The post-launch warranty period

Many web design suppliers include a defined period after launch, commonly somewhere between two weeks and three months depending on the supplier and the project. During this period, genuine defects in the delivered build are fixed at no additional cost. This is a warranty in the ordinary sense of the word — a promise that what was delivered will work as specified for a defined period. It is worth understanding precisely what it covers, because it is not the same thing as ongoing maintenance. Confusing the two is a common and avoidable source of dispute.

What a post-launch website warranty period is actually for

It exists to fix defects in the original delivery. That means something that was specified and was not built correctly, a bug in functionality that was supposed to work, or a display issue present from launch that nobody caught before going live. It is a guarantee about the quality of what was already built and handed over. It is not an ongoing service covering everything that could subsequently go wrong with the site.

What a warranty typically does not cover, and what issues caused after launch remain covered

New features requested after launch. Content changes beyond what was originally specified. Problems caused by a third-party plugin or service updating independently after launch. And — this is the one that catches people out most often — anything that breaks because the site was never given ongoing maintenance after the warranty period ended. A warranty covers defects in the original work. It is not a substitute for the maintenance covered elsewhere in this section, and a supplier is not obliged to keep fixing an increasingly outdated site for free indefinitely just because the original warranty existed.

Why the exact end date and warranty terms matter in the agreement

A vague warranty — “we’ll look after any issues” with no stated end point — sounds generous. It is actually a source of future disagreement, because “any issues” eventually drifts, in the client’s expectation, toward covering things the supplier never intended to cover indefinitely. A warranty with a specific stated end date, and a specific stated scope, is a clearer and ultimately more useful commitment for both parties. Everyone knows exactly when ongoing maintenance needs to begin if the business wants continued cover.

What happens the day the warranty ends, for software and maintenance

Nothing dramatic happens on that specific day — the site does not stop working. What changes is that any subsequent issue, including one that would previously have been fixed free of charge, is now billable work — unless a maintenance arrangement has been put in place to cover it. This is exactly the gap what happens if nothing is maintained describes. It arrives specifically at the moment a free warranty period lapses with nothing arranged to follow it.

What to confirm before the warranty period ends, and what companies offer in development terms

The exact date it ends, in writing, rather than a vague sense of “a few months.” What is and is not covered during the remaining period, so genuine defects are reported and fixed while they are still free to fix. And whether a maintenance arrangement will begin immediately afterwards, or whether there will be a gap. During that gap the site would have no cover of any kind.

Why a defect reported late is harder to resolve fairly

A genuine defect reported on day two of a warranty period is unambiguous — nothing about the site has changed since launch. The same defect reported near the end of a long warranty period is different. After content has been edited and plugins updated by the business itself, it is genuinely harder to attribute cleanly to the original build. That is a further reason to test the delivered site thoroughly and report anything found early, rather than deferring the check until later in the warranty window.

What counts as a “defect” versus a new project request

A page that does not do what the signed-off specification said it would is a defect. A page that works as specified but the business has since decided should work differently is a change request, not a defect. The distinction matters because only the former is typically covered free of charge under a warranty. Keeping the original specification document accessible makes this distinction easy to check rather than a matter of dispute.

Testing thoroughly during the warranty period, not casually

The warranty period is the free opportunity to surface genuine defects. Using it properly means genuinely testing the site — every page, every form, every device size — rather than a cursory glance. Anything missed during this window and discovered afterwards is likely to be billable to fix, however minor the oversight.

Why a written punch list beats an informal back-and-forth

Keep a single, dated, written list of every issue reported during the warranty period, with its resolution status. This gives both parties a clear, shared record of what was raised and what remains outstanding as the warranty period approaches its end, rather than relying on scattered emails or a fading memory of what was said.

Where to go from here: post-launch support and post-launch warranty next steps

What an ongoing maintenance arrangement should cost, once the warranty period has ended, is priced on what drives the cost of a website. That page also sets out the build cost the warranty is attached to in the first place. Website insurance is a separate, narrower category from either a warranty or a maintenance retainer, covered in website insurance, warranties and what they cover.