Services and consulting
Development services agreement
The paper for software written to somebody else's order. It carries the usual services terms and adds the ones only code needs: how a build is tested and accepted, who holds the repository, which open-source components are allowed and on what licences, whether the client gets the source or only the running system, and what happens between launch and the first bug. It usually distinguishes the developer's existing libraries and tooling from the thing being built, so both sides know what changes hands.
- In the catalogue
- Services and consulting
- Where it can live
- Any of the 184 governing laws
Who uses one
- Development studios and agencies building products for clients.
- Companies commissioning an application, an integration or a data pipeline.
- Technical founders outsourcing a first build and wanting to own it afterwards.
What you are deciding
- What is being built, and how it will be tested
- How acceptance works, and what happens if it fails
- Who holds the repository during and after the build
- Whether the source code is delivered, and in what form
- Which open-source components may be used, and on which licences
- What the developer keeps: libraries, tooling, general know-how
- Whether support after launch is included or a separate paper
- Hosting, credentials and third-party accounts
Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.
The sections a draft usually has
- 1The parties
- 2Scope and specification
- 3Milestones and delivery
- 4Testing and acceptance
- 5Fees and invoicing
- 6Source code and repositories
- 7Open-source components
- 8Ownership and licences
- 9Warranty period and support
A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.
What people call it
The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.
- software development agreement
- development services agreement
- web development contract
- app development agreement
- engineering services agreement
- build contract
Questions people ask
- Does the client get the source code?
- Only if the paper says so. Agreements of this kind commonly deliver source on final payment, and separate it from the developer's own libraries, which are usually licensed rather than assigned.
- Why does open source get its own section?
- Because the licence attached to a component can carry obligations to whoever receives the finished software. Papers of this kind usually ask for a list of what was used and on what terms.
- Is a warranty period the same as support?
- No. A warranty period commonly covers fixing what does not match the specification; support covers keeping the thing running afterwards. They are often written as separate papers with separate prices.
General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.
Where it lives
A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.
You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.
Start it at the door →Related kinds