How to write a project contract for a web development agency (free template)

Why a proposal is not enough

Many agencies send a quote by email and start work on a “go ahead”. It works until there is a dispute about scope, a late payment or ownership of the code. A signed project contract turns your estimate into an agreement both sides accepted, at a specific price, for a specific scope.

What to include

• Parties: your business details and the client’s legal name, address, GSTIN and PAN.
• Scope of work, deliverables and, just as important, what is not included.
• An itemised estimate: each phase or deliverable with quantity, rate, subtotal, GST and total.
• Payment schedule tied to milestones, payment terms in days, and what happens if payment is late.
• Timeline and client responsibilities: content, feedback within a set number of days, access and approvals.
• Revisions included per milestone and how change requests are estimated and approved.
• Acceptance: a review window after which work is deemed accepted.
• Intellectual property: ownership transfers to the client on full payment; you keep your pre-existing tools and libraries.
• Warranty and support: a bug-fix period after launch, and what it does not cover.
• Confidentiality, data protection, termination, liability cap, non-solicitation and dispute resolution.

Let the client fill in their own details

Chasing a client for their GSTIN and billing address delays the start. In PDF Sign’s Project Contract template you fill in only your side, the scope and the estimate. The contract includes a “Client details” section that the client completes while signing: legal name, billing address, GSTIN, PAN, contact person, email and phone. You need only their name and email to send.

Make the estimate binding

Because the itemised estimate is part of the signed document and the total appears in words, there is no doubt about the agreed price. Any change after signing goes through a written change request with its own estimate, which can be approved by email.

Three or more parties

Sometimes a technology partner, a sub-contractor or a second director on the client side needs to sign too. Add an additional party with their responsibilities and how they are paid, and they sign in sequence after the client.