Terms of Service

Effective Date: July 2025
Website: RichardSawatsky.com
Owner: Richard Sawatsky

Welcome to RichardSawatsky.com’s official Terms of Service. These terms apply to the personal and professional services offered directly by Richard Sawatsky, including consulting, development, and training. While the baseline legal terms are consistent across my network, this site reflects my individual portfolio, client relationships, and creative output.

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1. Production Standards & Client Responsibilities

This section outlines what the client must provide to ensure the project stays on track.

Asset Quality and Delivery:

• All provided media (photos, videos, text, logos) must meet minimum quality standards for clarity, resolution, and composition.
• Minimums: Photos ≥ 2000px, logo in SVG or 300dpi PNG, video in 1080p or higher.
• The Developer can reject low-quality or unusable assets (e.g., blurry images, photos of backs of heads, broken links).
• If replacement assets are needed, the client may supply them at no extra charge or authorize the Developer to source or produce them at the current rate.

Content Delivery Deadlines:

• All text, media, and branding materials must be delivered before the project’s scheduled build date.
• Missing content may result in delays or the use of AI-generated or stock placeholder content, which may remain in the final product.

Link Functionality:

• All links must be functional at submission. The Developer will test them once.
• Broken or outdated links will be deleted and can be replaced after launch for a fee.
• The Developer is under no obligation to notify the client of broken links.

Platform & Tool Restrictions:

• The Developer may reject or remove third-party plugins, page builders (e.g., Elementor, Divi, WPBakery), or code that interferes with project performance, security, or deployment timelines.
• Where third-party tools are required, the Developer may opt for a headless or static export build to maintain performance and meet deadlines.

Client Approval & Feedback:

• Clients have five business days to provide consolidated feedback on deliverables.
• If no feedback is received, the deliverable is considered approved and will launch.

Single Point of Contact:

• Client must provide one decision-maker for all feedback and approvals. Conflicting instructions from multiple people may pause work until resolved.

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2. Financial Terms & Project Management

This section clarifies payment schedules, fees, and how changes to the project are handled.

Payment & Deposits:

• A deposit (if applicable) is required to begin work.
• Balance is due at pre-launch approval (Net 7).
• Deposits are non-refundable once scheduling or work begins.

Change Requests & Scope Creep:

• Any change after project approval requires a written request and may incur costs.
• The Developer may decline changes that jeopardize deadlines, performance, or security.
• “Just one little thing” changes are billable; small items often require significant coding work.

Late Payments & Pauses:

• Work pauses if payment is over seven days overdue.
• Late fees of 2% per month apply.
• Client covers all bank/chargeback fees.

Rush Work:

• Requests with less than 72 hours’ notice may incur a 40% rush fee and limited revision time.

Cancellations & Kill Fee:

• Cancelling after work starts triggers a kill fee of 50% of remaining project value or time spent, whichever is greater.

Project Pauses & Restart Fees:

• Pauses over 10 business days (missing assets, approvals, payments) may result in unscheduling.
• Restart fee up to 10% of remaining value to reallocate resources.

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3. Ownership, Rights & Portfolio

This section defines who owns the work and how it can be used.

Intellectual Property:

• All work remains the Developer’s property until paid in full.
• Upon full payment, the Client receives a non-exclusive, perpetual license to use deliverables for their business.
• Custom source code transfers require a separate IP assignment and may carry a premium.

Portfolio & Attribution:

• The Developer may display the completed project in portfolios, case studies, or promotional materials unless the client requests otherwise before launch.
• Free or voluntary projects cannot refuse portfolio use.
• Footer credit removal after launch incurs a one-time $250 fee.

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4. Service Disclaimers & Limitations

This section outlines the limitations of the service, particularly for the free offerings.

Free Service Disclaimer:

• All free microsite/email services are best-effort and may be suspended or terminated at any time, with or without notice or reason.
• Intended as launchpad tools, not permanent infrastructure.

Warranty & Support:

• Non-billable bug fixes for implementation issues are covered for 14 days after launch.
• After this window, all work is “as-is” and enhancements are billable.
• Ongoing support is only provided for paid maintenance tiers.

No Guarantees:

• The Developer does not guarantee SEO rankings, site performance, or email deliverability.

Content Legality & Indemnity:

• The Client is solely responsible for ensuring all content is legal, licensed, and does not infringe on rights.
• The Client indemnifies the Developer against claims arising from supplied content.

Third-Party Tools & Open Source:

• The Developer may use third-party or open-source components. Licenses remain with their owners.
• Vendor changes or failures are outside the Developer’s control and may require billable mitigation.

Compliance & Accessibility:

• Accessibility best practices are used, but formal WCAG/AODA compliance audits are separate, scoped projects.

Confidentiality & Non-Solicitation:

• Both parties will keep non-public information confidential.
• Client may not solicit the Developer’s subcontractors for 12 months without written consent.

Force Majeure:

• Neither party is liable for delays caused by events outside reasonable control (e.g., outages, illness, disaster).

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