What to change
Ask for a reproducible publishing demonstration from the delivered materials. The handover should identify required tools, configuration locations and non-secret setup values, with protected credentials handled through the approved account process. Have the incoming maintainer follow the instructions and compare representative output with the live site. This turns possession of files into usable operational capability and exposes missing dependencies before the departing supplier is no longer available to explain them.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: A clean authorised setup produces the homepage, a guide and a resource directory. An incoming maintainer may receive a source archive that lacks a required build instruction. Following the handover independently exposes the gap before the outgoing supplier leaves. Once corrected, a clean setup produces the homepage, a guide and its directory for comparison. Your practice accepts the demonstrated publishing capability and records protected configuration dependencies separately, rather than equating possession of a compressed folder with a maintainable website.
What this means for your practice
Receiving source files does not establish that an incoming maintainer can reproduce the current website. Ask them to follow the delivered instructions in a clean authorised setup. The handover should identify required tools, configuration locations and safe setup values, while secret access follows the approved account process. Compare representative output with the expected live release: homepage, guide and resource directory, for example. Missing dependencies are easier to resolve while the outgoing supplier is still available. The practice's acceptance criterion should be usable maintenance capability. A compressed folder may be part of that delivery, but it is not sufficient evidence on its own.
How to check the result
The delivered materials can reproduce the maintained website's intended output.
A mistake to avoid
A compressed folder is not by itself a maintainable handover.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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