General Terms and Conditions

We aim to produce the best possible product for our clients. Bearing this in mind, it is important to understand each other correctly.

1) Quotations:

It's Imbali Studio's pleasure to provide the client with a cost estimate or quotation on any specified work. Quotations are valid for fourteen (14) days from the document date and are subject to the standard conditions and recognized customs of the Web Development and Hosting Industry in South Africa. Estimates and quotations not accepted within fourteen (14) days thereof shall be deemed withdrawn and cancelled. All quotations that are to expire will be notified prior to expiry and given an opportunity to extend the quotes expiry date should they require.

Quotations are based on the following critical condition: All content, text, images or any other relevant information will be supplied in final format, by the client to Imbali Studio.

Quotations may include a design brief for the requested work stipulating the specific requirements and web design and development methods for the requested project, if required. Alterations to the quotation can be made within the 14 days, however any alterations will result in a new quotation being issued, and the new quotation will override the previously issued quotation.

All our quotations are carefully considered before presenting to the client. Reasonable assumptions are made based on the original request as to the exact workings or technical requirements of the project. We therefore reserve the right to amend our quotation should technical requirements change or in the chase where it was not communicated properly to us at the time of the original request.

2) Deposit and Placement of Order:

A 50% deposit of the total amount stipulated on the quotation becomes payable immediately on acceptance of the quotation. Imbali Studio cc accepts all payment methods: cash, electronic transfers, credit card payments and cheques will be accepted. Should a cheque be used, we will under normal conditions wait 4 business days for the cheque to clear, before commencement of the work.

All accepted quotations are added to our design/development schedule the moment the quote is accepted. Should the required 50% deposit not be received shortly after accepting the quotation, we reserve the right to move the project forward in our schedule until the deposit is received. No work will commence before a deposit or financial arrangement is made. We work on a first come, first serve basis and put priority on client that have already paid their deposit.

Placement of the order will only be accepted once we receive the signed quotation and proof of payment for the deposit. Alternatively quotations can be accepted online via our website's quotation system. Accepting a quotation via our website binds you to our company's Standard Terms and Conditions.

Imbali Studio cc will issue the order and tax invoice on receipt of the required documents and deposit. Should a formal project plan and schedule document be required, the client may request their project manager to furnish them with such details.

Imbali Studio cc reserves the right to not take on a new project under certain circumstances, based on our discretion. We therefore reserve the right not to engage in business should we choose not to.

Deposit payments received will not attract interest under any circumstances.

3) Conditions of a Project/Order:

By accepted the quotation via our website, the client will be deemed to have ordered subject to the following standard conditions and recognised customs of the Web Development and Hosting Industry in South Arica, unless otherwise agreed in writing:

3.1 The client shall pay for any preliminary work which is produced at his/her request whether experimentally or otherwise.

3.2 The client shall supply all the material required for inclusion in the client's website as stipulated in the specifications document on the date specified by Imbali Studio cc or from advice by the project manager. The client will not refuse or delay this process. Delaying the process could result in the project being scheduled at a later stage, while project's who are ready to proceed will commence until completion.

3.3 Client's property and property supplied on behalf of the client will be held at the client's risk.

3.4 This agreement will commence on the effective date of the order and shall continue thereafter until completion of services. The actual completion date may vary from the estimated completion date due to numerous factors; the client cannot hold the developer responsible for the change in completion date. No development work will commence until the development specifications document is signed by the client.

3.5 The project manager requires approval from the client for the different stages in the development process. The project manager will inform the client when and by what date approval is required, the client will not refuse or delay the approval process. A delayed response on behalf of the client will result in the extension of project completion as determined by the developer and could result in additional charge. After approval the client shall have no claim against the developer for any errors as approved by him/her.

3.6 Alterations or changes can be requested by the client at any stage during the development process with restrictions on the amount of requests as determined by the project manager taking into consideration the specified design brief requirements and development time frame. The project manager will determine if the requested alterations fall within the above mentioned criteria, if not, then the project manager will provide the client with a new cost estimate for the requested alterations. The client will need to approve the new cost estimate before development can proceed.

3.7 On completion of the project the developer will request final approval from the client by issuing the final website approval agreement. The client will be responsible for approving ALL aspects of the project or website by signing the agreement and returning the signed agreement to the developer by fax/email/hand delivery.

The client can report any errors or alteration required within seven (7) days of the agreement issue date. The developer, however, will accept the project/website as approved after seven (7) days with or without the signed agreement. Any alterations requested after the expiry date of the final website approval agreement will be charged for according to the developer's additional cost estimates.

3.8 Depending on the size of the project, Imbali Studio may issue a progress payment invoice not exceeding 85% of the total project value once the client has either come to our offices for a DEMO, or been presented with the DEMO URL of the completed website.

Progress payment invoices are due immediately after the DEMO URL has been received or the DEMO has been completed.

3.9 Final payment becomes payable seven (7) days after the issue date of the final website approval agreement, on this date the final invoice will be issued by the accounts department to the client. All services and/or products are rendered on a "Cash on Delivery" Basis, accordingly all outstanding fees will be payable before delivery of the final product. The client will not delay or refuse this process and/or payment. In the event that a project is complete however no response is received from the client for a period exceeding 7 days, we reserve the right to deem the project complete and require final payment.

3.10 Once the developer has completed the project according to specifications, the project will been seen as complete, and payment will become due as per point 3.8 above. Irrespective of any outstanding content or 3rd party information, critical to the functioning of the website such as Terminal ID's and booking systems etc. Final payment of the project to the developer cannot be delayed due to any 3rd party vendor delays such as banks, payment gateway providers etc. All static content provided after completion of the project will be added to the website under our general maintenance terms and billed for at our standard hourly rate of R550 p/h.

3.11 When payment is overdue the developer will suspend the website without notice and without prejudice to any other legal remedy until due payment has been made. Furthermore, any work started but incomplete may be suspended and payment therefore becomes immediately due and payable, notwithstanding anything expressed herein, and any monies in respect of projects completed but not yet published shall there upon forthwith become due and payable. If the client delays the completion of the project or payment thereof for more than 30 days from the specified completion/payment due date, there may be a penalty charge for holding the Developer that could otherwise be working on another project, of not more than 10% of the quoted price per month.

Moreover after the expiration of thirty (30) days notice the developer may exercise a general lien on all the client's goods and property in his hands and may dispose of such goods and property as he sees fit and apply the proceeds towards such debts. The developer may also elect to cancel and not produce any unmade balance of such contract and recover from the client any losses sustained by doing so.

3.12 It is the sole responsibility of the client to determine whether the project/website ordered by him/her are suitable for the purpose for which he/she intends using them. The developer gives no warranty, expressed or implied, concerning the suitability of the goods for any purpose whatever. The developer shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or other loss to third parties, arising out of errors in contracting third parties, or delay in completion, or unsuitability for use as intended, or copy write infringements of any nature.

3.13 Any contract is subject to cancellation or variation by reason of force maior, or from any and every cause whatsoever beyond the designers / printer's control, inter alia, inability to secure labour, materials, power or supplies, or by reason of war, civil disturbances, riot, state of emergency, strike, lock out or other labour disputes, fire, flood, theft or Legislation.

3.14 Imbali Studio cc offers FREE technical support for the lifetime of your website, unless: a.) The source code is edited or tampered with by either the client, or a 3rd party provider b.) Your website is hosted by a 3rd party company and not Imbali Studio cc

3.15 Imbali Studio cc takes no responsibility or liability for content provided by the client. It is the client's sole responsibility to ensure that all content in any form provided to Imbali Studio cc be free of any copyright infringements or plagiarism.

3.16 The development specifications document is a binding contract between Imbali Studio cc and the client. Should requirements not be listed in the specifications document, Imbali Studio reserves the right to bill additionally to cover costs to develop the additional feature/requirement.

3.17 It is the client's sole responsibility to ensure that the supplied specifications document accurately details the development requirements. Any misunderstandings after completion of the project will not be entertained and may result in additional charges being added to the final invoice. It is therefore the client's responsibility to ensure that he/she clarifies all features and technical functionalities before signing the specifications document and development commences.

4) Maintenance and Hourly Rate

We provide all of our clients various maintenance packages. Imbali Studio cc offers FREE technical support for the lifetime of your website should your website be hosted by Imbali Studio. If however, content changes or revisions are required we strongly suggest our maintenance package. Should no maintenance package we obtained, we will bill changes to your website at our normal hourly rate being R550 p/h excluding VAT. Should your website be edited or changed by either yourself or another 3rd party vendor, after finalisation of the project - we will not take responsibility to fix any errors, or make revisions. Our normal hourly rate will apply as stated above.

5) Changes to Submitted Text

Please send us your final text. Time required to make substantive changes to client- submitted text after the web pages have been constructed will be billed at the hourly rate of R550 p/h.

6) Web Hosting

The client understands that any web hosting services requires a separate contract. The client agrees to select a web hosting service which allows Imbali Studio cc full access to the website via FTP and telnet. The client further understands that if the web hosting service's operating system is not a Unix system, standard CGI software may not work, and providing a substitute may incur additional charges.

We strongly suggest that Imbali Studio cc be used to host your website, as we can then guarantee 100% correct functionality of your website. Support issues which could arise can be dealt with speedily. We are proud to be Hetzner resellers and have 4 dedicated servers with them ensuring the very best hosting environment for your website and emails.

It is to be noted that we do not offer support on any 3rd party hosting service. Should you decide not to host your website with Imbali Studio cc, we will do our best to accommodate your chosen hosting company, however cannot take responsibility for their service, delays or any other problem which might arise. Any additional costs will be covered by the client, and could result in additional hours being billed for at our normal hourly rate of R550 p/h excluding VAT.

6.1 Please be aware that should you host your website with Imbali Studio cc, we will bill monthly for any hosting fees payable. Traffic (bandwidth) usage is provided as per the specific package the client has signed-up for. Should traffic exceed the allocated amount according to the specific package, we will bill 0.19c per mega byte of data used over and above the allocated bandwidth amount. We reserve the right to automatically add any traffic over-usage fees to your monthly debit order. Disk Space usage is provided as per the specific package the client has signed-up for. Should the disk space quota exceed the allocated amount according to the specific package, we will automatically upgrade the hosting package to accommodate the specific disk space requirements. We reserve the right to automatically add the upgraded hosting package fees to your monthly debit order. We reserve the right to automatically increase the clients debit order without notice or warning.

6.2 Any annual domain renewal fees will automatically be added to the clients debit order unless a written request not to do so has been received. Imbali Studio will always notify clients of domain renewals. Should you NOT wish to renew your domain name, we require a written request. If the request is received before the required notification date, no additional renewal fee will be payable, if the request is received after the required notification date, the client will be liable for the renewal fee irrespective of domain cancellation.

6.2 Should a client want to cancel their hosting with Imbali Studio, we would require a request in writing. We have a 1 calendar month notification policy and domains will only be cancelled after 1 calendar month.

6.3 Should a client wish to transfer their domain to another company, we require a request in writing. No transfer request will be honoured until all applicable hosting fees have been collected.

6.4 To safeguard your domain, Imbali Studio will under no circumstances provide FTP, Database or Email usernames or passwords unless specifically requested in writing by the authorising contact person in the form of an email sent via the authorising email address/account.

6.5 Imbali Studio cc are Hetzner resellers. We therefore reserve the right to bill our clients any fees charged by Hetzner to Imbali Studio for your domain.

6.6 Imbali Studio cc reserves the right to terminate hosting and/or ANY services under the following circumstances:

Failure to honour our company's billing terms. Failure to abide by our company's Acceptable Use Policy in terms of SPAM and any other unlawful activities conducted via your website and/or emails. Poor business ethics and practices. Use of foul language and abuse to staff whether verbally or in writing.

7) Copyrights and Trademarks

The client warrants and unconditionally guarantees that any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork furnished to Imbali Studio cc for inclusion in web pages are owned by the client, or that the client has permission from the rightful owner to use each of these elements, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend Imbali Studio cc from any claim or suit arising from the use of such elements furnished by the client.

8) Laws Affecting Electronic Commerce

From time to time governments enact laws and levy taxes and tariffs affecting Internet electronic commerce. The client agrees that the client is solely responsible for complying with such laws, taxes, and tariffs, and will hold harmless, protect, and defend Imbali Studio cc and its subcontractors from any claim, suit, penalty, tax, or tariff arising from the client's exercise of Internet electronic commerce.

9) Copyright to Web pages

Copyright to the finished assembled work of web pages produced by Imbali Studio cc is owned by Imbali Studio cc. Upon final payment of this contract, the client receives full right to all webpage content, programming source code, pictures and any other media.

10) Refund Policy

This agreement begins with an initial payment of 50%. If the client halts work and applies by registered letter for a refund within 7 days of the initial deposit payment date, to the Managing Members of Imbali Studio cc, work completed shall be billed at the hourly rate stated above, and deducted from the initial payment, the balance of which shall be returned to the client. If, at the time of the request for refund, work has been completed beyond the amount covered by the initial payment, the client shall be liable to pay for all work completed at the hourly rate stated above. No portion of this initial payment will be refunded.

Deposit Payments will be Non-Refundable after the initial 7 day grace period.

The undersigned agrees to the terms of this agreement on behalf of his or her organization or business.