Terms and conditions and/or contract

Neon

Member
In your work outline to clients, do you give them ts & cs AND a contract? Are they different things or should they almost be in the same document?
 
Terms and conditions generally cover broad topics that apply to how you work, such as when payment should be taken, when payments are overdue, what happens when a payment is late, who retains copyrights when work is complete, etc.

A contract is written/amended specifically for a particular project or client. You may want to hand over complete copyrights to a client who's paying for them, or you may have agreed that your payment terms are different or that you'll bill in stages, so you would basically explain everything in the contract and both parties agree on it. Essentially a contract is just a written agreement between parties.

I haven't written a contract for a while, mainly because I work with the same clients, and our relationship is more casual now. They know what I expect and vice versa. Saying that, I should probably get some new terms written up…
 
Thanks Paul. I need to go over mine and streamline them. I have been sending generic Ts and Cs, and then providing a contract with the job so it sounds like I have been doing the correct thing.

Thank again
 
I'd recommend you have some method of proving that your client has seen your T&Cs. If ever you need to take action against them (payment, ownership etc) then you can then rely on them. A client can simply say they have never read them and you'll lose the protection you thought they offered you. I speak from experience!
 
I'd recommend you have some method of proving that your client has seen your T&Cs. If ever you need to take action against them (payment, ownership etc) then you can then rely on them. A client can simply say they have never read them and you'll lose the protection you thought they offered you. I speak from experience!

It's not so much being able to prove that the customer has seen the Ts&Cs but being able to prove that you have given them the opportunity to read them and that they have, at some point, agreed to those Ts&Cs. This could be as simple as a line within the deposit request email that says "by making payment, you are confirming that you have read and agree to our terms and conditions. A copy of our terms and conditions can be found here[hyperlink]."
 
Hi everybody, I am new to the group.
I have been a graphic designer for 20 years, mainly working for companies, but the last few years I have gone freelance. I work with agencies, which already have their own set of T&Cs, but I also have a small amount of my own private clients.
I have a standard estimate and invoice that I send out, but never had any T&Cs. I have looked online, and viewed other companies. Some are too legal in their writing and some are too informal. I have been looking for something in-between.

The basics that I want to cover is payment, ownership / copyright of design, and most importantly liability. So if any mistakes have been made it has to be down to the client who signed off (usually by email confirmation). Mistakes made by what the clients supplied and/or mistakes made by myself. Just want that safety net incase something goes to print with errors.

I know that there isn't anything full proof, but I think that it can show your clients that you are serious about these things.

Does anyone know of where I can get a 'standard' set of T&Cs? I have spoken to lawyers who want (what I believe) a over the top price for something that could be pretty generic. One firm estimate £3000 - £5000 for a a daft., and that was after I supply him with samples that I have found. I am all for paying for a serve. But that seemed ridiculous to me. On the same token, I don't want to take various versions and muddle something together myself. Not even sure if that would stand up or not.

Anyhow, any help or advice would be fantastic, or if you are willing to share what you have in place, I would be extremely grateful.

Thank you!
 
You could search other design companies/freelancers for their T&C's and tweak that to suit you.
 
You could search other design companies/freelancers for their T&C's and tweak that to suit you.

Hi Scotty, many thanks for you message. That is one thing that I have been doing. Just worried that if I tweaked too much, it wouldn't mean anything.
 
To be honest that's what I was thinking of doing.

I guess if it's not too legal mumbo jumbo and fairly easy to understand then it'd be pretty safe.

Says he. :rolleyes:
 
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