Before you sign a service agreement

Business & company · AU

The checks worth doing before agreeing to service work — what should be in writing, what the law guarantees regardless, and when to stop and get advice.

A service agreement is easiest to fix before it is signed. Five checks:

1. Scope in writing — what exactly is being done, by when, for how much. If a claim matters to you, it belongs in the document, not in a chat thread. 2. Payment structure — deposit, progress payments, final payment, and what each one is tied to. Record what was agreed; vague payment terms serve nobody. 3. Know what the law guarantees anyway — services must be provided with due care and skill, be fit for any purpose you made known, and be done in a reasonable time. No contract term can take those guarantees away. 4. Watch for one-sided terms — in a standard form contract, terms that let only one side cancel, change the price, or dodge liability can be unfair contract terms, which the law now bans with penalties. 5. Changes go in writing too — agree up front that variations to scope or price will be recorded and signed by both sides.

When to see a lawyer instead: high-value work, anything where the other side's standard terms run for pages, engagements that look like employment, or a dispute already brewing. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

This is legal information, not legal advice.