When hiring a freelance developer, it’s important to set expectations so that everyone knows what is involved.

Initial consultation and rates

For prospective clients I offer a free initial consultation to discuss your needs and whether I am the right person to help. This lasts up to 30 minutes and can take place via phone or on a remote platform (Zoom, Skype etc.). I don’t attend in-person meetings for the initial consultation due to the travel time involved.

This is the only free service I offer – everything else is charged in one of the following ways:

  • An hourly rate of £50, with a minimum of 2.5 hours (i.e. £125).
  • A daily rate of £350, based on a 7 hour day.
  • A fixed-fee, with a minimum of £250.

For small well-defined projects I generally operate on a fixed-fee basis. For everything else, I charge by the hour or day, up to an agreed budget. All expenses (e.g. travel costs) are re-charged at cost.

My hourly and daily rates are not negotiable and I do not offer discounts.

Terms of Business Agreement

Clients must sign my Terms of Business Agreement before I commence work (anything beyond the initial consultation). If you would like to reserve my time on a regular basis (e.g. 5 hours per month), this is also subject to my Time Reservation Schedule, and mentoring services are subject to my Mentoring Schedule.

Payment

For payment of invoices:

  • Payment must be made in full within 14 days of the invoice issue date.
  • The only accepted payment method is electronic bank transfer into my business bank account.
  • All invoices are in sterling (GBP) and must be paid in that currency.
  • I am not registered for VAT.

Persistent late payment will result in discontinuation of services.

Client locations

I can work with clients in the following locations:

  • United Kingdom
  • Channel Islands
  • Isle of Man

I can also work with international firms provided that you have a subsidiary in one of the above areas which I can contract with and send invoices to.

Working hours

My working hours are 09:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday (UK time), excluding UK bank holidays. I don’t offer support outside of these hours and my work email and phone are switched off. The only exception is work agreed in advance which cannot be carried out during working hours – such as moving a production site to a new server – which is charged at a higher rate.

If you need support outside of working hours, I can recommend hosting providers which offer this service.

Working with other developers

I’m happy to work with other developers of any level/experience. Some of my clients rely on me for all their development requirements, but I also work with in-house and external developers.

Working with other clients

I have clients who I work with regularly and I ask you to take this into account when setting expectations on response times. I don’t oversell my time, and I always answer my phone/email if it’s an emergency (within working hours), but if two or more clients have emergencies at the same time I operate on a first-reported, first-served basis. I don’t discuss any of my clients with other clients (other than the public information on my website), and I may work simultaneously for clients in the same industry or who consider themselves to be competitors.

Subcontracting and agencies

I regularly work with agencies who subcontract work to me, or bring me on board to fill a specific gap in their skill sets (e.g. development work for agencies focused on design). I am happy to speak directly to clients or run everything via the agency, whichever is preferred.

I do not subcontract any of my work and have no plans to do so.

Replying to emails

I have my emails open during working hours, and when an email comes in I briefly glance at it to see if it is urgent (e.g. a server has gone down). If the email is urgent I drop what I’m doing and reply. Otherwise, I reply to all outstanding emails in batches – usually twice a day. This means if you send a non-urgent email (which accounts for nearly all emails) then I will usually reply by the end of the next working day.

Documentation

I keep all my documentation in Google Docs, which I share with at least one person at the client. This ensures that you always have access to the documentation in case anything happens to me.

Time off

If I am taking pre-planned time off, I will let you know in advance. If we have a regular working arrangement, I will either spread that time out into the weeks prior/following the time off or reduce my invoice for that month by a pro-rata amount. I generally take 4-6 weeks off each year, and I usually give a month’s notice.

Remote working

I’m based in Greater Manchester and work from home, as this means I have everything I need to do my job effectively. I’m able and willing to attend meetings within Greater Manchester if required. I charge for my travel time at my standard rates and all expenses are re-charged at cost.

Security and data protection

My desktop, laptop, and backup drives have full disk encryption, with a long passphrase that only I know. I’m registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller with reference: ZA352994.

Insurance

I have professional indemnity insurance and can provide a copy of my insurance certificate on request.

Third party services

Often clients will need third party services, such as website hosting and email. I always set these up to be billed to the client directly, as this ensures continuity if I am unavailable. I do not require clients to use specific providers but can offer recommendations. Unless I advise you otherwise, I do not earn commission on any of the services I recommend.

Tenders

Whilst I’m happy to work with public sector organisations, I don’t participate in tenders – as a sole trader I cannot spend large amounts of time preparing proposals for work that I stand a small chance of winning.

AI and LLMs

I do not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Large Language Models (LLM) to help me write code or documents in any of the projects I work on, as I cannot be sure what material they have been trained on and whether the licence permits me to use it. This includes tools such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot etc.

This only applies to code and documents which I write. All software development involves the use of libraries provided by third parties, which will be governed by their own rules on the use of AI and LLMs.