# Keep your builder domain in the builder's own account

Your company owns the domain, in a registrar account under a company email, with company-controlled renewal, recovery and two-factor access. A website partner can get limited permission to edit records. It is never the registrant and never the only administrator. Write down who can get back in when a person leaves, and check the renewal date yourself.

## Why is the domain a builder operating asset?

The domain carries the website, every email address, the inquiry forms and years of printed references. It is on job signs, Parade material, plan sheets, truck graphics, buyer emails and warranty instructions. Lose control of it and you lose more than a marketing page.

Treat it as a company account, not a line item inside a vendor package. Know where it is registered, which company identity holds it, who gets the notices, how renewal is paid and how access is recovered.

### Separate ownership from daily technical work

| Responsibility | Builder role | Partner role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Registrant identity | Company-controlled information | No ownership claim |
| Renewal and payment | Company method and notices | May monitor status |
| Recovery | Company-controlled contact and codes | Document support path |
| DNS changes | Approves sensitive changes | Receives limited working access |
| Website release | Owns destination account | Builds and verifies approved records |
| Handoff | Retains complete control | Removes access and delivers records |

This ownership model is part of the [Owned website stage](/process/owned-website/), where hosting, analytics, forms and content also stay in your name.

## How should account access be structured?

Register under a company email, not an employee's personal address or a vendor's general inbox. Name two company administrators. Keep recovery methods current and store recovery codes in the company password manager.

Give partners their own logins where the registrar allows it. One shared master password across the builder, the web partner and IT support leaves no record and cannot be revoked for one party. Individual permissions can.

### Grant the smallest useful permission

A web partner may need to edit DNS records but not transfer the domain or change ownership details. An email administrator may need to see mail records but not hosting. Write down each role and remove the access when the work ends.

The [owned website and the MLS listing guide](/guides/owned-website-vs-portals/) explains how the owned site and the listing agent's MLS listing share one documented record.

## What domain records should the builder document?

Write a short domain runbook a company administrator can follow without calling a former vendor. Record the registrar, the account identity, renewal status, the recovery path, the approved administrators and the purpose of each important DNS record. Keep live passwords out of it.

1. **Confirm the exact domain.** Include alternate spellings or related domains the company intentionally maintains.

2. **Record the registrar account.** Identify the company-controlled login and administrator roles.

3. **Map DNS hosting.** The registrar and the service answering DNS may be different systems.

4. **Label records by function.** Mark website, email, verification and other approved services.

5. **Document renewal and recovery.** State who receives notices and who can restore access.

6. **Set a change record.** Capture the request, old value, approved new value and verification.

7. **Review access.** Check company administrators and partner permissions after staffing or vendor changes.

Handle email records with care. A website move must not touch the records that route or protect company email. Know the current state before you change anything.

## How should a website launch protect the domain?

Plan the change before you edit a record. Note the current website destination, the approved new one, the records that stay untouched and the checks that prove the site and email still work. Keep a copy of the old values and define the rollback.

After the change, check the main domain, the www variant, the certificate, the key page routes, a form submission and email delivery. A hosting dashboard that says “released” is not success. Open the public site through the domain buyers type.

### Keep redesign and domain work separate when possible

A redesign does not need a new domain or a transfer to the design partner. Keep established addresses and redirects. The [builder website redesign article](/articles/builder-websites/redesigning-a-builder-website-without-losing-search/) covers the page inventory and search continuity; the [hosting choices article](/articles/builder-websites/builder-website-hosting-choices/) covers where the site runs.

## What should happen when a partner relationship ends?

Check the registrant and account access before you end a partner relationship. Domain and hosting handoffs are separate records. Remove the departing partner's login, rotate any shared secret, confirm the company administrators and keep the change history. Confirm hosting, analytics, form routing, source files and documentation on their own.

Ask the departing partner for a final record of DNS purpose, redirects, verification entries and pending changes. Do not delete an unfamiliar record because the vendor name is old. Find out first whether it supports email, analytics, [call tracking](/glossary/call-tracking/), forms or another live system.

### Make ownership checks repeatable

Our agents inventory public DNS responses, compare them with the documented records and flag unexpected changes. People approve edits, hold the credentials and verify the public site and company email. No agent gets more account access than the task needs.

The other [builder websites articles](/articles/builder-websites/) connect domain control to maintenance, hosting and release work.

## Questions about builder domain ownership

### Can our website company register the domain for us?

A website company can help register your builder domain. Create the registration in a company-controlled account with builder-managed recovery, renewal and administrator access from the start.

### Should one employee be the only domain administrator?

Give your builder domain accountable company administrators and a documented recovery path. Avoid leaving access dependent on one employee whose absence or departure could block recovery.

### Does moving the website require moving the domain?

Your builder domain can remain in its existing company-controlled account when hosting changes. Update only the approved DNS records and document the new website destination.

### What should we verify after a DNS change?

After a builder domain DNS change, verify the public website, important routes, secure connection, inquiry delivery and company email. Compare the records with the approved change.