Website Design Contract in Uganda: What to Sign Before You Pay a Deposit
Key Takeaways
- →One page is enough: scope, payment milestones, ownership, exit terms, signed or confirmed in writing.
- →Split payments against milestones you can see: 40 percent on signing, 30 percent on design approval, 30 percent on launch.
- →The domain, hosting account, analytics and email belong in your company's name, not the designer's.
- →Ask whether the quote includes VAT. Uganda's standard rate is 18 percent, which moves a 600,000 UGX quote to 708,000.
An owner in Ntinda paid a 900,000 UGX deposit in February for a five page website. He saw a homepage preview in April. In August he was still waiting for the other four pages, and the only paperwork was a WhatsApp thread and a mobile money receipt to a personal number.
A website design contract does not have to be a legal document. For the sites most Ugandan businesses buy, it is one page that settles three questions: what you are buying, who owns it, and what happens if either side stops.
Why the paperwork matters more than the portfolio
The portfolio answers one question, whether this person can build. It says nothing about what happens to your domain, your hosting, your company email or your files when the relationship ends. That is what an owner discovers two years later, usually on the morning the website goes blank.
The risk is rarely a scam. It is convenience. The designer already pays for hosting, so your site goes on his account. The domain gets registered from his laptop, so his email address sits on the registrar record. It becomes a problem the day he changes jobs or stops answering.
Checking takes thirty seconds: run a free WHOIS lookup on your domain and read the email address on the account. If it is not one your company controls, that is the first line to fix.
The eight clauses to get in writing
- Scope, by name. "Five page website" is not a scope. Home, about, services, gallery, contact with a WhatsApp button, plus Google Business Profile setup is. Add the number of revision rounds, two is standard, and what counts as new work.
- Deliverables. The files you receive at the end: page copy, images, source files and a database export if the site stores anything.
- Dates. Start, preview link and launch. Name who produces the text and photos, because waiting on content causes more delay than the build does.
- Payment milestones. Split the fee against things you can see, not calendar dates.
- Ownership. Domain, hosting, analytics, email, code and content, one line each.
- Content and images. Who writes the text, who owns the photographs, and whether stock images come with a licence you can keep.
- After launch. How many days of free bug fixing you get, thirty is normal, the monthly cost from month two, and what the domain and hosting cost on renewal.
- Exit terms. What you take if you walk away mid build, what you owe at that point, and how the handover happens.
The deposit split, with real numbers
Three payment structures turn up in Kampala. One of them puts the risk in the right place.
- Everything up front. Walk away. You are funding the job with no milestone to hold anyone to.
- Fifty fifty. Common and workable, but the second half usually falls due before you have seen the site on a real link.
- Forty, thirty, thirty. A deposit on signing, a payment when you approve the design on a live preview link, and the balance when the site is live and the logins are in your name. On a 600,000 UGX build that is 240,000, then 180,000, then 180,000.
Every payment buys something you can check on your own phone before the money moves. A designer who will not work that way is telling you how the rest of the job will go.
Red flag: paid to a personal number with nothing in writing
A mobile money receipt proves money left your phone. It does not prove what you bought. If the first payment is going to a personal number rather than a business name, get the scope, the milestones and the handover terms confirmed in writing before you send anything.
Who owns what when the site goes live
Five items need to sit in your name on launch day.
- The domain, registered to the company, with the renewal notice going to an address you control.
- The hosting account, in your name with the designer added as a user rather than the other way round.
- Analytics and Search Console, under your Google account with the designer added as a user. If he owns them and leaves, your traffic history leaves with him.
- Company email, on accounts you can log into and reset.
- The files: a copy of the site, the images and a database export, handed over on final payment.
A lapsed domain goes back into the market once the grace period closes, and anyone can buy it, including a competitor. Then you either pay a premium to get it back or start again on a new name, losing the rankings and every receipt and email that carried the old address.
Red flag: the free website tied to a long contract
A free build usually comes with a two or three year hosting contract. Divide the contract total by the months and compare it with the market rate, around 50,000 UGX a month for hosting and SSL on a five page site. The free build is often the more expensive one, and you find out at the point where leaving costs you the website.
VAT, receipts and what actually lands
Uganda's standard VAT rate is 18 percent, and most quotes do not say whether the figure includes it. A 600,000 UGX quote plus VAT is 708,000, which is 108,000 more than one that already covers it. Ask which you are looking at before comparing two quotes, and ask for an invoice or receipt showing the business name and TIN.
Larger companies also deduct withholding tax from a supplier invoice before paying, so the amount that lands can be below the figure on the page. Ask your accountant how that deduction is credited back, so month one is not a surprise.
Our prices are quoted in shillings with no VAT added, so 600,000 is 600,000, and the first twelve months of hosting, SSL and company email are included rather than billed monthly. Every figure is on our pricing page.
What to do when a build goes wrong
Send one written message: what you paid for, what you received, what is still owed, and a date to respond by. Keep it in a single thread, because a dated record is the only leverage that works when someone is avoiding you. Most of these end there.
If it does not, weigh the recovery against the loss. Chasing 600,000 UGX through lawyers costs more than the website did. Above a few million shillings, legal advice is worth paying for. Below that, the honest route is a rebuild on a domain you control. A website takes days to rebuild. Trust in a lapsed domain takes years.
One page to send before you pay
Paste this into the chat and ask for confirmation in writing.
- The exact pages and features included, and the number of revision rounds.
- The start, preview and launch dates.
- The payment schedule: 40 percent on signing, 30 on design approval, 30 on launch.
- Who writes the text and who supplies the photos.
- The domain in the company name, with the renewal email in our control.
- The hosting account in our name, designer added as a user.
- Analytics and Search Console under our Google account.
- Thirty days of free bug fixing after launch, then the monthly cost.
- Source files and a database export handed over on final payment.
- What we take with us if we stop, and what is owed at that point.
The conversations that ended at those ten lines saved the client more than the contract cost. If you want the version we use, our web design service is 600,000 UGX one time with the logins in your name from day one, and every total is on the pricing page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer to write a website design contract in Uganda?
Not for a 600,000 to 2,000,000 UGX business website. One page covering scope, payment milestones, ownership and exit terms is enough, signed or clearly accepted in a message thread. Bring in a lawyer when the build runs into several million shillings or includes custom software, stock or equipment.
What deposit should I pay a web designer in Uganda?
Between 30 and 50 percent to start. On a 600,000 UGX build that is 180,000 to 300,000, with the rest tied to design approval and launch. Anything above 50 percent up front, or a request for the full amount before work starts, puts all the risk on you.
Who should own the domain and the hosting?
Your company. The domain registered in the company name with the renewal notice going to an email you control, and the hosting account in your name with the designer added as a user. Run a free WHOIS lookup at the start and check which email address sits on the account.
Is VAT included in web design quotes in Uganda?
Usually not. Uganda's standard VAT rate is 18 percent, so a 600,000 UGX quote becomes 708,000 if VAT is added on top. Ask which one you are looking at before comparing two quotes, and ask for a receipt carrying the business name and TIN.
What can I do if a web designer takes my money and stops working?
Send one written message listing what you paid for, what you received, what is still owed and a date to respond, and keep it in a single thread. If that fails and the sum is small, rebuilding on a domain you control costs less than chasing the money. For larger amounts, talk to a lawyer before you spend on a rebuild.
Want the Contract We Use?
Send us the quote or agreement you have been handed. We will tell you what is missing from it and what it will cost you by month twelve, free, whether you hire us or not.
