A proposal can look clear without giving you a clear agreement
Two proposals may both promise a “five-page custom website” at different prices, yet make very different assumptions. One may include design discovery, page copy support, mobile layouts, contact forms, testing and launch assistance. Another may expect the business to provide final text, approved photography, account access and technical details before work begins. Neither approach is automatically wrong. The risk comes when a business treats the two descriptions as though they mean the same thing.
A website proposal should help both parties reach the same practical understanding of the work. Before accepting one, a business should be able to explain what will be delivered, what it needs to supply, what could change the cost or timeline, and what happens once the website launches. This checklist helps identify questions to clarify in writing; it is not legal advice.
Contracts - Office of Consumer Affairs
1. Identify what is actually being delivered
Start with scope: the agreed list of work. Look for a named list of pages, design deliverables, contact or quote forms, integrations, search-engine work, graphic assets and testing. “Custom website” describes a type of project, not a complete list of what the project contains.
Also look for exclusions. For example, a proposal may exclude copywriting, photography, product entry, booking or payment-system setup, translations, legal-policy drafting, ongoing maintenance or work beyond a stated number of pages. A clear limit is not a warning sign by itself. It can prevent both sides from making assumptions that lead to an incomplete launch or a difficult change later.
2. Check what your business must provide
A project often depends on information only the business can supply: accurate service descriptions, brand files, project photos, staff details, pricing decisions, approvals, access to a domain or business profile, and feedback by agreed dates. Read these responsibilities as carefully as the provider’s deliverables.
Mark anything you cannot provide confidently. For instance, if you do not yet have approved images, privacy-policy wording or access to your domain account, ask how that affects the project and timeline. It is better to resolve a dependency before signing than discover it when a launch date is approaching.
3. Clarify feedback, revisions and changes in direction
Ask when you will review work, how feedback should be provided, what a revision means in this proposal, and what happens if you request work outside the original scope. There is no universal number of revision rounds that suits every project. What matters is that both parties understand the approval process before design or development begins.
A useful distinction is between refining an agreed direction and changing the direction itself. Correcting a detail, improving readability or adjusting an approved layout may be a revision. Adding several new services, changing the intended audience or requesting a different visual direction may require a revised scope, fee or timeline. The proposal should explain how such decisions are handled.
4. Separate project fees from outside and ongoing costs
Compare proposals line by line rather than comparing only their totals. Identify the one-time project fee, any optional work, taxes, payment timing and expenses that may be billed separately. Then identify possible third-party or recurring costs, such as a domain, hosting, photography, image licences, email services, payment processing, booking systems or other connected services.
The lowest total is not automatically the better choice, and the higher total is not automatically more complete. A smaller scope may be entirely appropriate if it meets your current need. The meaningful decision is whether the proposal clearly matches the work your business needs and whether you understand costs that may continue after launch.
5. Ask what launch and handover will look like
A proposal should make the final stage understandable. Ask what testing occurs before launch, who approves the site, what information or access the business receives, and whether documentation or training is included where relevant. Confirm who is responsible for connected accounts and how the business retains access to essential services.
This does not mean every supplier must provide the same support or transfer every account. Some services may be managed by a provider under agreed terms. The important point is that your business can identify the accounts it relies on, the people with appropriate access, and the practical path to recover or manage them if staff or suppliers change.
Contracts - Office of Consumer Affairs
6. Treat use rights and ownership as questions, not assumptions
Payment, receiving files and owning copyright are not interchangeable concepts. Canadian Intellectual Property Office guidance distinguishes an assignment, which transfers ownership rights, from a licence, which permits specified use while ownership remains with the rights holder. Different parts of one project may also have different arrangements.
Ask the proposal to identify what applies to the website copy, logo files, custom graphics, photography, custom code and third-party assets. If you are supplying existing photos or brand materials, confirm that you have a usable record of their source and permissions. Where ownership, future reuse or a creator’s rights are important to your business, get the written terms reviewed by a qualified Canadian legal professional rather than relying on assumptions.
Copyright – Learn the basics Protect your original works. Learn why copyright matters.
Run a 20-minute proposal clarity check before signing
Create four columns on a page: “proposal wording,” “what I think it means,” “what I need confirmed,” and “where it is confirmed in writing.” Then review each proposal against eight questions: Can I name every included page and function? Can I identify exclusions? Can I explain what my business must provide? Do I understand feedback and change requests? Can I identify project, outside and ongoing costs? Do I know what affects the timeline? Can I identify account access at handover? Can I explain what rights or permissions apply to key work?
Pause before signing if a verbal assurance conflicts with the written proposal, a major recurring cost is undefined, essential ownership or use rights are unclear, or you are asked to accept terms you do not understand. Contract law and consumer protections can vary by province or territory, and copyright arrangements depend on the facts and written terms. Legal, privacy, regulated-industry or high-value questions warrant qualified advice.
A well-defined proposal does not remove every uncertainty from a creative project. It gives the business and provider a shared starting point for making sensible decisions. If your underlying website requirements are still unclear, professional project-planning help can be useful before you commit to a scope.