should I allow a freelancer access to my site before the contract?

[ba433b89]

I've had hired other freelancers here before where they would accept the proposal first, be under contract, then work on my site. My latest job has freelancers asking to access my site first before being under contract. Is this normal or should I be concerned? 

[yitwail · Accepted solution]

It’s not normal and you’re correct to be concerned. Perhaps they’re new freelancers who don’t know any better, but the safe thing to do is go with someone else, assuming that by *access* you mean something like logging into your site or server. But if all they want is to visit it with a browser, then I see nothing sinister about it.

[richard_wein]

If you're asking for a fixed-price or a time estimate, they may want to see the back-end of the site in order to evaluate how much work is needed. If you know how, perhaps you could make a copy of the site for them to look at (and also remove any confidential information from it).

[ba433b89]

Thanks, Richard. Unfortunately I don't know how to make a copy that someone could access.

[ba433b89]

Thank you John

[prestonhunter]

I can not say what is right for YOUR situation, but I can tell you:

As a client, I would not let complete strangers have access to critical systems. A complete stranger would work on a copy or development version.

A trusted freelancer may well be granted complete access to all systems.

As a freelancer, I am often granted complete back-end access to servers and databases. This often happens before I am officially hired. Maybe clients are more likely to trust me because I have an established work history.

A single answer may not apply to every situation.

[49393346]

Give BanyanOps a try... www.banyanops.com. Great access control solution for developments and contractors.