Business Terms & Conditions

(updated on 15-09-2026)

1. General Information

These are the Business Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) of artKenya.net Limited (“artKenya”, “we”, “us”), a company registered in Kenya, of P.O. Box 9910-00100, Nairobi. By engaging us for any service, you (“Client”) agree to these Terms. We may update these Terms from time to time; the version published on our website at the time of your order applies to that order. Material changes affecting an active contract will be communicated to you in writing (email is sufficient).

We offer five distinct services, each described separately below because they involve different obligations, timelines, and liability:

• Web Design & Development — building your website
• Web Hosting — keeping your site online (infrastructure only)
• Maintenance & Managed Hosting — keeping your site updated, running, and (optionally) hosted
• Email Hosting — business email mailboxes
• Plugin & Custom Software Development — bespoke code beyond standard website build

A single invoice may combine several of these services, but each is governed by its own clauses below, in addition to the general terms set out elsewhere in this document.

2. General Payment Terms (all services)

• Proposal validity: 90 days unless stated otherwise.
• Currency: Fees are quoted in Kenya Shillings (KES) unless stated otherwise. Where a proposal is quoted in USD or EUR, we will convert it to KES at the Central Bank of Kenya indicative rate on the invoice date; the quoted foreign-currency amount itself does not change during the proposal’s validity period.
• VAT: All fees are subject to VAT at the applicable Kenyan rate. Services may be zero-rated for VAT only where both (i) the Client’s place of business is outside Kenya, and (ii) the services are used or consumed outside Kenya, in line with the export-of-services rules under the VAT Act. Where required supporting documentation is not provided in advance, we will charge VAT and refund it once valid documents are received.
• Payment methods: EFT/bank transfer (net of bank charges) to our published bank account. A pro-forma invoice will show the details.
• Tax invoices: Issued (with ETR receipt) on receipt of payment.
• Late payment: Non-payment by the due date may lead to suspension of the relevant service(s) — domain, hosting, email, or maintenance — as described in each section below. A reconnection fee applies (see relevant section).
• Cancellation and Notice Periods

  Standard Notice Period: Unless otherwise agreed upon in a specific Service Agreement or Statement of Work, either Party may terminate recurring or ongoing services by providing at least one (1) calendar month’s written notice prior to the start of the next billing cycle.

  Notice Period for Payments in Arrears: Where services are provided under a delayed billing arrangement (e.g., quarterly or three-month billing in arrears), the mandatory cancellation notice period is three (3) calendar months (90 days).

  (a) The Client remains liable for payment of all work performed and services rendered throughout the 3-month notice period.
  (b) Services performed during this notice period will continue to be invoiced under the agreed arrears schedule, or as a final prorated invoice issued upon effective termination.

• Termination for Non-Payment or Material Breach: Notwithstanding the notice periods above, Artkenya.net Ltd reserves the right to suspend or terminate services immediately upon written notice if the Client defaults on invoice payments or materially breaches any term of this Agreement.

A. Web Design & Development Services

• Commitment fee: 50% of the project invoice value, non-refundable, due to start work.
• Payment schedule:
  • Projects of 4 weeks or less: balance due on client approval, before launch.
  • Projects longer than 4 weeks: 35% due at the 4-week mark, remaining 15% due before launch.
• What’s included: Design, development, and configuration of your WordPress/Divi website as scoped in your proposal (including custom post types, database-driven listings, and Theme Builder templates where specified), and a test-server link for your review during the build.
• Timelines: Estimates assume timely delivery of all content and feedback from you. Delays on your side, or scope changes, may extend timelines and increase cost — we’ll flag this before proceeding.
• Meetings & revisions: We keep meetings efficient and prefer video call, email, or phone. Revision rounds are as scoped in your proposal; extra rounds may be billed. Meetings requested outside Nairobi are subject to travel, accommodation, and a per-diem of KES 10,000/day/consultant.
• Ownership & copyright: Design and code created for you become your property upon full and final payment. Until then, all rights remain with artKenya. Third-party themes, plugins, fonts, and stock assets remain licensed from their original owners — see Software Licenses below.
• Software & plugin licenses (third-party): Some themes/plugins used in your build require paid annual license subscriptions to receive updates. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, these licenses are purchased and held in artKenya’s name as part of the initial build; to continue receiving vendor updates after launch, you’ll need either (i) an active Maintenance/Managed Hosting plan with us that includes license renewal, or (ii) your own license purchased directly from the vendor.
• Launch warranty: 90 days from launch, we will fix functionality bugs or errors in what we built at no charge. This warranty does not cover new features, content changes, issues caused by third-party plugin updates, or changes made by you or another party after launch.

B. Web Hosting (infrastructure only)

Web Hosting means keeping your website’s files and database live on a server — it does not include software updates, backups review, or content changes; see Section C for that.

• Where hosted: On our cPanel reseller account, or on Hostinger Professional/Business Cloud Hosting plans, depending on your package.
• Fees: Payable yearly in advance; third-party hosting fees may change without notice, and we’ll pass on changes at renewal.
• Renewal: Please pay at least 10 days before expiry. Domains: if payment is received within 14 days of expiry, a USD 100 re-registration fee applies; beyond 14 days, renewal may not be possible or may cost significantly more (subject to registry rules).
• Suspension for non-payment: Your files and database are archived for 3 months after suspension. Reconnection fee: USD 250. After 3 months, we cannot guarantee data is still available.
• What we’re responsible for: Passing through the service as purchased from our supplier. We are not the infrastructure provider — see Section 4 (Indemnity & Disclaimer) for how liability for outages, data loss, or breaches is allocated between you, us, and our hosting suppliers.

C. Maintenance & Managed Hosting

Maintenance is the ongoing care of a website we built (or onboarded): keeping core software, theme, and plugins updated, and making minor content edits.

Managed Hosting = Web Hosting (Section B) + Maintenance (this section), sold as one combined plan for simplicity and a single renewal date.

• What Maintenance includes, by default (unless your plan states otherwise):
  • WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates
  • Renewal of licenses for software we originally installed
  • Up to 2 hours per month of minor content edits (text/image swaps, small layout tweaks) — unused hours do not roll over
  • Daily backups to local storage and at least monthly backups to offsite storage (e.g. Dropbox), retaining up to 6 versions
• What it does not include: New features, redesigns, third-party plugin misconfiguration not installed by us, or fixes for unlicensed/unsupported software. These are quoted separately.
• Liability: We are not liable for issues arising from software we did not install, software outside our maintenance scope, or changes made by you or third parties.
• Fees & renewal: Payable yearly in advance, alongside hosting where combined. Fees already paid for the current period are non-refundable on early cancellation, except where required by law. Same late-payment and suspension terms as Section B apply to the hosting portion; unpaid maintenance-only plans may be paused (site remains live, but updates/edits stop) after 10 days’ notice.
• Third-party terms: Where Managed Hosting is provided, you also agree to the terms of the underlying hosting supplier (Section B).

D. Email Hosting

• What we offer: Free business mailboxes included with eligible Hostinger hosting plans (e.g. up to 100 mailboxes at 15GB on qualifying accounts), upgrades to higher-tier mailboxes (e.g. 30GB), or cPanel email accounts (free or paid tier) where hosted on our cPanel platform.
• Fees & renewal: Where mailboxes are paid or upgraded, fees are payable yearly in advance and subject to the general renewal terms in Section 2/B, and are non-refundable on early cancellation except where required by law.
• Suspension & data loss: If email service is suspended for non-payment, mailbox content cannot be recovered and accounts must be set up afresh once reinstated. We strongly recommend you keep your own local backups (e.g. via IMAP sync to a mail client) of anything you need to retain.
• Migration: If you leave our hosting or email service, we can assist with migrating mailboxes to a new provider for a fee; this is not automatic and must be requested and scheduled before your service ends.
• Responsibility: As with Web Hosting, email accounts are provided via third-party infrastructure (Hostinger/cPanel providers); see Section 4 for how liability is allocated.

E. Plugin & Custom Software Development

Where no suitable commercial plugin exists, or an existing one doesn’t work the way you need, we can build bespoke functionality (a custom plugin, integration, or standalone tool).

• Scoping & payment: Quoted and invoiced separately from your website build, generally following the same commitment-fee and milestone structure as Section A, unless your proposal states otherwise.
• Ownership of custom code: Determined case by case in your project proposal/contract — this will specify whether you receive full ownership on final payment, a license to use it (with artKenya retaining underlying rights, e.g. to reuse generic components in other projects), or a shared arrangement. If your proposal is silent on this, ownership defaults to the same terms as Section A (ownership transfers to you on full and final payment, except for any pre-existing artKenya code libraries reused within it, which remain licensed for your use only).
• Open-source (GPL) components: Much of the WordPress ecosystem (core, and many themes/plugins) is licensed under the GPL. Where custom code we build forms a derivative work of GPL-licensed software, that code is itself governed by the GPL, regardless of any ownership arrangement agreed above — meaning you receive the rights the GPL grants (to use, modify, and redistribute it). Any ownership or license artKenya retains under this section applies only to components that are not GPL-derived (e.g. original design assets, documentation, or standalone scripts with no GPL dependency).
• Support & warranty: 90 days from delivery for bug fixes within the agreed specification, on the same basis as Section A. Ongoing support/updates beyond that are quoted separately or included if you take out a Maintenance plan that names this software.
• No warranty of fitness beyond spec: Custom software is built to the agreed specification. We’re not liable for issues arising from requirements not documented in the proposal, or from your later changes to hosting/server environment that affect it.

3. Data Protection

We process personal data (including your account details, and, where applicable, membership, customer, or visitor data belonging to your organisation) in connection with the Services, in accordance with Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019 and its regulations.

• Roles: For hosting, maintenance, and email services, we generally act as a data processor on your instructions; you remain the data controller responsible for personal data collected or held through your website, forms, or mailboxes.
• Registration: We are not currently required to register as a data processor under the Data Protection (Registration of Data Controllers and Data Processors) Regulations, 2021, given our size, but we comply with the substantive requirements of the Data Protection Act, 2019 regardless.
• Security measures: We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data processed through our Services, including the backup and update practices described in Section C.
• Breach notification: If we become aware of a personal data breach affecting your website, hosting, or email account, we will notify you without undue delay, so that you can meet your own notification obligations to the ODPC and any affected individuals.
• On termination: If requested within 30 days of a service ending, we will, where technically feasible, provide an export of personal data held in your website database or mailboxes before deletion, subject to the archival periods described in Sections B and D.
• Your obligations: You are responsible for ensuring your own use of the website — including any data-collection forms, newsletters, or membership systems — complies with the Data Protection Act, including obtaining any necessary consents from your site visitors, customers, or members.

4. Indemnity and Disclaimer

artKenya.net Limited is primarily a web design and development provider. Web Hosting, Domain Registration, Email Hosting, and Managed Hosting are offered as a convenience through third-party suppliers (currently Hostinger and our cPanel reseller provider, Verpex). We do not own or control this infrastructure and act as an intermediary/reseller.

We are not liable for server outages, data loss, unauthorised access, hacking, or other disruptions arising from these third-party services, except where caused by our own gross negligence or wilful default. Services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranty of uninterrupted or error-free operation.

Your responsibility: You are responsible for the security of your own login credentials (use strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication where available). Where unauthorised access results from compromised client-side credentials, you agree that primary responsibility lies with you and/or the relevant infrastructure provider, and that artKenya will assist with communication but is not liable for resolving or compensating such incidents.

You agree to indemnify artKenya, its directors, and employees against claims, damages, or costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of third-party-provided Services, except where caused by our own gross negligence or wilful default.

Limitation of liability: To the extent permitted by Kenyan law, artKenya’s total liability under any contract with you is limited to the fees paid by you for the specific service giving rise to the claim in the preceding 12 months. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses (including loss of profit, data, or goodwill).

5. Term and Termination

• Term: These Terms apply from your acceptance of a proposal or invoice, and remain in effect for as long as you use any of our Services.
• Termination by you: You may terminate any ongoing service (Web Hosting, Managed Hosting, Maintenance, or Email Hosting) by giving us 30 days’ written notice before your next renewal date. Fees already paid for the current service period are non-refundable, except where required by law.
• Termination by us: We may terminate or suspend any service, on reasonable written notice, if you are in material breach of these Terms (including non-payment beyond the periods set out in Sections B–D above), or if you use our Services for unlawful purposes.
• Effect of termination: The provisions on payment, ownership/licensing (Sections A and E), data handling (Section 3), and indemnity and limitation of liability (Section 4) continue to apply after termination.
• Handover: Where reasonably requested, and subject to outstanding fees being settled, we will assist with a reasonable handover of your website files, database, and domain to a new provider, for a fee to be agreed.

6. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

• Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kenya.
• Good-faith consultation: Any dispute arising from these Terms will first be raised in writing and addressed through good-faith consultation between the parties.
• Arbitration: If a dispute is not resolved within 15 business days of being raised, it shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration in Nairobi, Kenya, administered by the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA) under its Arbitration Rules then in force, before a single arbitrator, conducted in the English language. The arbitral award shall be final and binding on both parties.

7. General Provisions

• Entire agreement: These Terms, together with your accepted proposal or invoice, form the entire agreement between you and artKenya regarding the Services, and supersede any prior discussions on the same subject.
• Severability: If any clause of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining clauses continue in full force.
• No waiver: If we do not enforce a right under these Terms on one occasion, that does not waive our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment: You may not transfer or assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a sale or restructuring of our business, provided your service levels are not materially affected.
• Notices: Formal notices under these Terms must be in writing and sent by email — to the email address on your account for notices to you, and to [email protected] for notices to us — and are deemed received the next business day.

8. Website Disclaimer

Information on artkenya.net is provided for general information only. While we aim to keep it accurate, we make no warranty as to its completeness or reliability, and any reliance on it is at your own risk. Links to external sites are provided for convenience and do not imply endorsement.

9. Contact

artKenya.net Limited

P.O. Box 9910-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 (0)722 705002

Email: [email protected]

Directors: Christian M. Knochenhauer, Amos Asuma