Terms of Service.

Part A — Client terms

1. Who these terms are between

“I”, “me” and “Joe’s Websites” means Joachim Penc, a sole trader trading as Joe’s Websites, New Zealand. “You” means the business or person engaging me to design and build a website. Both of us are acting in trade.

2. How a project starts

For each project I’ll send you a written Project Agreement (normally by email) setting out the scope of work, the fixed price, the payment terms and the expected timeline. When you confirm your acceptance — a simple reply such as “I accept” is enough — a binding contract is formed consisting of that Project Agreement and the version of these terms current on that date. If the Project Agreement and these terms ever say different things, the Project Agreement wins.

3. Scope of work

The scope is what the Project Agreement lists — nothing is silently included. Unless it’s expressly listed, the following are not part of a project: copywriting, photography, logo or graphic design beyond the website layout, setting up third-party accounts in your name (for example Stripe), and ongoing maintenance or content updates after handover. If you’d like to add or change something mid-project, we agree it in writing first, including any effect on price or timeline.

4. Price and payment

• All prices are in New Zealand dollars.
• Joe’s Websites is not GST-registered, so no GST is charged and prices are not stated “plus GST”.
• You approve a fixed price before any work begins. Unless the Project Agreement sets out a different schedule (for example a deposit on larger projects), payment is due when the website is completed and you’ve approved it for go-live.
• If I present the finished website for your review and don’t hear back within 14 days, it’s treated as approved and the invoice becomes due — so a busy inbox doesn’t leave a finished project in limbo.
• Source files and administrative access are handed over once the project is paid in full. If a payment is overdue, I may pause work until it’s resolved.
• If Joe’s Websites becomes GST-registered in the future, GST will apply to new quotes only — prices already agreed don’t change.

5. Money-back guarantee

If the delivered website doesn’t meet the expectations we agreed in the Project Agreement, I’ll make it right. If I can’t make it right within a reasonable time, you may cancel the project and I’ll refund what you’ve paid me for it. The guarantee covers the agreed scope — it doesn’t apply to changes of mind about things we agreed, or to requests outside the Project Agreement. It applies up to your go-live approval: once you’ve approved the website, the 30-day fix guarantee (section 9) takes over as the remedy.

6. What I need from you

• Content (text, images, logos) and feedback within a reasonable time — delays on your side extend the timeline.
• You confirm that any material you supply is yours to use and doesn’t infringe anyone else’s rights (for example copyright in photos or text).
• Domain names, hosting and payment accounts (for example Stripe) are registered in your own name. I’ll advise on options and handle the technical setup, but the accounts, their costs and their terms are yours.
• What your website says about your business is your responsibility — the legal accuracy of product claims, prices, allergen and safety information, promotions and the like. I build the site; you own what it says.

7. Ownership

Once the project is paid in full, the website is yours — completely: the design, the content and the site’s code, with no platform subscription and no lock-in. Two common-sense carve-outs:

• I keep ownership of my pre-existing and general-purpose code, tools and libraries that I reuse across projects. You receive a permanent, unrestricted right to keep using them as part of your website — I simply remain free to use them in other work.
• Open-source components included in your website remain under their own licences.

8. Delivery and revisions

You’ll see the website on a private staging address as it takes shape and can give feedback directly. One round of revisions following your staging review is included (the Project Agreement may say otherwise): a consolidated batch of adjustments within the agreed scope — text, images, colours, layout tweaks. Redesigns, new sections and new features are quoted separately. The website goes live once you’ve approved it and payment has been made — normally the same day.

9. 30-day fix guarantee

If a defect in the code I delivered shows up within 30 days of go-live, I’ll fix it free of charge. This covers bugs in my work. It doesn’t cover problems caused by things outside the delivered code, such as:

• hosting, domain, email or other third-party service issues or outages;
• changes made to the website by you or anyone other than me;
• changes in third-party services, browsers or software versions after delivery;
• content you’ve added or edited through the admin area.

10. Templates and legal texts

Websites I build ship with a plain-English privacy policy (and sometimes other template texts) tailored to what the site actually does. These are carefully prepared general templates provided in good faith — not legal advice. You are responsible for reviewing them and keeping them accurate for your business — the privacy text is editable in your admin area at any time — and if you want certainty, have them reviewed by your own lawyer. I accept no liability for the adequacy or completeness of template texts for your particular circumstances.

11. Hosting, domains and third-party services

• Hosting recommendations (typically an entry-level New Zealand package with around 1 GB of storage and 50 GB of monthly traffic) are made in good faith and are usually ample for a small-business website.
• If your website one day outgrows its package — more traffic, more storage — that’s a sign of success, not a defect in the build. Upgrading is your choice and your cost, arranged directly with the provider at their pricing.
• Hosting and domain accounts are in your name and paid directly to the provider. Renewals are your responsibility; if a provider suspends service over non-payment, that’s between you and the provider.
• Third-party fees (for example Stripe’s transaction fees) and provider price or term changes are outside my control.

12. After handover

After handover the website is yours to run, and no ongoing contract with me is needed. That also means that from then on — beyond the 30-day fix guarantee — responsibility for operating the website sits with you (or whoever you engage), including hosting, backups, domain renewal, keeping software versions such as PHP up to date, and responding to security issues. Websites are not “set and forget”: software that is secure today can develop known vulnerabilities later through no fault of the original build. If you’d like me to look after any of this, we can agree a separate arrangement — returning clients get a discount on future work. Ad-hoc help after handover is available as paid work on a best-effort basis; there are no guaranteed response times unless a separate maintenance agreement says otherwise.

13. Liability

I perform all work with reasonable care and skill, to the best of my knowledge and ability. Beyond that, and to the maximum extent the law allows:

• I’m not liable for loss caused by hosting outages, third-party services, security incidents occurring after the 30-day fix window, data loss, software end-of-life, or modifications made by anyone other than me;
• I’m not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits, revenue or business opportunities;
• my total liability arising out of a project is capped at the amount you paid me for that project.

Because we’re both in trade, we agree the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply, and that this and the exclusions above are fair and reasonable between us. Nothing in these terms excludes rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

14. Portfolio

I may name you as a client and show screenshots of and links to your website in my portfolio and marketing (for example the success-stories section of this site). If you’d rather not appear, just tell me in writing at any time and I’ll remove you.

15. Ending a project early

Either of us can end a project with written notice. If you end it, work completed up to that point is payable (unless the money-back guarantee in section 5 applies). If I end it for reasons other than your breach, you only pay for completed work you choose to keep.

16. General

• These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and New Zealand courts and tribunals have jurisdiction.
• If part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• I may update these terms from time to time; the version current when you accept a Project Agreement is the one that applies to that project.

Part B — Using this website

Content on this website is general information, provided in good faith but without warranty — prices and examples may change. All content, including text and images, is © Joachim Penc unless noted otherwise. Please don’t misuse the site (for example by attempting to disrupt it or submitting forms with automated tools). How personal information is handled is covered by the Privacy Policy.

Version: 8 July 2026