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Website Maintenance Retainer Agreement

Answer a few questions to create a professional Website Maintenance Retainer Agreement, ready to edit and sign.

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The provider

The developer, agency, or freelancer who will maintain the website.

For a business, use its registered name, including "LLC" or "Inc." if it has one.
Used for written notices under the agreement.

The client

The business or person whose website is maintained.

For a business, use its registered name, including "LLC" or "Inc." if it has one.
Used for written notices under the agreement.

The website

The retainer covers an existing website. It can list up to three sites run by the same client.

The main address visitors use, for example "www.example.com". Do not include passwords or login links.
Leave blank if the retainer covers one site.
The content management system or platform the provider will be maintaining.
This decides who pays the host and who deals with it when the server is down.
The domain registrar account and renewal payments. The domain should stay registered in the client's name either way.

Included services

What the monthly fee covers. Anything not chosen is extra work.

Choose everything the monthly fee covers. Each one is listed in the agreement with how often it is done.

Support hours and response times

Time spent on the client's requests, such as content edits and small fixes. Routine monitoring and updates are not counted against these hours.
A critical outage is the site being down or the checkout or a key form not working. This is the time to start work during support hours; outside support hours the provider uses best efforts.
The days and times the provider is available, with the time zone.
The channel the provider actually watches for emergencies. Contact details are the ones shown in the agreement or given later in writing.
Leave blank if after-hours emergency work is charged at the normal hourly rate or handled case by case.

Extra work and third-party costs

Used for requests once the included hours are used up and for work outside the retainer, such as new features or a redesign, unless a fixed quote is agreed.
Below this amount the provider may go ahead with a request and bill it; above it, the provider must get written approval of an estimate first.
Licences, premium plugins and themes, stock images, and similar costs the website needs.

Backups and security

The backup questions appear only if backups are one of the included services.

Counted from when the provider discovers that the site was hacked, defaced, or infected.
Removing malware, restoring the site, and closing the hole. "Billed hourly" means it is charged at the hourly rate on top of the monthly fee.

Content and accessibility

Work to make the site easier to use with screen readers, keyboards, and other assistive tools, such as adding image descriptions and fixing contrast. "No" means it is quoted as extra work.

Monthly fee and billing

The fee is billed in advance for the month ahead either way.
Enter 0 if payment is due on receipt.
A one-time fee for each invoice that is paid late. Leave blank for no late fee.
Counted from the invoice due date. Monitoring and emergency response continue; new requests wait until the account is paid.

Term, ending the agreement, and liability

Month to month means either side can end the retainer with the notice below at any time. A minimum term locks both sides in for a set number of months first.
With a minimum term, notice can end the retainer only at or after the end of that term.
Login details, the latest backup, and any documentation, after which the provider removes its own access.
The most the provider can be liable for is the fees the client paid in this many months before the problem. Three to twelve months is common.

Optional extras

The provider keeps private the business, customer, and financial information it sees while working on the site.
For example, a staging site arrangement, a named contact on each side, or agreed maintenance windows. Do not type passwords or access codes here.

Governing law

Usually the state where the client or the provider is based.

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