Who owns the code when the project is finished?
Short answer
You do, on final payment: source code, design files, infrastructure and accounts. Defects are fixed free for 30 days after handover.
The longer version
This is in the contract rather than being a favour granted at the end. Every project is written so that another team could take it over, which costs us repeat work and is still the right way to build.
Handover means the repository, the documentation, the infrastructure, the accounts and a runbook, walked through with your team rather than emailed to them.
After handover, 30 days of defect fixes at no charge. After that, a retainer if you want one and a clean goodbye if you do not.
Updated: August 15, 2026