Payment schedule in responsive design projects - question simplified :-)

I usually ask for half upfront and then installments throughout depending on the length of the project (at least every 2 weeks). If it's a small site I'm generally happy with half at the beginning and half at the end.

I always have one payment left until the very end (even if it is a tiny amount) to act as the copyright transfer (i.e. I maintain all rights to the work until the project is complete and paid for).

I also add a clause in my contract that if I am unable to carry on work due to lack of materials from the client for more than x days that they pay for all work done up until that point even if it isn't one of the planned installments.

If the client asks for additional work to be done during the project then that is billed for as completed (sometimes an upfront charge depending on how much extra work) outside of any other planned installments.

If you're wanting to put together a contract for your clients Andy Clarke has made a great template which you could use as a starting point (it's more about projects in general rather than specifically about payments).

Hi Tom,

thank you very much for your detailed answer. It is absolutely the answer I was looking for. We already translated Andys contract into German and will probably use it. There is this paragraph where there is a placeholder for the payment schedule - we want to put some life into that. I think I will add the extra rules you mentioned to the contract they sound reasonable to me.

Thank you very much Marc