Subcontractor consulting agreement

About this consultancy sub-contract

This document is suitable for use by any consultancy business. So often, you need to take on a specialist, for a particular project or to make up a team. This agreement is your contract with the self employed person whom you bring in to help.

Using this agreement will help you to avoid a challenge by HM Revenue and Customs as to the employment status of your sub-contractor.

Of course your industry sector affects the work you want to instruct your consultant to do. But this is a legal document, not a specification for work. It is drawn to protect you, the main contractor, but should also be acceptable to your sub-contract consultant.

This is an “umbrella” sub-contract, set up for the possibility of future assignments under the same terms. That way, if you want more work from the same consultant, all you have to do is define it and refer to this agreement. Even if you expect never to re-employ, you do not have to delete anything on that account.

The consultancy sub-contract provides for the specification of work to be placed in a schedule to this agreement on the first time it is used. All later assignments of work will automatically be subject to this agreement.

Key features

• Ease of use (as always with Net Lawman documents)
• Thorough coverage of legal areas
• Practical, alternative business provisions
• No requirement for you be your own lawyer

The law in this consultant’s agreement

There is little statute law in this consultancy agreement. It depends on basic sub-contract law and tort. However, the structure and the contents of the agreement reflect the latest thinking on what is needed to protect a business from theft of its intellectual property.

You can see the full selection of consultancy agreements at Consultancy agreements. 

Contents of this agreement

• Definitions and interpretation
• Preliminary legal matters
• Consultant to avoid conflicts of interest
• Consultant's status and obligations
• Consultant’s fees and expenses
• Work management procedure
• Consultant’s work for other clients
• No competition 
• Confidentiality
• Intellectual property
• Inventions and new intellectual property
• Duration and termination
• Mutual indemnities
• Other legal provisions
• Publicity / Announcements
• Miscellaneous matters
• over 1,800 words of helpful and informative drafting notes