01
Ownership should be easy to explain
Ask who controls the domain, hosting, content system, code repository and third-party accounts. Business ownership and supplier access are different questions. Use authorised accounts and appropriate access levels; do not collect passwords in an email spreadsheet or a public brief.
02
Make support boundaries visible
Routine updates, new content, technical faults and new features can require different scopes. A maintenance agreement should say which are included, how a request is reported and how urgent work is handled. Confirm actual support commitments rather than assuming continuous availability.
- Named reporting route and business owner.
- Included maintenance tasks and exclusions.
- Approval process for additional work.
03
Record renewals and recovery
List essential subscriptions, renewal owners and the consequence of expiry. Document backup frequency, retention and how restoration is tested. Keep the record current when suppliers or staff change. An export or backup is useful only if the business knows how it can be restored.
04
Review whether care is solving the right problem
Ask for an understandable work record: updates applied, incidents resolved, checks performed and improvements recommended. A traffic graph alone is not evidence of maintenance work. Revisit the agreement when the site gains payments, booking, sensitive data or new integration dependencies.
