ten (10) page domain designed and developed by Ataraxis are entitled to free managed VPS host services for a period of one (1) year beginning when a domain goes live. This free hosting offer is only valid for hosting a completed project on a virtual private server (VPS) of Ataraxis. These private name servers are known and designated as NS1.ATARAXISWEBDESIGN.COM & NS2.ATARAXISWEBDESIGN.COM and are physically located within the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. At the end of the 1 year free hosting period a Client may choose to subscribe to a managed VPS host plan at regular rates.
If a Client chooses to designate an alternative third party service as their domain host provider Ataraxis cannot be held responsible for poor site performance caused by potentially unreliable third party domain host servers.
If a Client wants to have the one (1) year post-development free maintenance portion of a project fulfilled while hosting their domain with a third party hosting company the following conditions must be met:
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am committed to post-development continued support to ensure you are always satisfied with the service and attention you receive. Rather than subscribe to a third party host service I encourage you to trust your ongoing site maintenance to Ataraxis so you need not be concerned about details such as those mentioned above.
All financial information for the entire scope of IT project developer work offered by Ataraxis is outlined on my price list. After an initial consultation as outlined on my IT project development consulting page, but prior to beginning any project, a Client will receive a written estimate of the total project cost from inception to completion. You will not find any “package rates” here. I have no bronze, silver, gold, or any of those other template boards. All IT project development work performed by Ataraxis is customized to your requirement. Nor will I ask you what your budget is. I do not own a pegboard to try to squeeze you into. You are unique, how you perform your work is unique, and my personal and dedicated attention to detail will also ensure that your online presence is unique.
Despite my efforts to address potential conflicts that may arise out of this business agreement Ataraxis reserves the right to amend this agreement without prior notice. All such amendments are posted here. The date of last revision is indicated in the page header. Clients are responsible to keep up-to-date with changes that may, or may not, be applicable to their situation.
If a dispute should arise as a result of misinterpretation of documentation on this page all reasonable efforts will be made to resolve the matter in a mutually agreeable manner. Any amendments to this page will only be made after any such disputes have been acknowledged via electronic mail (email) with an affected Client. Upon acknowledgment, but possibly prior to a resolution, this agreement may be amended to prevent any more potential similar occurrences with future Clients. In simpler words; an amendment will not be made simply to try to evade an outstanding issue without first acknowledging it so that it has been documented.
If any disputes of this agreement should get out of control to a point where it can only be resolved in a court of law then it will be addressed in the City of Brampton, Region of Peel, Province of Ontario, Country of Canada, Planet Earth, Third Rock from the Sun.
Not withstanding any earthly court decisions, vindication and absolution shall be determined through Akashic Records transcribed in the ether at a future time unknown to either party of the dispute ;)
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