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Terms of Business

While Chris McInnes Digital always strives to exceed your expectations, this agreement ensures both parties are aligned on project delivery. It clearly defines our respective responsibilities, project milestones, and the protocols for managing any adjustments or disputes along the way. If you have any questions about these terms of business, please feel free to email me.

Agreement between Chris McInnes, owner/operator of Chris McInnes Digital (hereinafter referred to as “Chris McInnes Digital” or “The Specialist”), and You, the authorised representative of “The Client” (hereinafter referred to as “The Client”), for work commencing in the capacity of Website Support Partner, Digital Specialist, or Designer.

1. SERVICES & SCOPE OF PLANS

Chris McInnes Digital provides ongoing website support under fixed monthly subscription plans (Website Care, Website Partner, and Digital Partner).

  • In-Scope Work: Monthly allowances cover tasks such as content updates, minor layout/styling adjustments, form fixes, link checking, performance reviews, and basic on-page SEO.
  • Out-of-Scope Work: Full website redesigns, platform migrations, major new functionality, complex custom integrations, or emergency after-hours work are not covered by the monthly plan allowance. These will be treated as separate projects and quoted under a separate scope of work.
  • Onboarding Requirement: For websites not originally built by Chris McInnes Digital, an initial Website Review & Setup is required before ongoing support can begin. This is a one-off onboarding charge used to confirm secure access, identify pre-existing bugs, and ensure the site infrastructure is suitable for ongoing maintenance.
  • Platform Support: Services are primarily optimized for Webflow, Squarespace, Astro, and Lumos frameworks. Other platforms must be reviewed and accepted individually.

2. PLAN ALLOWANCES & EXPIRATION

Each support plan includes a specific allocation of monthly implementation hours. Unused hours do not roll over to the next month. Your monthly allowance reserves ongoing availability and expires at the end of each billing cycle to keep workloads predictable and response times reliable.

3. COMMUNICATION & RESPONSE TIMES

Chris McInnes Digital can be reached via email or telephone from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm AEST/AEDT. Response times for initial support requests depend on your chosen plan tier:

  • Digital Partner: Same business day response.
  • Website Partner: 1 business day response.
  • Website Care: 2 business day response.

4. ESTIMATES & EXTRA WORK

If The Client requests work that exceeds their monthly plan allowance, Chris McInnes Digital will provide an estimate before commencing. An estimate is a guide to the final price based on expected hours and is not a fixed price. Work beyond the allowance will only begin once explicitly approved by The Client.

5. PAYMENT, FEES & COMMITMENTS

  • Monthly Plans: Support plans begin with an initial three-month commitment. After this period, billing continues on a month-to-month basis.
  • One-Off Fees: The initial Website Review & Setup fee (if applicable) and any separate project balances must be paid according to their specific project milestone terms.
  • Payment Terms: Payment by The Client is required within 14 days of receipt of invoice from Chris McInnes Digital. Payments are accepted via direct deposit, with bank details provided on the invoice.

6. THIRD-PARTY SUBSCRIPTIONS & FEES

The Client is directly responsible for all third-party subscription costs required to keep their website live, functional, and secure.

  • This includes, but is not limited to, website hosting (e.g., Webflow, Squarespace), domain registration, premium plugins, forms, analytics tools, and email marketing software.
  • Chris McInnes Digital does not pay for, manage, or clear these subscriptions on behalf of The Client.
  • It is The Client's responsibility to maintain valid payment methods within their own third-party accounts. Chris McInnes Digital is not liable for website downtime, data loss, or service suspension resulting from a Client's expired or failed third-party payment.

7. CANCELLATION & TERMINATION

  • Plan Cancellation: Following the initial three-month commitment, either party may terminate the monthly support plan by providing 30 days' written notice.
  • Project Abandonment: For standalone projects, if client communication (via email, phone, or video) ceases for a period of 90 consecutive days, Chris McInnes Digital reserves the right to cancel the project in writing. The Client will be invoiced a cancellation fee for all hours completed up to that date, and copyright of all incomplete work remains with the Specialist.

8. CONFIDENTIALITY

The Client shall inform Chris McInnes Digital in writing if any portion of data, material, or project details provided is confidential. Chris McInnes Digital agrees not to misuse or disclose any confidential information made available by The Client.

9. COPYRIGHT & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The Client guarantees that any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork supplied to Chris McInnes Digital are owned by The Client, or that The Client has explicit permission to use them. The Client will indemnify and defend Chris McInnes Digital from any claim arising from the use of materials provided by The Client.

10. WEBSITE OWNERSHIP & PORTFOLIO RIGHTS

The Client is entitled to full ownership of all final custom digital assets and configuration updates created during the contract upon full payment of all related fees. Chris McInnes Digital reserves the right to display, link to, and write about the completed work as part of an online portfolio, social media marketing, case studies, or publications.

11. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES & APPROVALS

Chris McInnes Digital takes all reasonable care to check website files, code, links, layouts, and text proofs for accuracy. However, final testing, review, and verification of live changes are considered a shared responsibility, and The Client must provide final sign-off before updates go live. Except to the extent that statutory consumer guarantees cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law, Chris McInnes Digital is not liable for loss, expense, or damage caused by an oversight, error, or omission once a change has been formally approved by The Client and published to the live environment.

12. BROWSER & ACCESSIBILITY TESTING

Websites are built and maintained to deliver an experience appropriate to the capabilities of modern, major browsers. Chris McInnes Digital tests updates against current versions of desktop and mobile browsers, including Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Edge) and Mozilla (Firefox). Because browsers use different rendering technologies, identical visual display across all devices cannot be guaranteed. Legacy browsers — including all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer — are not supported.

13. WARRANTIES & LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

  • Consumer Guarantees: Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in this agreement purports to modify, restrict, or exclude any statutory consumer guarantees or rights provided to you under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) or state-based fair trading legislation.
  • Limitation of Liability (Section 64A): To the maximum extent permitted by law, where Chris McInnes Digital breaches a statutory guarantee or standard of service, liability is strictly limited at the Specialist’s discretion to:
    1. The supplying of the website support services again; or
    2. The payment of the cost of having those specific services supplied again.
  • Performance & Downtime: Chris McInnes Digital does not warrant that the website updates will guarantee specific search engine rankings, financial revenue, or traffic levels, or that the operation of the web pages will be entirely uninterrupted or error-free. Chris McInnes Digital is not responsible for website downtime or data loss caused by third-party hosting failures, server disruptions, or infrastructure elements outside of the Specialist’s direct control.
  • Consequential Loss: To the extent permitted by law, neither party will be liable to the other for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages — including but not limited to loss of data, loss of business profits, or business interruption — arising out of or in connection with this agreement.

14. VARIATION OF TERMS

These terms can only be varied, amended, or altered by a written agreement (including confirmation via email) between Chris McInnes Digital and The Client.