Website ownership should be practical. You need to understand what your business receives, which accounts keep the site running and how another qualified team could maintain it. The details belong in the project agreement.
Displace’s offer includes the source code, documentation and agreed deliverables after full payment. The signed scope and contract define the deliverables and terms. This guide explains the questions to settle, rather than adding terms to that agreement.
Separate the deliverables from the services
A website may combine custom code, client content, licensed assets and third-party software. Receiving the project files does not mean owning every service or library used to run them. Ask which parts are transferred, which are licensed and which require ongoing subscriptions.
| Part of the website | What to clarify |
|---|---|
| Source code and design files | The agreed files, delivery method and any exceptions or third-party licenses. |
| Content and media | Where content is stored, available exports and the rights to fonts, photography or other licensed material. |
| Domain and service accounts | The account holder, administrator access, billing responsibility and recovery contacts. |
| Documentation and training | What the team needs to edit, operate and maintain the agreed system. |
| Ongoing support | The scope, access and handover process if the working arrangement changes. |
Know which accounts the business depends on
Ask for an account inventory that covers the domain, hosting, CMS, analytics and any connected tools. For each, identify the owner, the billing contact and the people with access. The project agreement should make account setup and handover responsibilities clear.
Shared access should use the service’s own roles where available. Personal passwords passed between people make responsibility harder to manage. When a supplier changes, decide which access is removed and which credentials need to be replaced.
Make the documentation useful to the next person
The right documentation depends on the project. A marketing website may need a concise editing and maintenance guide. A custom platform can also need an explanation of its data, integrations, environments and release process. Agree the level of detail instead of assuming every project has the same handover.
A practical review is to ask what another qualified developer would need to make a safe change. They should not have to infer every important decision from the finished pages. Include known limitations and external dependencies in that conversation.
Ownership does not remove ongoing costs
Domains, hosting and paid services can continue to cost money after the build is paid for. Licenses may have their own renewal or transfer rules. Confirm the actual charges and terms for the tools selected for your project.
Ongoing care is a separate service. At Displace it starts from $2,250 per month, with the scope agreed for the site. Before choosing any support arrangement, clarify what happens to documentation, access and unfinished work if that arrangement changes.
Before signing, be able to answer three questions: what will we receive, what must we keep paying for, and what would another team need to take over?
See our build service and handover approach