5,0/5 Google · 167 reviewsWe do not check reviews of us on other platforms that we do not quote verbatim for authenticity. They may therefore also come from people who are not our clients. The rules of the respective platform apply. Reviews that we quote verbatim on our website, by contrast, have been checked for authenticity within the meaning of Section 5b(3) UWG (German Act against Unfair Competition): we compared the reviewers’ names with our client register. We also asked the respective platform to check the reviews for authenticity.Period: October 2016 to date · As of: 28 October 2026
Have your web design contract reviewed
Before acceptance and rights go off the rails
Are you an agency or freelancer, or do you commission them for a website, relaunch or shop? Clarify scope of work, CMS access, rights of use, fees and handover before go-live. Having a web design contract reviewed pays off before acceptance and rights of use become a point of dispute.
Please enter a short description first.
The first contact is free of charge. No costs arise without our prior express notice.
Response within 24 hours on working days
As of: 23 October 2026
Contract points1 of 5
- Scope of work“Complete website”Check
- Acceptance criteriaMissing
- Rights of use and fontsCheck
- Domain and hostingAgency accountMissing
- Fees and change ordersPresent
Point of review: Access sits with the agency account
- 1Assess the situationContract, tickets
- 2Sharpen the contractAcceptance, rights
- 3Drive the sign-offNegotiation or dispute
Schematic illustration of a contract review. Simplified example.
We advise on website projects for
- Agencies
- Freelancers
- SMEs
- Shop operators
Key points at a glance
- ITMR reviews and negotiates web design contracts for commercially relevant website projects.
- We focus on the points where projects tip over in practice rather than on standard clauses.
- These include scope, approvals, acceptance, change orders, rights, third-party components, hosting, domain, maintenance and exit.
- If the project is already stalling, we set up a robust project trail for negotiation or enforcement.
- Your contact is Timocin Can and his team. He is a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt). Response on working days within 24 hours.
Reason for instruction
Why do website projects fail?
In our experience, rarely because of a single clause.
Problems arise where several levels interlock.
The agency is to design and develop, the client partly supplies content or images, and tracking and forms are to go live at the same time. Hosting or domain still run on a third-party structure, and shortly before launch the final invoice suddenly comes up.
Then what counts is what exactly is owed, who has to approve what and when the work is ready for acceptance.
Fundamental questions on IT contracts, software projects and digital contract architecture are answered on our main IT law page. This page covers the narrower special case of the web design contract in website projects with agencies, freelancers and relaunches.
- For whom
- Agencies, freelancers, clients
- Projects
- Website, relaunch, shop
- Core topics
- Acceptance, rights, access, fees
- Legal basis
- Sections 631, 640 BGB, Section 31 UrhG
Describe your project using the form. We will get back to you on working days within 24 hours.
How it works
How do we review your web design contract?
Three steps from project situation to sign-off or escalation.
01
Assess the situation Draft contract, quote, specification, tickets, approvals or the state of the dispute are reduced to the decisive point.
02
Sharpen the contract Scope of work, acceptance, rights, access, fees, change requests, maintenance and exit are aligned robustly.
03
Drive the sign-off Before signing, in a stalling project or in a dispute, we set up the position for negotiation, readjustment or separation.
If the project is already stalling
- 1
Secure the project trail Quote, contract, specification, tickets, approvals, acceptance records, invoices, staging status, access and email correspondence are brought together.
- 2
Sharpen the legal position We distinguish between defect, change order, gap in cooperation, delay, payment claim, right of retention, claim for handover and exit question.
- 3
Negotiate or enforce Depending on the situation, it is about a grace period, partial acceptance, handover, remedy, a clean separation, final invoice or securing the next relaunch step.
How long does it take? We complete most work steps within a few working days. How quickly it goes depends on the scope and your feedback. Do you have a fixed date, such as a launch? Tell us right away in your enquiry and we will plan for it.
Service package
What does ITMR handle for web design contracts?
Service package: web design contract
Review and negotiate the draft contract Before the commission, we sharpen the scope of work, approvals, acceptance, rights, access, fees, changes and exit before open points turn into operational problems.
Secure the relaunch and handover Before launch, we check whether the project is ready to go live and to be handed over: technically, contractually, organisationally and with regard to rights and account access.
Structure a project crisis With an unpaid final invoice, refused acceptance, notices of defects, access problems or separation from the agency, we build the position for readjustment or enforcement.
Allocate interfaces correctly If data protection, domain ownership, buy-out, image rights, content licensing or advertising and tracking questions become the bottleneck, we move them into the right focus area.
- For whom
- Agencies, freelancers, clients
- First response
- within 24 hours on working days
- Costs
- We tell you the costs transparently before you instruct us.
- Not included
- Technical review of the website. On request via partners.
Who delivers what and who decides
- Draft contract or quote
- Specification and project plan
- Acceptance records and invoices
- Relevant email threads
- Contract review and negotiation
- Classification of defects and change orders
- Correspondence with the other side
- Enforcement on request
- You decide on sign-off and strategy
- In a dispute, the court
How does the engagement work?
- 1
First assessment You describe your project using the form. We assess where you stand. The first contact is free of charge.
- 2
Offer Before work begins, we tell you the scope and costs transparently.
- 3
Court steps separately We agree court proceedings and representation in a dispute separately.
Client situations
When does the web design contract become a mandate?
Four project phases in which clients approach us.
“Complete website”, “SEO-ready” or “technical support” sound catchy but barely hold up in a dispute. Without a robust scope of work, change requests, extra effort and defects will be disputed later.
In our experience, shortly before the relaunch, approvals, tracking, redirects, legal texts, cookie set-ups, images, texts and admin access all end up in one pot. The project then needs clear priorities and an orderly handover.
New pages, more templates, shop features, interfaces or content work are taken on “just like that”. Without a defined change procedure, every extension becomes a question of fees and expectations.
The client withholds payments, the agency withholds project files or access, and both sides point to defects or lack of cooperation. Then a robust project trail and a clear legal line are needed.
Contract points
Which points must a web design contract govern?
Besides the design, a robust web design contract also governs exploitability.
- Scope of work instead of buzzwords Are concept, UX, design, templates, development, content migration, shop features, tracking integration, testing, training and launch part of the commission, or do they only run alongside?
- Approvals and cooperation Who supplies content, images, texts, product data, brand approvals or access must be governed as clearly as the number of revisions and the handling of delays.
Acceptance with a testable target The contract should define when partial acceptances make sense, how defects are reported and when an approval means more than “felt satisfaction”.
Rights of use and reference Design, code, texts, images, fonts, plugins and templates need a clear chain of rights. It must also be governed whether third parties may develop the site further and whether the agency may show the project as a reference.CMS, domain, hosting A website project is worth little if domain ownership, hosting account, repository, CMS admins, forms, tracking tools or mail infrastructure are not organised so they can be handed over.Fees, change orders, exit Lump-sum fees, instalments, time budgets, additional requests, work stoppages, termination, handover and final invoice must fit together. Otherwise the project escalates at the most expensive moment.
Flawed constellations
Where are web design contracts too soft?
Four flawed constellations we regularly see in our experience.
Website creation, ongoing maintenance, hosting, SEO, SEA or content work follow different rules. Pouring everything into one block loses clarity on acceptance, fees and liability limits.
In our experience, “all rights pass over” is not enough. What matters is which of the agency's own work, templates, plugins, stock material, fonts and third-party components can be transferred at all.
In our experience, domain, hosting, CMS, tracking, cookie tools or form systems run on accounts of the agency or an employee. That becomes a real problem in a separation, relaunch or outage.
What the client sees as an error is an additional service from the agency's point of view. That is why the project needs clear criteria for target, deviation and change order.
Project crisis
What counts when the project is already stalling?
Volume does not help; an orderly project trail does.
Who is “in the right” cannot be answered in the abstract in escalated website projects. What matters is which work was agreed and which version was approved.
Which defects were specifically reported, who owed which cooperation and when? Without this trail, every position remains open to attack.
Where do access, project files and rights actually sit? In our experience, these points are worth more in a separation than any single design file.
Related topics
Where does the main question lie, if not here?
These pages go deeper into adjacent questions.
Fundamental questions on IT projects, contract architecture, acceptance, chain of rights and project crises.
When the specific draft contract or the general clause architecture is the focus.
When buy-out, image rights, texts, designs, use as a reference or content licensing dominate.
When tracking, forms, hosting, data processing on behalf or website data flows become the main problem.
When domain ownership, registrar access, transfer or blockages slow the project down.
Legal framework
Which legal bases apply to web design contracts?
In our experience, website creation centres on a specific result. The law on contracts for work under Section 631 BGB then applies. Which classification applies in the individual case depends on the structure and focus of the project.
Acceptance under Section 640 BGB makes the fee due and starts the limitation period. It may not be refused because of insignificant defects. What matters is a clearly defined contractual target and a specifically documented defect.
Rights of use in design, code, texts and images are governed by Section 31 UrhG. Anything not expressly agreed is, in case of doubt, only granted to the extent of the purpose of the contract.
- Section 631 BGB Contract for work.
- Section 640 BGB Acceptance.
- Section 31 UrhG Granting of rights of use.
Limits
What does the contract review not cover?
We clarify the contract and the legal position. Some points remain with you.
- 1
No technical acceptance Whether code and design are technically flawless is assessed by experts.
- 2
No template contract The added value lies in steering the project under legal pressure, not in a contract template.
- 3
The decision remains yours Whether you pay, renegotiate or separate is your decision, based on our assessment.
What you should have ready
- Contract or quote.
- Specification and project plan.
- Approvals and acceptance records.
- Invoices and email correspondence.
Your contact
Lawyer · IT law · e-commerce · receivables management
View profile Düsseldorf, Schirmerstraße 80 · Hamburg, Palmaille 124
At ITMR, Jean Paul Bohne, Andreas Buchholz and Dr. Alexander Pleh hold the title of specialist lawyer for information technology law.
ReviewsWe do not check reviews of us on other platforms that we do not quote verbatim for authenticity. They may therefore also come from people who are not our clients. The rules of the respective platform apply. Reviews that we quote verbatim on our website, by contrast, have been checked for authenticity within the meaning of Section 5b(3) UWG (German Act against Unfair Competition): we compared the reviewers’ names with our client register. We also asked the respective platform to check the reviews for authenticity.
What clients say
5,0 von 5 · 71 Bewertungen auf anwalt.dePeriod: October 2018 to date · As of: 28 October 2026
“Mr Can represented us excellently in a case against a car rental company. The handling was fast, smooth, extremely professional and successful.” (translated from German)
“Very friendly, thorough advice from the first conversation to the successful registration of my trademark. Highly recommended!!” (translated from German)
“Mr Can represented me excellently in a difficult and lengthy case. His ability to spot the decisive details even in the most complex situations is remarkable.” (translated from German)
FAQ
What do clients ask about web design contracts?
Is a quote enough or do I need a proper web design contract?
A quote can be enough if the work, approvals, acceptance, rights, access, fees and changes are described robustly. In our experience, that is rarely the case in commercially relevant website projects. The contract should then govern these points expressly.
Who should hold the rights to design, code, texts and images?
That depends on what is created individually, what is licensed and what is integrated from third-party sources. It must also be clarified to what extent later editing, further development and use by third parties should be possible.
What needs to be governed for CMS, hosting and domain?
Ownership, admin access, handover, technical transfer, documentation and the question of whose accounts the infrastructure runs on are important. In our experience, these points are worth more than any single design file in a separation, relaunch or outage.
Can acceptance be refused because of defects?
That depends on whether there is work requiring acceptance and how significant the deviations are. In practice, what counts is that the contractual target is clearly defined and the defect is documented specifically.
What to do if the final invoice is unpaid and the project is stuck?
First put the project trail in order with agreed work, approvals, notices of defects, change orders, cooperation, access and handover status. Only then can you decide whether remedy, partial acceptance, payment, retention or exit is the right line.
Is a web design contract a contract for work or a contract for services?
In our experience, website creation centres on a specific result. That is why the scope of work, acceptance and fees are so important. In the individual case, the decisive factor is how the project is structured and where its focus lies.
Next step
Do you want to secure your website project?
The earlier the scope of work, acceptance, rights, access and exit are governed, the lower the risk of costly repairs. If the conflict is already there, the project trail should be set up robustly now. Your contact for website projects is lawyer Timocin Can. At ITMR, Jean Paul P. Bohne, specialist lawyer for IT law and for copyright and media law, Andreas Buchholz, specialist lawyer for IT law and e-commerce manager (IHK), and Dr. Alexander Pleh, specialist lawyer for IT law, also handle website projects.
Helpful for your enquiry
- Your role in the project
- Contract or quote
- Project status
- Open points of dispute
You can also submit documents after our first response.
Classify your web design project
For agencies, freelancers and clients of website projects.
Useful documents include the draft contract, quote, specification, project plan, acceptance records, invoices, approvals and relevant email threads.
Related services
IT-Recht Fundamental questions on IT projects.IT contract / software contract Clause architecture.Copyright law Buy-out and image rights.Data protection law Tracking and forms.Domain law Domain ownership.IT-Projekt-Mediation Resolve disputes without court.
From our blog: Copyright and freelancers · BFSG 2026