Consultancy agreement for an engineering consultant

An engineering consultant produces designs, calculations and advice that a client builds, manufactures or operates from, and the consequences of an error can be physical and lasting. The agreement has to define the scope and the standard of care, control reliance on the work, allocate the designer's duties that attach to construction work, settle ownership of drawings and designs, and set liability and insurance at a level the fee and the profession support. I draft that agreement, for the business or for the consultant, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Status turns on the facts, is checked with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool for each engagement, and cannot be guaranteed by any agreement.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales engaging freelance or independent engineers in mechanical, electrical, civil, structural, process, manufacturing and related disciplines, and engineering consultants who want an agreement that reflects professional practice.

What matters in an engineering consultant's agreement

The scope and the standard of care

The agreement should define the services by a schedule (design, calculations, specifications, surveys, inspections, advice, project support), the deliverables and the information the client will provide, and should state the standard: reasonable skill and care expected of a competent engineer in the discipline under section 13 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, not a warranty that the design is fit for purpose, which professional indemnity insurers will not cover; a client that wants a fitness for purpose obligation is asking for something the consultant cannot insure, and the agreement should say so.

Designs, calculations and who may rely on them

Designs are produced for the client on the information and the brief provided, and the agreement should say that they are for the stated project and purpose only, may not be reused for another project without the consultant's agreement, and may not be relied on by third parties without a collateral warranty or reliance letter at a fee, with rights under section 1 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 excluded; where the client's contractor, funder or purchaser will want a warranty, the agreement should provide for the form and the fee.

Construction and the designer's duties

Where the work is design for construction, the consultant is a designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, with duties under regulation 9 to eliminate and reduce risks in the design and to provide information, and the agreement should allocate the roles under those Regulations, say whether the consultant is the principal designer, and require the client to perform its own duties; a contract for construction operations including design may be a construction contract under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 with the payment and adjudication provisions it implies, and the agreement should be drafted to comply.

Intellectual property in drawings and designs

Drawings, models, calculations and specifications are the consultant's copyright under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the agreement should license them to the client for the project with a right to use them for its operation, maintenance and extension of the works, conditional on payment, or assign them under section 90 where the client needs ownership, with the consultant's standard details and methods retained; the licence should exclude reuse on other projects and the consultant should be free to reuse general engineering knowledge.

Status and the consultant's business

An engineer with several clients, their own software, equipment and insurance, control over how the design is produced and the right to use associates is an independent business, and the agreement should reflect it; A medium or large client that engages through the consultant's company must itself decide status under Chapter 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, running HMRC's tool on the engagement as it operates.

Fees, notice, liability and insurance

The agreement should state the fee basis, late payment attracting interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, expenses, mutual notice with payment for work done and a licence to the designs delivered, and a liability cap at a stated sum or multiple of the fee with consequential loss excluded and a net contribution clause where other consultants are involved, tested under section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and professional indemnity insurance at an amount the agreement states maintained for a stated period after completion; liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded, and the agreement should say so.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

Can we require the engineer to warrant that the design will work?

You can ask, but a fitness for purpose warranty is uninsurable for most engineers and the agreement provides reasonable skill and care instead. The protection is the consultant's competence and insurance, and the agreement states both.

Our contractor wants a warranty from the engineer. Does the agreement provide one?

It provides for a collateral warranty or reliance letter at a fee, in a stated form. Without that, the contractor has no claim against the engineer and the agreement excludes third-party rights.

Who owns the drawings?

The consultant, who licenses them to the client for the project and its operation on payment. The client can be assigned them if it needs ownership, with the consultant's standard details retained.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Consultancy agreement for a sustainability or ESG consultant
• Consultancy agreement for a health and safety consultant

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.