How to Switch Website Developers in Uzbekistan: Step-by-Step Handoff Guide

To switch your website developer in Uzbekistan without disrupting sales, start by securing your domain and hosting rights under your legal entity, backing up the database and source code into your own repository, and signing an acceptance act with an explicit clause assigning exclusive rights. A simple landing page migration takes 1–2 business days with a budget of up to 2,000,000 UZS (so'm), while moving an e-commerce store with payments and 1C integration requires 7–14 business days using a staging server.

In brief

• Paying an invoice does not make you the owner of the code: under Law ZRU-42, exclusive intellectual property rights are only transferred via an explicit clause in the contract or acceptance act.
• According to ccTLD.uz regulations, a .UZ domain must be registered directly to your TIN (INN) or PINFL; otherwise, the previous contractor can block its renewal.
• The cost of a technical audit for third-party code in Tashkent in 2026 ranges from 3,000,000 to 25,000,000 UZS (so'm), depending on system complexity.
• You should only update DNS records after verifying a full copy of the website on a staging server and lowering the TTL to 300 seconds.

Why switching contractors gets complicated

Vendor transitions usually hit a wall for the same reason: a client decides to terminate the relationship, only to be told the code belongs to the developer, server credentials are missing, and the domain is registered under an agency employee's personal name. When that happens, your website is at risk of going offline right in the middle of an active ad campaign.

To ensure a seamless transition, never announce the contract termination to your current vendor until all core digital assets are firmly under your physical and legal control. The transition workflow should always start with a confidential inventory before moving to official paperwork.

6 steps for a secure project handoff

1. Verify your .UZ domain ownership. Run a WHOIS lookup at cctld.uz and check who is listed as the administrator. Under the Regulation on the Registration and Use of Domain Names in the «UZ» Zone, administrative rights belong exclusively to the person or entity whose credentials (PINFL or TIN/INN) are tied to the registrar contract. If the domain is registered to the contractor, demand an official transfer letter within the accredited registrar's control panel. Keep in mind: transfers are not permitted if the domain has expired or if less than 30 days have passed since the last change. Registering or renewing a .UZ domain in 2026 costs between 25,000 and 40,000 UZS (so'm) per year, according to spot.uz.
2. Download backups and databases. Before entering any disputes, download a full backup of all website files and a database dump (SQL). If you have server access, store this archive in an independent, company-controlled cloud storage.
3. Transfer source code to your own repository. Set up a company account on GitHub or GitLab. Your incoming developer should help clone the source code so that all development branches and commit history remain intact. Developers should never hand off a project as a Telegram archive; compressed folders frequently miss critical environment configuration files.
4. Run a technical audit and audit system credentials. The new team must inspect the legacy codebase for hidden bugs, vulnerabilities, and hardcoded credentials. According to ndc.uz, code audit pricing among Tashkent agencies in 2026 ranges from 3,000,000 – 6,000,000 UZS (so'm) for a corporate website or Telegram bot, up to 12,000,000 – 25,000,000 UZS (so'm) for an integrated e-commerce store. During this phase, you should also inventory your API tokens for Payme, Click, Uzum, SMS gateways, and CRM systems.
5. Deploy to a new server without downtime. Set up the website on an independent staging server. According to spot.uz, renting a local cloud VPS hosted within TAS-IX costs between 120,000 and 1,200,000 UZS (so'm) per month. Use this staging environment to test checkout flows, user authentication, and payment gateways. As outlined in the guide by fastfox.pro, lower your DNS Time to Live (TTL) values to 300 seconds ahead of time. Once ready, sync the latest order database overnight and point your domain to the new IP address. Your customers will never notice the change.
6. Finalize legal contracts and sign the acceptance act. Issue final payments to the previous contractor only after signing an acceptance act that explicitly assigns all exclusive rights. Under Article 38 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Copyright and Related Rights" (No. ZRU-42) and Article 1067 of the Civil Code, transferred rights are presumed non-exclusive by default, and any rights not expressly stated remain unassigned. Paying an invoice does not deprive the developer of copyright unless the contract clearly stipulates the full transfer of exclusive rights to the software and design. Legal specifics regarding software protection are detailed by tax-legal.uz.

If you are just starting

For small projects or a company's first website, switching developers is straightforward. If your site runs on a website builder or is a lightweight Telegram bot, the technical migration takes 1–2 business days with a budget between 0 and 2,000,000 UZS (so'm), following best practices from spravtsev.pro.

Action plan for this week:

1. Create an account with a domain registrar (such as Eskiz, C湧, Billur, or Arsenal-D) using your personal PINFL or your company's TIN (INN), and transfer the domain there.
2. Transfer site ownership within your platform: on website builders, you can reassign project ownership directly to your personal account in project settings.
3. If you operate a Telegram bot, open the official @BotFather bot and revoke/regenerate the API token so the former developer can no longer intercept incoming messages.
4. Sign a termination agreement and closing acceptance act with the freelancer.

If you regularly hire contractors for short-term tasks, using transparent platforms minimizes friction. When building the OpenDeal web application—a freelance marketplace for hiring talent and posting jobs—we designed direct user profiles, workspaces, and portfolio showcases so clients and freelancers could collaborate transparently without messy messenger negotiations.

If your business is already running

When you operate an established system with a customer database, 1C synchronization, and fiscal integrations, abruptly cutting ties with your existing agency creates serious financial exposure. You need a deliberate, phased migration using a parallel staging environment.

Action plan for operating businesses:

1. Deploy an independent hosting infrastructure in Uzbekistan. For instance, system integrator Global Solutions moved its environments and databases to the Servercore data center in Tashkent with a direct connection to TAS-IX. This setup allowed them to migrate critical systems without downtime, reduce network latency within the country, and regain absolute control over access credentials, as documented by servercore.com.
2. Audit manual dependencies. Tashkent real estate developer First Development Group (FDG) was previously reliant on an external web contractor whenever property catalog prices changed. The company restructured its operations and integrated the catalog directly with the Profitbase digital platform and their CRM, eliminating manual contractor bottlenecks without risking lead flow, as reported by profitbase.global.
3. Before switching live traffic, run thorough end-to-end stress tests on a staging subdomain to validate order creation and checkout workflows. Switch domain routing overnight once payments are confirmed.
4. Inform your banking and payment partners (Payme, Click) of your new server IP address if your processing agreements require static IP whitelisting.

A real case: an independent infrastructure for mapping services

When we engineered the national UzMaps platform, the primary goal was to free local businesses from stitching together disparate foreign mapping tools. NDC built an interactive public map, HTTP APIs for geocoding and routing, and an administrative console to manage client projects and API keys. In platforms of this scale, role-based code access and key management are centralized inside a dedicated, secure perimeter. This guarantees that even when engineering teams change, services continue operating uninterrupted for end-user applications.

Common site handoff mistakes

• Giving notice before securing your credentials. A disgruntled developer might delete server files or lock you out of admin accounts.
• Accepting code on a flash drive as a ZIP archive. Without a version-controlled repository, there is no way to verify whether the archive matches what is currently deployed or if database tables were corrupted.
• Overlooking intellectual property rights. Without an acceptance act assigning exclusive rights under Law ZRU-42, the developer legally retains copyright and can dispute your use of the software in court.
• Leaving legacy API keys unchanged. Your former vendor could inadvertently or intentionally keep consuming your paid SMS gateway credits or payment processor tokens.

If your project needs an architectural revamp or redesign following the migration, take advantage of our UX/UI design for websites and apps and solid, production-grade corporate website development built on clean source code.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if the developer registered our .UZ domain in their own name and refuses to release it?

Send the developer a formal pre-trial legal notice attaching bank statements that prove your company paid for the domain registration. If they refuse to cooperate, file a dispute with the registrar and the UZINFOCOM Single Integrator citing an infringement of your legal business name or trademark rights. To avoid this entirely, always register domains under a corporate profile using your organization's TIN (INN).

Why is an acceptance act for the source code necessary?

Under the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Copyright and Related Rights," paying a developer's invoice does not automatically transfer exclusive property rights to software. An acceptance act with explicit assignment language protects your business against future legal claims and verifies your ownership of the intangible asset on your corporate balance sheet.

Can we switch web agencies without shutting down our online store?

Yes. The incoming team creates an exact duplicate of the website on a staging server, configures integrations, and thoroughly tests the checkout experience. Re-pointing domain DNS records takes only a few minutes and is executed late at night after syncing the latest order data, meaning customers will never encounter broken pages or interrupted payments.

If you are getting ready to hand your project over to a new agency or want an independent technical audit of your existing codebase, reach out to the NDC team through our contacts page. We will assess your website and prepare a risk-free migration plan.

Sources

• Global Solutions · servercore.com
• First Development Group (FDG) · profitbase.global
• Закон Республики Узбекистан «Об авторском праве и смежных правах» № ЗРУ-42
• Порядок администрирования и регламент доменных имен в домене .UZ — ccTLD.uz
• Авторское право на программы в Узбекистане — Tax & Legal
• Как передать проект другому разработчику: доступы и документация — Spravtsev.pro
• Миграция сайта на новый хостинг без простоя: пошаговый чек-лист
• ndc.uz
• spot.uz