StarlingTek

Legal

Service agreement

Draft, pending review. This is a starting draft that a lawyer hasn't reviewed yet. Effective date: November 9, 2026.

This agreement covers the paid work StarlingTek does: designing and building custom systems, and hosting and running them. It works alongside our terms of service and privacy policy. Where they differ, this agreement wins for the work it covers, and your signed quote wins over this agreement for anything it spells out.

1. Who this agreement is between

This agreement is between [[LEGAL_ENTITY_NAME]] ("StarlingTek", "we", "us") and the customer named on the quote or order ("you").

2. How work is agreed

Each piece of work starts with an order: a written quote for a custom build, or a hosting plan you've signed up for. An order says what we'll do, the price, and any dates. This agreement applies to every order unless the order says otherwise. An order takes effect when you accept it in writing (email is fine) or pay its first invoice.

3. Custom design and build

Scope

The quote describes what we'll build and what's included: typically discovery, design, build and launch. Anything not in the quote is outside the scope.

Changes

If you want something added or changed, we'll tell you in writing what it does to the price and timeline before we start on it. Nothing extra is billed without your written approval.

Timeline

Dates in a quote are our honest estimate. They depend on you getting us content, feedback and access when we need them. If something on either side causes a delay, we'll say so promptly and agree a new date.

Review and acceptance

When a milestone or the finished system is ready, we'll tell you. You'll have [[ACCEPTANCE_REVIEW_DAYS]] days to try it and tell us in writing about anything that doesn't match the quote. We'll fix those things and let you review again. Once you've approved it, or the review period ends without a report of a problem, that work is accepted. Going live with it also counts as acceptance.

Fixing defects

For [[DEFECT_FIX_DAYS]] days after acceptance, we'll fix at no charge any defect where the system doesn't do what the quote described. That doesn't cover problems caused by changes someone else made, or by things outside the system we built.

4. Ownership of the work

  • You own what we build for you. Once you've paid in full for a piece of work, you own the code, designs and content we created specifically for you, and we'll hand over everything needed to use it, including the repository.
  • Your materials stay yours. Content, data, logos and code you give us remain yours.
  • Our tools stay ours. We keep ownership of the StarlingTek platform and the general tools, libraries and know-how we had before or develop independently. If any of those are part of what we deliver, you get a permanent, royalty-free licence to use and change them as part of your system.
  • Open-source parts stay under their own licences. We'll tell you if any licence puts conditions on how you can use the system.
  • Showing our work. We'll only list your system as our work, on our site or anywhere else, with your permission.

5. Managed hosting

For each site on a hosting plan, we will:

  • run it on the StarlingTek platform, on the shared or dedicated setup your plan describes;
  • keep HTTPS on, with certificates renewed automatically;
  • manage the domain's DNS on Cloudflare, and renew the domain on time where we manage it;
  • monitor it around the clock, with alerts that come to us;
  • back it up as your plan describes, and test that backups restore;
  • apply security updates to the server and platform promptly, with fixes for serious security issues prioritized;
  • deploy the updates you or we push to your repository, with the option to roll back to the previous release.

Usage limits (storage and monthly transfer) are listed with each plan. If your site goes over, we'll tell you first, and extra usage is billed at pass-through rates only from after that notice.

Planned maintenance that could interrupt your site will be announced at least [[MAINTENANCE_NOTICE_HOURS]] hours ahead and scheduled for a quiet time where we can.

We work hard to keep sites up, but no host can promise a site will never go down. If an outage is our fault, we'll fix it as quickly as we can and tell you what happened.

6. Support and maintenance

  • Reach us at [email protected].
  • If your site is down or you suspect a security problem, we'll respond within [[URGENT_RESPONSE_TIME]]. For anything else, within [[STANDARD_RESPONSE_TIME]].
  • Hosting covers keeping your system running, secure and up to date. New features and redesigns are new work, quoted separately.

7. What we need from you

  • the content, feedback, decisions and access we need, when we need them;
  • the right to use everything you give us (text, images, code, data);
  • a working contact we can reach about urgent problems;
  • keeping any logins and private links we give you safe;
  • following the acceptable use rules in the terms;
  • paying invoices on time.

8. Fees, billing and usage

  • Custom builds are billed as set out in the quote. Unless the quote says otherwise, [[DEPOSIT_PERCENT]]% is due before work starts and the rest on acceptance.
  • Hosting is billed monthly in advance, or yearly on a 12-month plan. Domains are passed through at cost.
  • Due date. Invoices are due within [[INVOICE_DUE_DAYS]] days.
  • Late payment. We'll send a written reminder first. A site is never suspended for non-payment without at least [[SUSPENSION_NOTICE_DAYS]] days' written notice after that reminder, and your data is never deleted for non-payment without first offering you a full export.
  • Price changes. A hosting price stays fixed for a 12-month plan's term. Otherwise, we'll give at least [[PRICE_CHANGE_NOTICE_DAYS]] days' written notice, and you can cancel before the new price applies.
  • Taxes are added where they apply.

9. Term and ending the agreement

  • A custom build order lasts until the work is accepted and paid for.
  • Monthly hosting continues month to month. A 12-month plan renews for another 12 months unless either of us gives notice at least 30 days before it ends.
  • You can cancel hosting any time with 30 days' written notice, with no cancellation fee. Prepaid fees for whole months after the cancellation date are refunded.
  • You can stop a custom build at any time. You pay for the work done up to that point, and you own that work once it's paid for.
  • We can end hosting with [[PROVIDER_TERMINATION_NOTICE_DAYS]] days' written notice, and we'll help you move your system to a new host during that time.
  • Either of us can end an order if the other seriously breaks this agreement and doesn't fix it within 30 days of written notice.

10. Your data, export and deletion

  • Your code, content and data belong to you. We use them only to provide the services.
  • Export. On request at any time, and when hosting ends, we'll give you a complete export within [[DATA_EXPORT_DAYS]] days: your code repository, your files, and your databases in a standard format.
  • Moving out. We'll help you move to a new host, including pointing your domain at it. Help beyond a reasonable handover may be quoted as new work.
  • Deletion. After delivering the export, we delete your data from our live systems within [[DATA_DELETION_DAYS]] days, or sooner if you ask in writing. Backup copies expire on their normal schedule. We'll confirm the deletion in writing.

11. Confidentiality

Each of us will keep the other's non-public information confidential, use it only for this agreement, and share it only with people who need it for the work and are bound to keep it confidential. This doesn't cover information that's already public, that the other side already had, or that the law requires to be disclosed (with notice to the other side where allowed). This lasts for [[CONFIDENTIALITY_YEARS]] years after the agreement ends, and for secrets such as passwords and keys, for as long as they stay secret.

12. Security and incidents

  • We'll protect your system and data with the controls described on our Security page, or equivalent ones.
  • We'll access your site's data only when it's needed to run, fix or support the site, or when you ask.
  • If we learn that your data has been accessed without permission, we'll tell you without undue delay, say what we know, take steps to contain it, and follow up in writing with what happened and what we've changed.

13. Providers we rely on

We use Cloudflare (DNS and proxy), DigitalOcean (servers, databases and backup storage), Resend (email delivery) and GitHub (code hosting for client repositories) to provide the services. We're responsible for our choice of providers and for the work we do with them. The privacy policy lists every provider that handles personal information. We'll give notice before adding a new one that handles your data.

14. Warranties

We'll do the work carefully and professionally, to the standard of a competent web developer and host. You confirm that you have the rights to everything you give us. Apart from what this agreement and your order expressly promise, and to the extent the law allows, the services are provided "as is", without other warranties, express or implied.

15. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows:

  • neither of us is liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits, revenue or business opportunities;
  • each side's total liability under this agreement is limited to [[LIABILITY_CAP]].

These limits don't apply to amounts you owe for the services, to a breach of section 11, to the indemnities in section 16, or to gross negligence or deliberate misconduct.

Neither of us is responsible for delays or failures caused by events truly beyond our control, such as a provider-wide outage or a natural disaster. We'll still restore service as soon as we reasonably can and keep you informed.

16. Indemnity

You'll cover our reasonable costs, including reasonable legal fees, if someone makes a claim against us because of content or materials you gave us, or your use of the system in breach of the terms. We'll do the same if someone claims that the work we created for you, or the StarlingTek platform, infringes their rights. Whoever is asking to be covered must tell the other promptly and let them handle the claim.

17. General

  • Changes. Changes to a signed order must be in writing and agreed by both of us. If we update this published agreement, the version in effect when an order was accepted keeps applying to that order until it renews.
  • Notices can be sent by email to the contact addresses we each have on file, and count as written notice.
  • Subcontractors. We won't hand your project to another developer without your agreement.
  • Assignment. Neither of us can transfer this agreement without the other's consent, except as part of selling the whole business, with notice.
  • Governing law. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of [[GOVERNING_LAW_STATE]]. We'll both try to resolve any disagreement in good faith for at least 30 days before taking other action.
  • Whole agreement. This agreement, your orders, the terms and the privacy policy are the whole agreement between us about the services.
  • Severability. If any part can't be enforced, the rest still applies.

18. Contact

Questions about this agreement: [email protected].

Post: [[LEGAL_ENTITY_NAME]], [[MAILING_ADDRESS]].