ByteGears

Draft — under review

First Gear and build terms

These are the standard terms for working with ByteGears Ltd (Companies House 12638514). They apply to First Gear, to builds that follow it, and to monthly plans. Paying a First Gear payment link, a build invoice or a plan's first Direct Debit means you accept them. "You" means the business paying; "we" means ByteGears.

1. Scope

First Gear is a working prototype of one core workflow, built with sample data you provide and hosted on a private link, plus a one-page build plan. It takes 5 working days from the kickoff call.

The build plan is the statement of work for the build. It sets out the first-release scope, what's out of scope, the fixed price, the payment schedule and the go-live date. Work outside the build plan is agreed in writing as a later phase with its own fixed price. We don't bill by the hour.

2. Payment

  • First Gear is £495, paid up front. It holds your slot.
  • Builds are paid 50/50: half at kickoff and half at go-live. The First Gear fee comes off the deposit. For a £5,000 build, that's £495, then £2,005 at kickoff, then £2,500 at go-live.
  • Builds over £6,000 can be paid in three monthly instalments, set out in the build plan.
  • "Go-live" means the agreed first release is live and signed off against the build plan. If you haven't raised a problem against the build plan within 5 working days of go-live, it counts as signed off.
  • Invoices are due within 14 days. Monthly plans are paid in advance by Direct Debit.

3. Ownership

The code lives in a repository in your name from day one, and you own it once the invoice for that work is paid. Your data is yours throughout. Hosting, domain and third-party accounts are set up in your name, so there's no lock-in.

We may reuse generic components that aren't specific to your business, such as login screens, layout components and utility code, in other work. We never reuse your data, your branding or anything specific to how your business works.

4. The guarantees

  • See it first. You see a working prototype before committing to the build, and keep it either way.
  • Fixed price. You pay the price in the build plan for the scope it describes.
  • On time. If we miss the go-live date in the build plan because of a delay on our side, you get 3 months of the Cruise plan free (worth £597). This is the only remedy for a late go-live.
  • Yours to keep. Code, data and accounts are in your name. You can export your data in a standard format (CSV or a database dump) at any time, and we provide a full handover pack on request.
  • 30-day fix guarantee. For 30 days after go-live, we fix bugs in what we built for free. A bug is something that doesn't work as the build plan describes. New features and changes aren't bugs.

5. Delays caused by you

The go-live date depends on getting what we need from you on time: data, feedback, access and sign-off. If any of these arrive late, the go-live date moves by the same number of days. The build plan lists what we need and when. If a build is paused on your side for more than 30 days, we may invoice for the work done so far and agree a new start date when you're ready.

6. Cancellation

  • First Gear is non-refundable once the kickoff call has happened, because the prototype and build plan are yours to keep.
  • You can stop a build at any time after paying the deposit. We'll deliver the work done so far, with its code, and invoice for any work beyond the deposit, up to the build price.
  • Monthly plans cancel any time, effective at the end of the month already paid for.

7. Hosting and monthly plans

Every build includes the first month of hosting and support free. After that you can take a monthly plan (Idle, Cruise or Overdrive) or take the code, data and handover docs and host it yourself. Unused hours on a plan don't roll over.

8. Confidentiality and data

We keep your business information confidential and handle any personal data you share under UK GDPR, as described in our privacy policy. Where we process personal data on your behalf, we'll sign a data processing agreement.

9. Liability

Our total liability under these terms is capped at the fees you've paid us for the work concerned. We're not liable for indirect or consequential loss, such as lost profit or lost data that could have been restored from a backup. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

Questions about these terms? Email contact@bytegears.com.