How to check a work contract before signing
Subject matter, estimate, deadlines, acceptance, and penalties — a practical reading for the customer and the contractor
In a work contract, disputes most often turn on the scope of work, hidden extra work, deadlines, and acceptance. An overview of the format is “Work contract”. Below is what to check in the text before signing, so you lower the risk of rework “at your own expense” and of endless claims.
Check a work contract online:
1. Subject matter and the statement of work
- The work is described specifically: what is included and what is not
- There is a statement of work / estimate / specification as an annex
- Materials: whose they are, what quality, and who buys them
- Quality criteria and compliance with standards (where applicable)
The wording “perform the work according to the customer’s instructions,” with no statement of work, almost always leads to a dispute over scope.
2. Price, estimate, and extra work
- Whether the price is fixed or approximate — and what that means in practice
- The procedure for agreeing extra work in writing (a supplementary agreement / an estimate)
- Advance payment, payment stages, and retention of a warranty amount
- Who pays for downtime caused by the customer / the contractor
Dangerous terms:
- “The contractor must perform any extra work with no change in price”
- 100% advance payment with no stages and no certificates
- A customer right to reduce the price unilaterally
3. Deadlines and liability for delay
- Start and end dates, and interim stages
- Conditions for moving the deadlines (force majeure, the customer’s fault)
- A penalty for delay — the rate and the cap
- Mutuality: whether the customer is liable for delayed access / materials
4. Acceptance, certificates, and warranty
- The acceptance period after notice that the work is ready
- What counts as deemed acceptance
- How defects are recorded, and the period for curing them
- The warranty period for the result of the work
5. Termination and subcontracting
- Withdrawal by the customer / the contractor: grounds, and payment for work actually done
- Whether subcontractors may be engaged, and who is liable for their work
- Handover of the result and the documentation on early termination
Checklist before you sign
- There is a statement of work or estimate with a clear scope
- Extra work only by written agreement
- Deadlines and the penalty are balanced
- Acceptance and the warranty are stated expressly
- There is no one-sided free hand over price and scope
If you mix up a work contract and GPH, read GPH vs employment. A general checklist: how to check a contract for risks.
Check a work contract in DocumentCHEK
Upload the file and get a list of potentially dangerous terms on deadlines, payment, and acceptance.