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Take Over Existing Project in New Zealand
The developer has moved on, gone quiet, or you have parted company. The software still runs your business, and nobody currently employed understands it.
$15k+
Typical project value
2 min
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What people usually mean by take over existing project
This is one of the most common briefs on the site and one of the least talked about. It is also very fixable — provided you get access to the right things quickly, and hire someone who insists on understanding before changing.
Handover and stabilise
Someone learns the system, documents it, gets deployments working, and can fix things. The right first step almost every time.
Take over and continue
Handover, then the roadmap that stalled when the last developer left.
Take over to replace
Keep it running while a replacement is built, deliberately and in stages.
What it costs
Indicative ranges from projects posted here. Use them to sense-check a quote, not to budget precisely.
Assessment and handover
Access secured, system documented, deployment working, an honest report on its condition.
$8k – $25k
Stabilise and support
Handover plus the urgent fixes and a support arrangement.
$25k – $70k
Take over and continue
Ongoing development on a system somebody else wrote.
$70k+
Questions worth asking a provider
·What do you need from us before you can quote properly?
·Can you deploy a small change to production in the first fortnight?
·What will you tell us honestly about the condition of the code?
·How long before you can work at normal speed on it?
·What would you fix first, and why that?
Common questions
How much does it cost to take over existing software?
An assessment and handover — access secured, system documented, deployments working, an honest condition report — is $8,000 to $25,000. Stabilising it and putting support in place is $25,000 to $70,000. Continuing development beyond that is priced like ordinary work, once the unknowns are gone.
What do we need to collect first?
Source code and its repository, hosting and domain accounts, database access, any third-party accounts the system uses, and the deployment process. Get these before a relationship ends if you possibly can — recovering them afterwards is the slowest part of every rescue.
Will a new developer just want to rewrite it?
Some will, and be sceptical. Rewriting is more enjoyable than learning, and it is usually the wrong first move. The good answer is to understand it, get it deployable, fix what hurts, and only then discuss whether parts should be replaced.
What if the code is genuinely bad?
It happens, and you deserve to hear it plainly with examples. But bad code that runs your business is still an asset, and the decision to replace it is commercial, not aesthetic. Ask what it costs to live with for another year versus replace.
How long until they are productive?
Two to six weeks for a system of ordinary size, longer if there is no documentation and no working deployment. The first sign of progress is a small change safely released to production.
Related: Fix Existing Website · Complete Abandoned Project · Software Performance Problems · Application Bug Fixes · Upgrade Legacy Application · Replace Previous Developer
Take Over Existing Project projects open right now
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Updated daily
No open projects in this category right now. New briefs are posted every week.
Secure the accounts first
Before anything else, and ideally before a relationship ends, get hold of:
- The source code and the repository it lives in
- Hosting, domain and DNS accounts
- The database and its backups
- Every third-party account the system uses — payments, email, maps, storage
- Whatever deploys it, and how
This is the slowest part of every takeover, and it is far easier while everyone is still on speaking terms. If you are reading this while things are merely uncomfortable rather than broken, do it this week.
Beware the immediate rewrite
Many developers, shown someone else's code, will recommend starting again. It is more enjoyable, it removes the discomfort of working in an unfamiliar system, and it is usually the wrong first move.
The software runs your business. A rewrite means months before you are back where you started, paid for from your budget rather than the last developer's mistakes.
The better sequence is: understand it, make it deployable, fix what hurts, then decide with evidence which parts deserve replacing. A developer who proposes that is thinking about your position rather than their preference.
Buy the assessment separately
Nobody can quote honestly on a system they have not seen. Rather than accepting a number built on guesses, pay for a short assessment as its own piece of work.
You should get: a written description of what the system does and how it is built, the deployment process working, an honest list of risks, and a recommendation. That document is yours whether or not you continue with the same developer — which also makes it useful to give the next one.
The two-week test
The clearest signal of a successful handover is a small change released safely to production within a fortnight. Not a big feature — a text change, a fixed label, something visible.
It proves they can build it, deploy it, and roll back. Until that has happened, nobody knows whether the takeover is working, including them. Make it an explicit milestone.
Comparing quotes
- What they need from you before quoting properly.
- Assessment first, priced separately.
- No instant rewrite. Scepticism about big rewrites is experience.
- A deployment milestone in the first fortnight.
- Honesty about the condition, with examples rather than adjectives.
Describe what the software does, what you have access to, and what is going wrong. Five developers will tell you what it takes to pick it up — and how quickly they could be useful.
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