In the development of a website, as with any other type of work, there can be errors that don't come to light until some time after it has been managed. That's why every web design or development service should establish a minimum warranty period.
In the development of a website, as with any other type of work, there can be errors that don't come to light until some time after it has been managed. That's why every web design or development service should establish a minimum warranty period. If you're looking for a more flexible alternative, you may consider website rental.
We should keep in mind that what is discussed in this article applies to B2C relationships. That is, when the final recipient of the service/product is a consumer and not a business.
And yes, web security is important, but the legal side is no less so.
Is a warranty mandatory when we hire a website?
Today I got in touch with Consumer Protection and they gave me some very relevant information for those of us working in the industry, and for those consuming these services too. Everything considered digital content must have a mandatory warranty.
How long does the warranty cover?
According to Royal Decree 1/2007, Article 120, from 1 January 2022, those of us providing digital content creation services must offer a mandatory warranty of at least 2 years. They told me this from memory. As we can see on this page, I quote verbatim:
In the case of a contract for the sale of goods or the supply of digital content or services supplied in a single transaction or in a series of individual transactions, the business shall be liable for any lack of conformity existing at the time of delivery or supply and manifesting within a period of three years from delivery in the case of goods, or two years in the case of digital content or services.
Do web design companies apply this warranty?
The truth is that the majority of web design companies are unaware of this law. At WebHeroe, for example, we make it very clear that our services comply with this warranty.
What does the warranty give you in a web design?
The simple fact that a professional offers you a warranty period for their services already tells you that they fully trust their work. This alone is more than enough reason to make a good selection when choosing your designer. But beyond this, we can find many other reasons, among which we highlight:
- Security in case of technical errors
- Protection against possible compatibility issues
- Assured quality in terms of speed and performance
- On-Page SEO
What does the warranty in a web design cover?
In this article we are writing about the warranty in web design, so cases where maintenance or any other periodic web service is included are not considered. I clarify this because in that case the warranty could vary considerably.
In a web design, the warranty covers any error originating from the initial design and development. This means that any lack of conformity on the part of the client should always be reflected in the initial design. To bring it to a real-life scenario, if modifications are made to the website and the problem is caused by those modifications, it would not be covered.
Take note of this! Especially if you're going to hire a web design in WordPress or another CMS. When using this type of web technology, the end user (website owner) will have to constantly update the core, plugins, languages, etc. So the warranty would stop being effective (at least partially) in a short period of time.
A slightly extreme example to make it clear:
After a plugin update, an incompatibility is found caused by the use of a deprecated function in the code. At the time of delivery the website works perfectly. But a week later, an update is released in which that function is no longer supported.
In the above example, it would be very difficult for us to claim the legal rights offered by the warranty.
Another detail worth noting is that during the first year of the warranty, it is the supplier who has to prove the existence of the error (or lack thereof), and during the second year it is the consumer.
How is it verified whether an error originates from the initial development or not?
Typically, web design professionals keep a copy of the website that allows us to compare whether the error existed from the outset.
Have you found a problem caused by the initial development but the warranty has expired?
If the warranty has expired but you've found a problem originating from the initial development, it's very likely the company won't want to continue taking responsibility. Even so, get in touch with them, explain the situation, and I'm (almost) certain you'll be able to reach an agreement that benefits both parties.
Don't forget that WebHeroe also develops custom WordPress plugins so your website shines in every aspect.
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