RE: FN-FORUM: Client contracts/proposals

date posted 27th January 2006 14:30

In UK law, as far as I'm aware, a contract is a contract whether signed
physically, agreed verbally or via email. But you may need to prove =
what
you agreed in court, if it comes to it.

Use a voice recorder to record any contract negotiations over the phone.
For legal (copyright) reasons you should tell the caller that you have =
call
recording equipment installed, and that calls may be recorded. You can =
get
a nifty plug-in for Skype.

If agreeing something over email, find someone you can CC emails to. =
That
way, you can use them as a witness that the email you have has not been
altered, and is as sent by the other party.

For many sizeable contracts, I've found it necessary to do some free
"pre-work" as part of the contract negotiation process. The amount of
effort you put in is up to you, but it may be significant in building a
relationship with the client. Obviously on a case-by-case basis. You =
need
to hike your fee to pay for pre-work that doesn't lead to contracts, but =
I'd
rather spend time between contracts being active!

It's reasonable to ask for a percentage of the final fee (say 25%) =
before
starting, but many clients may not agree to this. I start off by asking =
25%
up front, 65% on completion, before handing code over, and 10% within 20
days of completion.

It's useful to do a bit of research on your client, and if you don't get =
a
good feeling, you can consider using an escrow service. Your client =
lodges
the fee with the escrow, and in theory releases the money on receipt of =
the
goods. In the event that they don't, you go into arbitration and prove =
to
the escrow that you delivered the goods. Never had experience of
arbitration with an escrow.

James
www.daltonfirth.co.uk