These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of services provided by Dependable Website Company LLC, an Arizona limited liability company doing business as DW/Co. (“DW/Co.”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). By engaging us — including by accepting these Terms at checkout, signing a statement of work, or paying an invoice — you (“Client”, “you”) agree to be bound by these Terms.
We’ve tried to write this in plain English. Where something is genuinely a legal term, we’ve kept it. If anything is unclear, ask before you accept.
1. Our services
We design, build, and operate websites. Our offerings are:
- DW/Co. Core Site — a configurator-driven fixed-price website build. Foundation plus styled pages and optional add-ons (CMS, donate, directory, lead capture, etc.), priced from our public calculator and amortized over 12 months by default.
- DW/Co. Custom Retainers — month-to-month engagements scoped per Statement of Work for work outside the Core Site configurator. Common surfaces: Product, UX, Strategy, Web Apps, CRO, and Content. Each retainer has its own SOW with hours, scope, and minimum term.
- DW/Co. Care Plans — ongoing post-launch operations (Basic, Plus, or Pro). Hosting, uptime monitoring, security, daily backups, analytics, monthly reporting, edits, and net-new pages by tier.
- Hourly work — ad-hoc work outside an active build or retainer is billed at our published hourly rate of $200/hour, in 0.25-hour increments. Care Plus and Care Pro subscribers receive 20% off.
A detailed breakdown of what is included in each is published on our Inclusions & Exclusions page, which is incorporated into and made part of these Terms by reference.
2. Acceptance and the agreement between us
Your agreement with us consists of:
- These Terms;
- Our Inclusions & Exclusions page;
- The specific selections you make at checkout (tier, add-ons, page count, payment option); and
- For Custom Retainer engagements, a separate Statement of Work (“SOW”) signed by both parties.
If anything in a signed SOW conflicts with these Terms, the SOW controls for that engagement only.
3. Payment terms
3.1 Core Site builds
Core Site engagements are sold as fixed-price products configured from the public calculator. You choose between two payment options at checkout, and the option you choose determines when you own the site:
- Upfront, in full — you own the website and code upon delivery.
- Over 12 months, in equal monthly installments beginning at checkout — you own the website and code when the final installment is paid.
If you choose the 12-month option, you agree to pay all 12 installments. The total owed is fixed at checkout; this is a payment plan, not a subscription. Your project will typically be delivered well before month 12, but installments continue until the agreed total is paid. You may pay off the remaining balance early at any time without penalty, in which case ownership transfers immediately upon receipt of the final payment.
If you want immediate ownership of your site, choose the upfront option. Otherwise, until final payment, work product is licensed to you solely for the purpose of operating the site we build for you, and ownership remains with us. See Section 6.
3.2 Custom Retainers
Custom Retainer engagements (Product, UX, Strategy, Web Apps, CRO, Content, or other scopes defined in an SOW) are billed monthly in advance. The monthly fee, included hours, milestone schedule, and minimum term (no fewer than 3 months unless otherwise stated) are set out in the SOW for each engagement.
Custom Retainers are not fixed-bid arrangements. If the scope grows beyond what was planned at signing — through new requirements, expanded integrations, or other additions — we will extend the engagement by additional months or roll the work to our hourly rate ($200/hour) rather than absorb the work. We will identify scope expansion in writing before extending, and you will have the opportunity to descope before the next milestone.
3.3 Care Plans
Care Basic is included with every Core Site and Custom Retainer engagement at no additional charge for the duration of your engagement — 12 months for Core Site, or the term set out in your SOW for Custom Retainers. After the included engagement period, Care Basic continues at $150/month flat: hosting, monitoring, security patches, daily backups, SSL, and 2 edits/month. You may upgrade to Plus or Pro at any time.
Plus and Pro Care Plans are billed monthly in advance. During your first year, Plus and Pro are offered at 50% off the published rate as part of the build engagement. Beginning month 13, the standard rate applies automatically unless you change tiers.
All Care Plans are month-to-month. You may upgrade at any time, effective immediately, with prorated billing. Cancellation requires 30 days’ written notice. Downgrades require 45 days’ written notice, in either case taking effect at the end of the notice period.
Canceling Care Basic ends hosting, monitoring, security, and backup services, and you remain responsible for arranging alternate hosting before the cancellation takes effect. Downgrading from Plus or Pro returns you to Basic — at no cost during your initial engagement, or at $150/month thereafter.
3.4 Add-ons and post-launch work
Add-ons added during a build are billed at checkout or, if added mid-build, on the next invoice. Post-launch work beyond your Care Plan allowance is billed from our published menu at the time the work is approved, with your tier discount applied if eligible (Plus and Pro: 20% off).
3.5 Late payments
Invoices are due on receipt unless otherwise stated. Past-due amounts accrue interest at 1.5% per month, or the maximum permitted by law (whichever is lower), beginning 15 days after the invoice date. If payment is more than 15 days late, we may suspend services (including hosting) after providing 5 days’ written notice. If payment is more than 30 days late, we may terminate the engagement and accelerate any remaining balance under a 12-month payment plan. Reinstatement after suspension may incur a reasonable reactivation fee covering the work required to restore service.
3.6 Refunds
All fees are non-refundable except where required by law. If we materially fail to deliver and do not cure within 30 days of written notice, you may terminate and we will refund any prepaid amounts attributable to undelivered work. See Section 9.
3.7 Taxes
You are responsible for any sales, use, VAT, GST, or similar taxes applicable to the services, except taxes on our net income.
3.8 Third-party costs
Third-party services not included in our standard tooling (premium plugins, paid SaaS, advanced email infrastructure, image licensing beyond what we include, etc.) are billed by those providers directly to you. We will identify any such costs before incurring them on your behalf.
4. Project process and your responsibilities
4.1 Phases
Builds move through Strategy, Design, Build, and Launch. Care begins at launch. Each phase has expected timelines we will share at kickoff.
4.2 What we need from you
To deliver on time, we need:
- A single primary point of contact authorized to approve work on your behalf;
- Timely feedback within the windows set out in your kickoff document;
- Content (text, images, brand assets, third-party access) when requested;
- Approvals at the end of each phase before we proceed to the next.
4.3 Feedback windows and project pause
If we are awaiting feedback, content, or approvals from you for more than 14 consecutive days, we may pause your project and requeue it behind active engagements. If a pause exceeds 45 days, we may charge a reasonable resumption fee to reschedule team capacity, calculated based on the work required to re-onboard the project.
4.4 Revisions during the build
We allow unlimited revisions during the build. Each round of revisions is typically completed within 2 to 7 business days, depending on scope and team availability. Revisions to previously approved phases may extend the project timeline; we will tell you the impact before proceeding.
4.5 Timelines
Estimated timelines depend on prompt collaboration from you. We are not liable for delays caused by missing content, late feedback, missed approvals, or third-party dependencies outside our control.
5. Care Plan operations
5.1 Definitions
Care Plan work is classified into three types, defined on the Inclusions & Exclusions page:
- Edit — a small change to existing content or design.
- Update — a medium change reusing existing patterns.
- Net New — a big or custom change requiring original design or structure.
We classify each request before starting and tell you how it will count.
5.2 Allowances and rollover
- Edits do not roll over from month to month on any tier.
- Unused net-new pages bank forward up to 90 days on Plus and Pro.
5.3 Pro fair use
Pro’s “unlimited” edits are offered in good faith for typical small-to-mid business operations. Sustained agency-scale usage may prompt a scope conversation about moving to a Custom Retainer. We will not impose surprise charges; we will simply have a conversation if usage consistently exceeds what is reasonable for a single business.
5.4 Plan changes
You may upgrade your Care Plan at any time, effective immediately, with prorated billing. Downgrades require 45 days’ written notice and take effect at the end of the notice period. Plan changes do not affect the during-engagement vs post-engagement pricing schedule. Downgrading from Plus or Pro returns you to Basic — at no cost during your initial engagement, or at $150/month thereafter.
6. Ownership and intellectual property
6.1 Transfer of ownership
Once your build is paid in full — whether by upfront payment or completion of all 12 monthly installments — you own the website and code we delivered to you for that engagement, including custom design files and content we produced specifically for you. Ownership transfer is automatic upon final payment; no separate assignment is required.
The timing of ownership transfer follows the payment option you chose at checkout:
- Upfront payment — ownership transfers upon delivery.
- 12-month payment plan — ownership transfers upon receipt of the final installment, or earlier if you pay off the remaining balance ahead of schedule.
If you want ownership at the time of delivery, choose the upfront option at checkout.
For Custom Retainer engagements, ownership transfers per the terms of the SOW, which generally tracks the same principle: you own what you’ve paid for.
6.2 Migration
If you choose to host elsewhere after ownership transfers, we will migrate your site to your new host for a flat $500 migration fee. Migration includes a clean export, deployment to the destination environment, DNS coordination, and a basic post-migration verification pass. It does not include rebuilding for incompatible platforms or replicating features dependent on our tooling.
6.3 What does not transfer
The following are not part of any engagement and do not transfer:
- Domains — we do not purchase domains on your behalf. Your domain registration remains with you throughout.
- Third-party tool accounts (Google Analytics, Search Console, Calendly, Mailchimp, etc.) — these are registered to you from the start.
- Our internal templates, design systems, frameworks, code libraries, processes, and methodology — including any pre-existing or generally reusable components we use to build your site. You receive a license to use these as embedded in your site, but the underlying components remain ours and may be reused on other engagements.
6.4 During development
Until the build is paid in full, work product is provided to you under a limited license to operate the site as we deliver it. We retain ownership of works in progress and may suspend access to the site if payment is materially overdue (see Section 3.5).
6.5 Portfolio rights
We may display, describe, and link to your site as part of our portfolio, case studies, and marketing materials. If you require confidentiality on portfolio use, request it in writing before we begin and we will accommodate reasonable limits.
6.6 Your content
You represent that any content you provide us — text, images, video, logos, data — is owned by you or properly licensed for the use we will make of it. You grant us a license to use that content as needed to perform the services. You will indemnify us for claims arising from content you provide. See Section 12.
6.7 AI-assisted work product
Some of our work — including agentic copywriting first passes — is produced with the assistance of AI tools. You own the resulting work product on the same terms as any other deliverable, subject to applicable third-party AI tool terms which we will not knowingly violate on your behalf.
7. Hosting, security, backups, and uptime
We host on enterprise infrastructure and perform daily backups, security monitoring, and routine patching. We target high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service. Backups are retained on a rolling 30-day basis.
If you require a formal uptime SLA with credits, we offer one in Custom Retainer engagements on request.
8. Subcontractors and AI tools
We may engage subcontractors and use AI-assisted tools to deliver services. We remain responsible for the quality of the work and the protection of your information regardless of who or what produces it.
9. Cancellation and termination
9.1 Cancellation of a build mid-engagement
If you cancel a Core Site build before launch:
- You owe for all work completed up to the cancellation date, valued in our reasonable judgment based on phases delivered.
- Payments already made are not refunded except to the extent they exceed the value of work delivered.
- If you are on the 12-month payment plan and cancel before launch, the remaining balance up to the value of work delivered is due immediately.
9.2 Cancellation of a Care Plan
All Care Plans are month-to-month and may be canceled with 30 days’ written notice. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the notice period. Downgrades require 45 days’ written notice. Canceling Care Basic ends hosting, monitoring, security, and backup services; you are responsible for arranging alternate hosting before the cancellation takes effect.
9.3 Termination for cause
Either party may terminate the engagement on 30 days’ written notice if the other party materially breaches these Terms and fails to cure the breach within that period. Non-payment is a material breach.
9.4 Effect of termination
Upon termination:
- Sections 6 (Ownership), 11 (Limitation of liability), 12 (Indemnification), 13 (Confidentiality), and 14 (Governing law) survive.
- We will, at your request and upon payment of any amounts owed (including the $500 migration fee if applicable), provide a clean export of your site.
- We may, after termination and a reasonable transition period, take down hosting and remove access to our internal tools.
10. Warranties and disclaimers
10.1 Our warranty
We warrant that the services will be performed in a professional and workmanlike manner. For 30 days following launch, you receive unlimited revisions to the delivered build at no charge — including bug fixes and reasonable design or content changes — provided the issue or request is not caused by changes you or third parties make after handoff. After the 30-day post-launch period, ongoing changes are handled under your Care Plan.
10.2 What we do not warrant
Except as expressly stated above, services are provided “as is” and “as available”. We make no warranty regarding:
- Specific business outcomes (revenue, leads, sales);
- Search engine rankings or organic traffic;
- Third-party services, platforms, or integrations;
- Content provided by you; or
- Compatibility with future browsers, devices, or platforms not known at the time of delivery.
We disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
11. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law:
- Neither party will be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or business interruption, regardless of the legal theory.
- Our total aggregate liability under or related to these Terms will not exceed the amount you paid to us in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
- Caps and exclusions in this Section do not apply to (a) your obligation to pay amounts owed, (b) either party’s indemnification obligations, or (c) liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
12. Indemnification
You will indemnify us against any third-party claim arising from (a) content or materials you provide, (b) your use of the site in violation of law or third-party rights, or (c) your breach of these Terms.
We will indemnify you against any third-party claim that the work product we deliver, as delivered and used as intended, infringes that party’s U.S. intellectual property rights — excluding claims arising from your content, modifications made after handoff, or combinations with other materials. If such a claim arises, we may modify the work product, replace it, or refund fees attributable to the infringing portion, at our option.
13. Confidentiality
Each party will protect the other’s confidential information with reasonable care and use it only for purposes of the engagement. Confidential information does not include information that is public, independently developed, or rightfully received from a third party without confidentiality obligations. This Section survives termination for 3 years.
14. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. The parties consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the state and federal courts located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Before filing any legal action, the parties will attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith discussion for at least 30 days after written notice of the dispute.
15. Force majeure
Neither party is liable for failure to perform due to causes beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, war, civil unrest, government action, internet or infrastructure outages, or pandemics. The affected party will notify the other promptly and resume performance as soon as reasonably possible.
16. Notices
Notices must be in writing and sent to the email address on file for each party. Notices to us should be copied to legal@thedwco.com. Notices are effective on the next business day after sending.
17. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. For active clients, we will provide at least 30 days’ notice of material changes by email. Changes apply to services delivered after the effective date. Continued use of the services after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
18. Miscellaneous
- Independent contractors. We are independent contractors. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship.
- Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign to a successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all of our assets.
- Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
- No waiver. A failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.
- Entire agreement.These Terms, the Inclusions & Exclusions page, your checkout selections, and any signed SOW are the entire agreement between us and supersede any prior discussions or proposals.
19. Acceptance
By accepting these Terms at checkout, signing an SOW, or paying an invoice for our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms on behalf of yourself or the entity you represent, and that you have the authority to do so.
Dependable Website Company LLC · DW/Co. — Phoenix, Arizona · legal@thedwco.com
See also our Inclusions & Exclusions page.