Questions teams ask before they commit

Most work is quoted as a fixed price against a written scope, agreed after a free 20-minute call — you know the cost before any work begins. The exact price depends on the scope and complexity of the work, and is confirmed in writing before development starts. Longer-term engagements (6+ months) follow the same scoped and agreed model. See the fixed-price quotes and pricing page for full details.

A written assessment of one system, scoped as a fixed piece of work with a defined deliverable and quoted as a fixed price agreed in writing after a free 20-minute call. There are three: the Legacy Health Check looks at an ageing system’s reliability, supportability and key-person risk; the Integration Review looks at how your systems and third-party integrations fit together, and what would break first; and the Backend API Audit looks at an existing C#/.NET backend or API, with written, prioritised findings. The findings are yours whether or not you commission the work that follows them, and any follow-on work is quoted separately.

That is fine — describe the symptom, not the diagnosis. “The API stops working every Tuesday morning” is enough to start with. I will ask the right questions on the free 20-minute call. If I cannot price the job from the call, I will say so and quote the investigation separately, so you decide before anything is charged.

Yes, once the relevant work has been paid for in full. The code written specifically for you is then yours to keep, modify or share, with no ongoing licence fee. Any pre-existing tools, reusable components and open-source software remain subject to their existing ownership and licence terms. Written findings are yours whether or not you commission the work that follows them.

Yes. Each stage is agreed in writing before it starts, so you are only committed to the step you have agreed. There is no obligation to go on to build work after a review, and you can use the findings internally first.

Compared with hiring, there is no employer National Insurance, no notice period and no recruitment fee, and most work is quoted as a fixed price against a written scope. Compared with an agency, you work directly with me: no account managers, no delivery layers, and one accountable contact from first discussion through sign-off. The trade-off is that there is one of me, so if you need a large delivery team there is unlikely to be a fit. See whether PageTech Solutions is a good fit.

I test the code: unit tests are written alongside it. Before sign-off, someone who uses the system checks it does the job, against the acceptance criteria we agreed in writing before the build started, so they know exactly what to verify. You do not need a test team. See the Terms of Use for the contractual details.

Work is documented as I go and handed over in your repository or as a zip, so nothing depends on me being available.

Scope changes happen — the important thing is that they are handled transparently. If requirements shift during delivery, I raise a written change request before any additional work begins. It covers what has changed, what additional effort is required, and the impact on cost and timeline.

Nothing proceeds without your written agreement. There is no silent scope growth, no surprise invoicing, and no pressure to commit immediately.

Minor clarifications that fall clearly within the agreed scope are absorbed without a formal change request. The written scope agreed at the start is the reference point for what requires formal approval.

Yes. The 30-day warranty period starts from sign-off. Defect fixes identified within that period are covered. Fixes may be subject to additional cost where the issue is caused by a change in requirements, third-party dependencies, environment changes, or work outside the agreed scope. See the Terms of Use for full warranty details.

Every engagement follows the same six stages: Discovery, High-Level Design, Agreement, Build & Iterate, Sign-Off, and Handover. Some are a single-day review; others are multi-week delivery sprints — but scope, deliverables, and fee structure are always agreed in writing before work begins.

You work directly with me throughout, from initial contact through delivery and sign-off. The more complete your requirements, the stronger the outcome. See How I Work for the detail, or whether PageTech Solutions is a good fit if you are still deciding.

Yes. I only support fully remote delivery — see Remote Delivery for how this works in practice.

Yes. PageTech Solutions Limited is insured with Hiscox (Hiscox Insurance Company Limited). Current cover relevant to client engagements:

• Professional Indemnity (Technology) — £1,000,000 each and every claim, worldwide, excluding claims brought in the USA or Canada; covers errors, omissions, or professional negligence in delivery
• Public and Products Liability — £1,000,000 each and every claim; covers claims for bodily injury or property damage
• Cyber and Data — £100,000; covers cybersecurity incidents and data protection breaches

The current policy period runs from 24 March 2026 to 23 March 2027 and renews each March. Certificates are available on request. Additional internal policies and legal support cover are maintained for company operations and are not typically listed unless contractually required.

Yes. AI tooling is used in internal workflows and internal pull requests where it adds value. Changes come with tests for the behaviour that matters, and I review everything before you see it. AI-assisted development can also be applied to client deliverables on request.

AI is a useful tool, and I use it throughout delivery. What a consultant adds is business judgement — understanding context, clarifying requirements, and making trade-off decisions that reflect what actually matters to your organisation. You also get a named professional accountable for quality, scope, and outcomes from first discussion through to sign-off.

Handover is built in: complete documentation and knowledge transfer so you own and maintain the solution independently.

Within 1–2 working days for a new enquiry. UK bank holidays can add to that; the contact page shows the next start window.

Yes. PageTech Solutions Limited is VAT-registered (VAT no. 514295790). VAT at the standard rate is charged on all applicable invoices.

Start dates are agreed per engagement and depend on other commitments. The next start window is shown on the contact page.

Yes. Defect fixes within 30 days of sign-off are covered under warranty. Support beyond this (retained or ad-hoc) is available at additional cost.

Absolutely. I integrate into your existing workflows, tools, and delivery cadence — not the other way around. I work with Microsoft 365, Azure DevOps, and GitHub as standard, and I’m happy to adopt other platforms where needed. Access to your systems and environments is the client’s responsibility to arrange — once that’s in place, I can hit the ground running.

Yes — connecting APIs, platforms, and databases reliably, with validated data flow and early failure detection, is a core part of the work. See Integrations for the broader consulting picture, or the fixed-scope Integration Review if you want an assessment of how your existing integrations fit together before committing to further work.

Yes — legacy modernisation, improving maintainability, and reducing key-person risk are a core focus area. For a structured look at an ageing system's production reliability and supportability before committing to a rebuild, see the fixed-scope Legacy Health Check.

Yes — a structured, written assessment of a codebase or system's architecture, reliability, and maintainability is available as a fixed-scope Backend/API Audit or Legacy Health Check, useful ahead of an acquisition or technical hire where you need an independent view before committing.

Yes. Contract templates and engagement models are built to work well at SME scale, without the overhead a larger organisation's process might require. See How I Work for more on the engagement approach.

Bank transfer (BACS) is preferred for invoice payment. Card payments — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and others — are also accepted via the invoice payment link. See Pricing for full payment terms.

IR35, and the off-payroll rules that sit alongside it, decide whether someone engaged through a limited company is treated as self-employed for tax on that particular engagement. It matters to you as the end client because medium and large organisations are the ones who must make and communicate the status determination, and get it wrong at their own cost. Engagements here are structured as outside IR35 from the start: a defined Statement of Works, specific deliverables, and an arms-length commercial relationship. Supporting documentation is available at contract stage so your determination is straightforward to evidence.

Yes, and it is the normal arrangement. Work is delivered against a written Statement of Works with a defined scope and specific deliverables rather than as supervised time, which is what the determination actually turns on. A right of substitution is available where appropriate. Every proposed engagement is reviewed before acceptance to confirm the working arrangement matches the paperwork, because a determination that does not match how the work is really run protects nobody.

They can be discussed, though outside IR35 is preferred and is the usual shape of consultancy work. If your organisation has determined an engagement is inside IR35, say so early: it changes the commercial assumptions rather than ending the conversation. For project work with a written scope and deliverables, outside is normally the accurate determination in any case.

Yes. SME templates work well. For larger organisations, independent legal review may be sensible. All agreements are subject to review and may be adjusted to reflect operational circumstances.