1. Who this is

These are the terms of service for joanaparente.com. The site is run by me, Joana Parente. I’m a freelance web developer and digital strategist based in Faro, Portugal. If you contact me through this website, hire me for a project, or engage me on a retainer, these terms apply.

Full name: Joana Isabel Ramos Parente, Faro, Portugal.

2. What I do

I design and build websites for small businesses. That includes custom web design, development, CMS setup, and ongoing retainer partnerships for businesses that want a long-term collaborator, not just a one-off project.

Every project is scoped individually. What you see on this website describes the kind of work I do. It is not an offer to contract. The specifics of any engagement are agreed between us before anything starts.

3. How an engagement starts

It starts with a conversation. You reach out through the site, we talk about your project, and if it’s a good fit, I put together a written proposal. That proposal covers scope, timeline, deliverables, and pricing.

Nothing starts until we both agree in writing. An email confirmation counts. A proposal on its own is not a commitment from either side. It’s a starting point for a conversation, not a contract.

4. Payment

For project work, I ask for a 50% deposit before work begins. The remaining 50% is invoiced on delivery.

For retainers, the monthly fee is invoiced on the 1st of each month.

If a payment is late, work pauses until it’s received. I don’t charge penalties or interest. I’d rather be straightforward about it: I can’t keep working on something that hasn’t been paid for. Once payment comes through, we pick up where we left off.

All invoices are issued as “IVA — Regime de Isenção” (VAT exempt under Art. 53.º CIVA).

5. Client responsibilities

I need a few things from you to keep a project moving: timely feedback, content when it’s due, and approvals when decisions need to be made.

If a project stalls because content or feedback hasn’t arrived, the timeline shifts. That’s not a penalty. It’s just how time works. I’ll flag it early so we can sort it out before it becomes a bigger issue.

I’m not responsible for delays caused by things on your side. I am responsible for keeping you informed when something’s off track.

6. Intellectual property

While a project is in progress, I retain all rights to the work. This is standard practice and protects both of us.

Once you’ve paid in full, the deliverables are yours. You own the final website, the designs, the custom code.

One exception: third-party assets. Fonts, stock photography, plugins, and any other licensed material are subject to their own licence terms. I’ll let you know what’s been used, but maintaining those licences going forward is your responsibility.

7. Confidentiality and portfolio use

I keep your business information private. Project details, internal documents, strategy conversations. None of that gets shared. I expect the same in return.

By default, once a project is live, I may reference the work publicly. That means portfolio entries, case studies, LinkedIn posts, that sort of thing. I’ll always present the work respectfully.

If you’d prefer to keep the project private, just let me know in writing before or during the engagement. I’m happy to respect that.

8. Limitation of liability

If something goes wrong, my liability is capped at the amount you paid for the relevant project (or the most recent month of retainer, for ongoing work).

I’m not liable for indirect losses, lost revenue, or outages caused by third-party services like hosting providers, CMS platforms, payment processors, or DNS. These are things I don’t control, even if I helped set them up.

That said, I’ll always do my best to help. If something breaks, I’ll be the first person troubleshooting alongside you. But “I’ll help” and “I’m legally responsible” are different things, and this section is about the second one.

9. Ending an engagement

Either of us can end an engagement in writing. Email is fine.

If that happens, I invoice for all work completed to date at the agreed rate. The initial deposit is non-refundable once work has started (because by that point, it’s been spent on work that was done).

I’ll deliver whatever is complete and usable at the point of termination. No one walks away empty-handed.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by Portuguese law. If we have a dispute we can’t resolve between ourselves, it goes to the courts of Faro, Portugal.

11. Changes to these terms

These terms may be updated when circumstances change. The effective date at the top of the page reflects the current version.

If you have an active engagement with me, the terms that apply are the ones that were in place when we signed our agreement. Updates to this page don’t retroactively change what we already agreed to.