1. Identify the client owner and approvers
Ask the client to identify the business owner of the domain and the person authorized to approve changes. Record the registrar and account arrangement alongside the project brief. Distinguish an agency contact from a domain owner; being responsible for a website does not, by itself, establish authority to transfer the name. Escalate unclear ownership before making a launch plan that depends on changing the account.
2. Map access without collecting secrets
Prepare an access register that names the registrar, DNS provider, hosting provider, mail provider, and authorized administrator for each. The register should describe where access is managed, not contain passwords, recovery codes, or transfer codes. Agree how approved access will be granted through the provider-supported process. Record who is responsible for arranging that access and when it is needed.
3. Make renewals and recovery explicit
Confirm who receives renewal notices, who approves renewal spending, and who maintains the account recovery arrangements. Record the domain expiry information and the process for checking it. Ask the client to confirm that recovery contacts remain accessible to the business. An agency can help organize these questions while the client retains the approval and ownership decisions.
4. Separate the launch brief from account cleanup
A launch may need a small DNS change while a wider account consolidation needs more planning. List the exact launch changes, the dependencies, the approver, and the person responsible for checking the result. Give account moves and registrar transfers their own scope when needed. This makes it easier to identify what must happen for launch and what can follow under an agreed later assignment.
5. Prepare for the next handover
Leave a current provider list, domain inventory, renewal responsibilities, change record, and list of unresolved access issues. Agree where the client will retain those records and which agency access should continue. If another provider is taking over, nominate an authorized recipient and a completion checklist. A dated record is easier to maintain than an informal promise that one team member knows where everything is.
Illustrative example: a website redesign with an existing mail provider
An agency is redesigning a website while the client keeps its current email service. A focused brief can identify the website change, the records that must be preserved, the client approver, and the person checking the result. A separate handover records registrar and renewal responsibilities. This is an illustrative project structure, not a claimed client result.
A useful starting point
Keep the client owner, access arrangements, launch approvals, and renewal responsibility visible in one maintained record.