Terms & Conditions

1. Introduction and acceptance

These Terms govern services supplied by SoftDev when incorporated into an accepted written quotation, proposal, statement of work or project agreement. That document, including its agreed scope and payment schedule, forms part of the agreement for your project. It must identify the contracting parties and the applicable version of these Terms.

The quotation will explain how to accept it. This may include written acceptance and payment of the required deposit, confirming agreement to the Terms made available with that quotation. Simply browsing this website, submitting an inquiry or discussing an idea does not create a development contract.

If accepted project-specific terms conflict with these general Terms or website information, the accepted written project agreement takes priority to the extent legally permissible. Nothing in the agreement excludes rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Protection Act or other applicable South African law.

2. Quotations and project scope

The accepted quotation and project specification define the deliverables, functionality, exclusions, assumptions and responsibilities agreed for the project. Website package descriptions help start the conversation; the accepted written scope defines what SoftDev has agreed to deliver.

• Defects and corrections: if work supplied by SoftDev does not meet the agreed specification, addressing that failure is a correction, not automatically additional paid work.
• Revisions within scope: reasonable refinements to included work are handled according to the revision process and allowances in the project agreement. A revision limit does not turn a genuine defect into a paid change request.
• New or expanded scope: material additions or changes beyond the specification are change requests, even if requested during development.

3. Scope changes and change requests

Additional functionality, pages, integrations, systems, features, design work or services outside the agreed scope may be assessed separately. SoftDev may issue an additional quotation and propose revised delivery dates, dependencies and payment terms.

SoftDev must obtain your written approval of the additional charges and scope before starting additional chargeable work. If a change is not accepted, the original scope continues unless the parties agree otherwise. Additional work is not automatically included in the original price.

For example, adding customer accounts, dashboards, e-commerce, payment integrations or booking systems to a basic website will normally be additional scope unless already included in the accepted quotation.

A request for additional scope does not, by itself, create a right to a refund for work properly performed under the original agreement. This does not restrict remedies for genuine non-delivery or any mandatory consumer rights.

4. Payments and deposits

The deposit, payment schedule, milestones and completion payment terms are specified in your quotation or project agreement. There is no universal deposit percentage under these Terms. Work may begin after the required deposit or initial payment has cleared and necessary project inputs have been received.

Remaining amounts are payable according to the agreed milestones or completion terms. Where an agreed payment becomes overdue, SoftDev may pause affected work after notifying you and allowing a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue, subject to applicable law and the specific agreement. Any resulting timeline adjustment must be reasonable.

Recurring services, renewals and third-party charges should be identified in the quotation or separately approved. A payment dispute should be raised promptly so the parties can clarify the work and amounts concerned.

5. Refunds and inability to deliver

If SoftDev is unable to materially deliver agreed functionality or deliverables, please identify the issue against the written scope. Subject to your statutory remedies, SoftDev should first have a reasonable opportunity to investigate and remedy the failure within a timeframe appropriate to its seriousness and the project.

If SoftDev ultimately cannot deliver the agreed project or a relevant part of it, an appropriate refund will be provided. The assessment will take account of the agreement, the extent of non-delivery, usable work completed and supplied, third-party costs and applicable law. Costs or time spent do not automatically justify retaining payment for failed or unusable work, and deductions must be lawful and reasonable.

Where SoftDev has genuinely failed to provide the agreed project and no meaningful deliverable has been supplied, this may include a 100% refund of the initial deposit. The parties should record any refund calculation, treatment of deliverables and payment timing in writing, without delaying a refund beyond any legally required period.

This is not an unlimited satisfaction guarantee. Subjective dissatisfaction, a change of mind or a request for new functionality does not automatically entitle a client to a full refund where the agreed scope was delivered correctly. Mandatory rights under South African consumer law remain unaffected.

6. Client cancellation

You may notify SoftDev in writing if you wish to cancel a project. SoftDev will assess the position fairly, considering work already completed, time reasonably spent, deliverables supplied and third-party costs already incurred or unavoidably committed with your approval.

Any cancellation charge must be reasonable and legally permissible, avoid double recovery and take account of costs saved through cancellation. Payments already made will be reconciled against lawful amounts due, with any appropriate balance refunded. Deposits are not automatically non-refundable. Applicable cooling-off, cancellation and other consumer rights take priority.

The parties should agree how any paid-for usable work will be handed over and how access, confidential information and outstanding commitments will be handled.

7. Domains

Domain registration and setup may be included where stated in the project agreement. A domain obtained specifically for your business is for your benefit and should ultimately be registered in your name or under your control. SoftDev may purchase, configure and manage it on your behalf.

Registration and renewal responsibilities, costs and access arrangements should be recorded in the agreement. Fees already paid to a registrar may be non-refundable where that registrar does not refund them, subject to your applicable legal rights.

Ending the relationship does not give SoftDev the right to hold your domain hostage. SoftDev will reasonably assist with transfer or access handover. A transfer may require identity verification, registrar procedures, technical waiting periods and settlement of legitimate outstanding amounts associated with the domain, where lawful. An unrelated or disputed project invoice must not be used to unfairly prevent access or transfer.

8. Client ownership and handover

After you have paid the agreed project price in full, you own the custom deliverables created specifically for your project, subject to third-party licences and the limited exclusions below. SoftDev transfers its rights in those bespoke deliverables to you and will reasonably assist with any written assignment required to give effect to that ownership.

Depending on the agreed project, this includes custom source code, project-specific UI and design work, database and schema work, custom assets, documentation produced specifically for you and other bespoke deliverables identified in the agreement. Your own content, data, branding and existing assets remain yours.

Where reasonably practical, business-critical production assets and accounts should ultimately be under your control. This may include the domain registrar, source-code repository, hosting or deployment project, production database, business email infrastructure and other production services. The handover should include the agreed source files, documentation and a secure transfer of appropriate access.

Shared infrastructure or provider restrictions may require an agreed migration or equivalent export rather than transfer of a whole account. Any constraints and additional migration work should be explained and agreed, not used to defeat ownership. SoftDev may retain developer or administrator access where you authorise ongoing maintenance or support. Optional ongoing services are not a condition of owning your paid-for custom deliverables.

9. SoftDev intellectual property and reusable technology

Client ownership does not transfer SoftDev’s pre-existing tools, generic reusable components, development utilities, internal frameworks, templates, general technical methods, know-how or components created independently of the unique project. SoftDev remains free to reuse general skills, techniques, patterns and non-client-specific technology without disclosing your confidential information.

Where SoftDev-owned reusable technology is embedded in a paid-for deliverable and necessary to use it, SoftDev grants you a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, copy, maintain and modify it as part of that deliverable, including through another service provider, and to transfer that licence with the deliverable. Third-party components remain subject to their own licences.

This exclusion must not be used to reclassify bespoke client work as reusable technology or undermine your ownership and practical use of your software. Material exclusions or special licence restrictions should be identified in the project agreement.

10. Third-party and open-source software

Projects may use frameworks, open-source packages, APIs, fonts and other third-party technology, as well as hosting, payment, email and database services. These remain governed by their respective licences and service terms. Ownership of your custom project does not transfer third-party intellectual property.

SoftDev will take reasonable care to use components consistently with their licences and identify material licensing, subscription and usage obligations relevant to your project. Required licence notices must be retained. Third-party fees and account responsibilities should be agreed in the quotation or before the relevant service is purchased.

11. Portfolio rights

SoftDev may display publicly released projects in its portfolio and state that it designed or developed them, using screenshots, links and reasonable descriptions. This permission does not override an NDA, confidentiality duties, restrictions on private or non-public projects, or a separate written agreement. Confidential information and personal information must not be exposed through portfolio material.

12. Client responsibilities and delays

You are responsible for providing necessary logos, images, written content, product information, authorised credentials or access, feedback, approvals, domain information and other agreed inputs in reasonable time. You should have the necessary rights to materials you ask SoftDev to use and share credentials through an appropriate secure channel.

If missing information, access or approval delays delivery, SoftDev will communicate the impact and propose a reasonable revised timeline. SoftDev is not automatically in breach of a deadline to the extent the delay was caused by those missing inputs. Any additional charge arising from changed arrangements must be explained and approved before additional chargeable work begins.

13. Delivery and acceptance

The quotation may define milestones, demonstrations, testing, launch and handover steps. When work is ready for review, SoftDev will provide a reasonable opportunity to check it against the agreed specification and identify genuine issues. The parties should record acceptance or a clear list of outstanding corrections in writing.

SoftDev will address genuine defects according to the agreement and applicable law. Requests beyond scope follow the change-request process. If feedback is delayed, SoftDev may follow up and revise the schedule reasonably; silence does not instantly waive your rights. Acceptance or launch does not remove remedies for latent defects or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

14. Bugs, support and future changes

A genuine defect is a failure of the delivered functionality to meet the agreed specification. It is distinct from ongoing maintenance, routine updates, new features or changes requested after completion. The quotation or a separate support agreement may define support periods, response arrangements and ongoing maintenance scope, without limiting mandatory legal remedies.

Problems caused by independent third-party services or by client or third-party modifications after handover may require separate investigation or work. They are not automatically defects in SoftDev’s original delivery, but SoftDev remains responsible for its own failures where applicable. SoftDev will explain the likely cause and obtain approval before undertaking additional chargeable support.

15. Third-party services and availability

Independent infrastructure and service providers may experience outages, change their services or impose usage limits. SoftDev cannot guarantee their uninterrupted availability or continued operation. SoftDev will nevertheless take reasonable care when selecting and configuring services it manages and carrying out its agreed monitoring or support responsibilities.

Backups, recovery arrangements, service levels and responsibility for renewals should be specified where relevant to the project. A third-party failure does not excuse a separate failure by SoftDev to perform its own agreed obligations.

16. Limitation of liability

Each party is responsible for loss caused by its breach of the agreement or failure to exercise legally required care, subject to applicable law. Liability should reflect the cause and extent of the loss, including any contribution by the other party, and both parties should take reasonable steps to limit avoidable loss.

To the extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for remote losses that were not reasonably foreseeable when the agreement was made. This is not a blanket exclusion of business losses: foreseeable losses caused by a breach remain subject to the agreement and applicable law. Any project-specific financial cap or further limitation must be expressly agreed, fair and legally permissible; these Terms do not impose a universal financial cap.

No exclusion or limitation applies to fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence or any liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited. Nothing restricts mandatory consumer remedies, applicable personal-information protections or responsibility that South African law requires a supplier to retain. Unfair, unreasonable or overly broad exclusions must not be applied contrary to consumer legislation.

17. Confidentiality and personal information

Both parties must take reasonable care to protect confidential business, technical and commercial information received from the other, use it only for the project or another authorised purpose, and restrict access to people who need it and are subject to appropriate confidentiality duties.

This does not prevent use of information that is lawfully public, independently developed or lawfully received without restriction. Legally required disclosure is permitted, with advance notice where lawful and reasonably practical. Confidentiality continues after the project ends for as long as the information remains confidential and works alongside any separate NDA.

Website and inquiry information is addressed in our Privacy Policy. Where a project involves processing personal information on a client’s behalf, the parties should agree the appropriate responsibilities, security requirements and operator arrangements under POPIA before that processing begins.

18. Governing law and disputes

The agreement is governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, subject to mandatory consumer rights and any applicable dispute mechanisms. Please raise concerns with SoftDev so the parties can first try to resolve them reasonably and in good faith.

This does not prevent either party from approaching a competent court, regulator, ombud or other available dispute-resolution body, or seeking urgent relief. No provision requires you to give up a statutory complaint or remedy.

19. Changes to these Terms

SoftDev may update these website Terms for future engagements, showing a new version and last-updated date. Existing projects remain governed by the version incorporated into their accepted agreement unless a change is properly agreed or legally required. Publishing an update does not retrospectively rewrite an accepted project agreement.

20. Business details and contact

For questions about these Terms or your project, contact SoftDev. Existing clients may also use the contact channel in their project agreement.

You can also reach SoftDev using these general business contact details:

Email

softdevcore@gmail.com

Phone

+27 71 561 2622

SoftDev is the trading name used on this website. Business registration is being finalised; formal business details will be added when confirmed. The contracting party must be identified in your quotation or project agreement before acceptance.