Web Hosting Service Level Agreement (SLA)
This Service Level Agreement outlines the hosting services provided by CMS Live and the standards our clients can expect.
It applies to all clients using our managed hosting services and is designed to support a rolling monthly hosting model with clear expectations, reliable support, and transparent communication.
1. Service Scope
CMS Live provides fully managed website hosting using high-performance latest generation Dedicated Servers and Cloud Infrastructure, carefully configured for speed, security, and reliability.
Our managed hosting service includes:
- Fully managed server and hosting environments in a Tier 3 UK Data Centre
- Rolling hardware upgrades – typically a 12 month cycle
- Rolling Linux OS software and kernel version updates
- On-demand DDoS detection and mitigation
- Advanced Hardware and Software based WAF Firewalls
- Staging environments for safe development and testing
- A rated SSL HTTPS Encryption. HTTP/3 and TLS 1.3
- Managed backups across multiple locations
- Proactive security monitoring at both server and website level
- Dedicated IP address allocation (if required)
- Active threat hunting and threat detection
- Anti virus and anti malware scanning
- Domain Name Registration and DNS management including DNSSEC
- Performance optimisation, caching, and resource tuning
- Global CDN integration via Cloudflare (client-owned accounts)
- SMTP configuration for website email delivery
- Ongoing technical support over telephone and email
- Rolling website maintenance - security patches, core updates and upgrades.
- Uptime monitoring across global locations
We focus on keeping your website fast, secure, and running smoothly — without you needing to worry about the technical side.
2. Uptime Commitment
We aim to deliver 99.99% network uptime across all hosted websites.
Where issues do arise, we act quickly to investigate, resolve, and minimise disruption.
3. Service Management
Reliable hosting is about more than servers and hardware — it’s about knowledge, experience, communication, responsiveness, and knowing someone is on it when you need them.
3.1 Availability & Communication
- Technical support is available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm (UK time)
- Technical support is available over telephone, email, WhatsApp and messages
- Requests received outside these hours are reviewed on the next working day
- Business-critical and high priority issues will be prioritised outside standard hours
- Planned maintenance is communicated in advance and scheduled to minimise disruption
3.2 Priority-Based Response Times
We prioritise requests based on their impact:
High Priority
Full website downtime, serious security issues, or major functionality failures.
Response begins within 15 minutes, during business hours. If you have a high priority request outside of business hours please email us and we will assess any impact and respond accordingly.
Medium Priority
Partial issues, non-critical errors, or general support requests.
Response within 4 hours, during business hours.
Low Priority
Minor updates, enhancements, or non-urgent tasks.
Response usually same working day, during business hours.
If something clearly doesn’t work, we’ll agree the priority with you — no rigid ticket systems, just common sense.
4. Support Hours
Standard support hours are Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm (UK time).
Outside of these hours, requests are logged and handled on the next working day unless they are business-critical.
5. Customer Responsibilities
We take care of the hosting environment, security, and performance.
Where clients have administrative or content access to their website, responsibility for website content remains with the client.
This includes:
- All text, images, and media uploaded to the website
- Blog posts, news articles, and downloadable content
- Any third-party content added via plugins or integrations
- Ensuring appropriate permissions and licences are in place for all content
Clients are responsible for ensuring their content complies with applicable laws, regulations, and third-party rights, including copyright and intellectual property.
6. Content Monitoring & Removal
CMS Live may carry out routine monitoring of hosted websites to maintain security and service integrity.
If we reasonably suspect that any content on a website may:
- Infringe copyright or intellectual property rights
- Be unlawful, offensive, defamatory, or misleading
- Breach regulations or third-party rights
we reserve the right to remove or restrict access to that content without notice where necessary to protect the service or prevent legal exposure.
Where possible, we will notify the client promptly if:
- We identify potentially inappropriate content
- We receive a complaint or allegation regarding website content
We will always aim to handle these situations fairly, quickly, and with clear communication.
7. Exclusions
This SLA does not cover issues arising from:
- Client-installed plugins, themes, or custom code
- Third-party services, APIs, or integrations
- User error or unauthorised configuration changes
- DNS issues where DNS is managed externally
- Domain-related issues (including blacklisting)
- Events outside reasonable control (force majeure)
- Downtime originating from cloud infrastructure providers
8. Compensation
We do not offer financial compensation, refunds, or service credits for downtime or service interruptions.
Instead, our commitment is to:
- Respond quickly
- Communicate clearly
- Resolve issues efficiently
- Continuously improve performance and stability
9. Hosting Infrastructure
Our hosting environments are built trusted Data Centres and Cloud Infrastructure platforms, selected for performance, resilience, and scalability.
These providers form the foundation of our uptime and reliability targets.
10. Contract & Billing
- Hosting is provided on a rolling monthly or yearly basis
- No long-term contracts are required
- Services continue until cancelled by either party with 30 days notice.
- Payment terms are agreed at the start of the service