Client Engagement Terms

These are the standard terms under which Dori Media (“we”, “us”, “our”) provides services to clients (“you”, “your”). They apply to every project we deliver unless we’ve agreed something different in writing.

Dori Media is operated by Adam Crouchley, based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Sole trader, GST registered.

1. Quotes and acceptance

We provide written quotes that describe the scope, deliverables, timeline, and price for the work.

Quotes are valid for 30 days from the date issued. After 30 days, prices and timelines may change.

A quote is accepted when you confirm acceptance in writing (email is fine) and pay the deposit. At that point, these terms become a contract between us.

2. Payment

All amounts in the quote are New Zealand Dollars and exclude GST. GST will be added to invoices at the prevailing rate.

Deposit: 50% of the quoted amount is payable on acceptance of the quote, before work begins.

Balance: The remaining 50% is payable within 10 days of delivery.

“Delivery” means the project deliverables are made available to you in a complete and working state, ready for your review or launch. It does not mean the project is signed off — see clause 7.

Payment method: Bank transfer to the account shown on the invoice.

Late payment: Invoices unpaid after 10 days will accrue interest at 2% per month on the outstanding balance. We reserve the right to suspend ongoing work and remove or disable any deployed assets while invoices remain overdue. Costs of debt collection (including legal fees) will be passed on to you if recovery action is needed.

Ongoing work: For retainers and ongoing engagements, terms will be set out in the relevant agreement. Standard 7-day payment terms apply unless otherwise agreed.

3. Scope and variations

The work delivered is what’s described in the quote. Anything outside that scope is a variation.

Variations require written approval from both parties. They may extend the timeline, change the cost, or both. We’ll provide a variation quote before doing variation work.

Small in-flight tweaks during normal back-and-forth are part of the engagement and aren’t variations. Substantive changes to scope, structure, design direction, or feature set are.

4. Revisions

The number of revision rounds included is set out in the quote.

A “revision round” means consolidated feedback delivered together as a single package (not feedback dripped in piece by piece over days).

Additional revisions beyond what’s quoted are billed at our hourly rate of NZ$150 + GST per hour, with a minimum charge of one hour.

5. Timelines and your responsibilities

We commit to the timeline in the quote. Meeting that timeline depends on you providing:

• Required content, assets, and information when requested
• Timely feedback and approvals (typically within 5 working days of being requested)
• Access to platforms, accounts, and systems we need to do the work
• Decisions on questions we raise

If you delay providing what we need by more than 14 days, we may:

• Pause the project and resume when you’re ready
• Invoice progress payments based on work completed
• Charge a restart fee of NZ$500 + GST when work resumes after extended delays

We’re not responsible for missed deadlines caused by your delays.

6. Force majeure

Neither party is responsible for delays caused by events outside their reasonable control — natural disasters, illness, infrastructure failures, government actions, or similar. We’ll communicate quickly if any such issue arises and work in good faith on a revised timeline.

7. Acceptance and sign-off

When we deliver the project, you have 10 working days to review and either:

• Accept the deliverables in writing, OR
• Provide consolidated feedback identifying specific issues to address

If we don’t hear from you within 10 working days of delivery, the deliverables are deemed accepted and the balance becomes payable.

This prevents projects from sitting in limbo indefinitely. If you need more review time for legitimate reasons, just ask before the 10 days are up.

8. Warranties

We warrant that we’ll perform the work with reasonable care and skill, consistent with industry standards.

For 30 days after delivery, we’ll fix at no charge any bugs in the deliverables — meaning the deliverables don’t work as described in the quote.

The 30-day bug warranty does not cover:

• Changes you want that weren’t in the original scope
• Issues caused by you or third parties modifying the deliverables
• Issues caused by browser updates, third-party app updates, hosting platform changes, or other factors outside our control
• Content updates, copy changes, or design tweaks
• Training, support, or how-to questions
• Hosting issues, domain issues, or third-party service outages

After the 30-day warranty period, fixes and changes are billed at our hourly rate (NZ$150 + GST per hour) or under a separate retainer agreement.

9. Intellectual property

On full payment, you own the final deliverables we create specifically for you under the project. Until full payment is received, no IP transfers, and we may withdraw or disable deliverables if invoices remain overdue.

We retain ownership of:

• Pre-existing tools, code libraries, frameworks, and methodologies we bring to the project
• Drafts, unused concepts, and working files
• General know-how and skills developed in the course of the work

We may use the completed work in our portfolio, case studies, social media, and marketing materials, with reasonable courtesy to you. You can request that specific commercially sensitive details be omitted.

Third-party assets (stock photos, premium fonts, paid Shopify themes, third-party plugins, etc.) remain licensed under their original terms. We’ll tell you upfront which assets are third-party and what their licences allow.

10. Content you provide

You warrant that any content you provide to us — text, images, logos, code, data — is either owned by you or properly licensed for the use we’re putting it to.

You indemnify us against any third-party claims arising from content you provided (for example, copyright or trademark infringement claims).

If you ask us to do something we believe may infringe someone else’s rights, we may decline or require written confirmation that you accept responsibility.

11. Hosting, domains, and third-party services

Unless explicitly stated in the quote, the following are NOT included in our fees and are your responsibility:

• Domain registration and renewal
• Web hosting fees
• Shopify subscription fees
• Premium themes, plugins, apps, or third-party software
• Email hosting
• SSL certificates (where not provided by hosting)
• Stock photography or font licences

We’ll advise you on what’s needed and can help arrange these services, but the costs are yours and the accounts are typically in your name.

12. Confidentiality

We treat your business information as confidential. We won’t share it with third parties except as needed to deliver the work, or as required by law.

You agree to treat any confidential information about Dori Media (including pricing, methods, and tools) with similar care.

These confidentiality obligations continue after the project ends.

This doesn’t prevent us from showing the completed work in our portfolio (see clause 9).

13. Cancellation

By you: You can cancel at any time by notifying us in writing. The deposit is non-refundable. You’ll be invoiced for any work completed beyond the deposit value, pro-rated against the project total.

By us: We may cancel the engagement if you’re seriously in breach of these terms (for example, persistent non-payment, abusive conduct, or asking us to do something illegal). We’ll refund any unused deposit pro-rated against work completed.

Termination for convenience: Either party can end the engagement with 14 days’ written notice. Work completed up to the termination date is invoiced and payable.

14. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising out of an engagement is limited to the total amount you’ve paid us under that engagement.

We are not liable for:

• Loss of profits, revenue, business, or expected savings
• Loss of data (you should always have your own backups)
• Loss arising from third-party services, platforms, or apps
• Indirect, consequential, or special damages

This doesn’t affect rights you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or Fair Trading Act 1986 that can’t be excluded by agreement.

For business-to-business engagements where both parties are in trade, we agree to contract out of the Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act provisions where the law allows, since both parties are acting in trade and it’s fair and reasonable to do so.

15. Disputes

If a dispute arises, we both agree to:

1. Discuss it directly first, in good faith
2. If that doesn’t resolve it within 21 days, attempt mediation through a NZ-based mediator before taking legal action

If court action is needed, it will be in New Zealand courts under New Zealand law.

16. Communication

Day-to-day project communication can happen by email, phone, Slack, or whatever channel works for both of us.

Formal notices — variations, terminations, complaints, breach notices — must be in writing by email to [email protected].

17. Subcontractors

We may engage subcontractors to help deliver the work. We remain responsible to you for the overall delivery.

18. No exclusivity

We work with multiple clients, including occasionally clients in similar industries or in competition with each other. We maintain confidentiality between clients (clause 12) but we don’t grant exclusivity unless explicitly agreed in writing.

19. Severability

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest of the terms remain in effect.

20. Whole agreement

These terms, together with the accepted quote, form the whole agreement between us about the work. They override any previous discussions or proposals.

21. Changes to these terms

We may update these standard terms from time to time. The version that applies to your engagement is the version in effect when you accepted the quote.

Contact

Adam Crouchley
Dori Media
Christchurch, New Zealand
[email protected]