Most handovers fail not because the code is missing, but because the access, the documentation and the deployment process are. A checklist worth going through before you sign off.
We regularly take over projects where everything works, yet it takes weeks before anyone can develop further. Not because the code is bad. Because the previous developer handed over the source code and considered the job finished.
Source code is the least of it. Ask for the following before the final invoice, while there is still someone to ask.
1. Access, in your name
Version control, hosting or server, domain, database, mail service and every external API key. The point is not that you receive the password, but that the account is in your or your company's name. If the server runs in the developer's own account, the system is not yours.
2. The deployment process, written down
How does a change reach production? If the answer is "Pete uploads it over FTP", the next developer will be afraid to touch it. Half a page describing the steps is worth more than a long technical document.
3. A list of environment variables
Not the values themselves, but what is needed at all: which key does what, which service it belongs to. A single missing API key can cost days of blind searching.
4. Database backup and restore
Is there an automatic backup? Where does it go? Has anyone actually tried restoring it? A backup that has never been restored is just an assumption.
5. What was deliberately left unfinished
Every project has parts that were "left like this for now". A list of these is worth its weight in gold: the new developer will not treat a deliberate decision as a bug.
6. External dependencies and expiry dates
Domain, SSL, paid services, licences. When do they expire, who pays for them? This is the most common reason an otherwise stable system stops working overnight.
Why do people not ask for these?
Because at the end of a project everyone is tired and the system works. The missing pieces only surface six months later, when something needs changing and it turns out nobody knows how.
If you are approaching a handover, run through these six points. It takes twenty minutes and saves a lot of money.
