Terms and conditions for an event production company

An event production company carries the client's budget, the venue's rules and a chain of suppliers who need paying long before anyone sees the stage. Your terms have to say what the fee buys, what happens when the brief changes at rehearsal, and who pays for costs already committed if the event is pulled. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Event production companies, brand experience and live event agencies, production managers and technical producers in England and Wales. Most of your clients are businesses: brands, marketing and communications agencies, membership bodies and public sector buyers. Some producers also take private commissions, where the client is a consumer and a different set of rules applies. One set of terms can be written with both in mind.

What matters in event production terms

The concept, the pitch and who owns the design work

Producers give away their best thinking before anyone signs. Your terms should define what the fee buys, whether the client receives ownership of the design or a licence to use it for the event only, and that concepts, renders and technical drawings stay yours until you are paid. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, work created by a freelance designer belongs to that freelancer unless it is assigned in writing, so if your set drawings or motion graphics come from outside the payroll you need written assignments in place before you can pass anything on to the client.

Budgets, supplier costs and changes to the brief

A production budget is not a fixed price unless you say so. The terms should distinguish your management fee from third-party costs, state whether supplier costs are passed through at cost or with a stated uplift, and allow re-costing where crew rates, haulage or venue charges move between quote and delivery. Changes to the brief at technical rehearsal, an extra screen, a second stage, an overnight turnaround, need to be agreed in writing with their price effect before you commit the money. The terms should also say how the final reconciliation works and who keeps any underspend.

Payment timing and money already committed

You pay venues, riggers, performers and hauliers weeks before the doors open, so a payment profile tied to those commitment dates matters more than invoicing after the event. The balance should fall due before load-in, not after the derig. For business clients the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives statutory interest and fixed compensation on overdue invoices, and sets a thirty day default credit period where none is agreed. Where the client is an agency buying for a brand, the terms should make clear that your payment is not conditional on the agency being paid by its own client.

Cancellation, postponement and events beyond anyone's control

Cancellation charges should reflect what you have actually committed on the client's behalf, rising as the date approaches, with supplier cancellation fees recoverable in full. Postponement is not cancellation: say that a new date depends on availability and is re-costed. A force majeure clause should cover venue closure, loss of power, strikes and severe weather, and say who bears the committed costs. For private clients, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lists disproportionate default charges and retained prepayments among the terms that can be challenged as unfair, and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give a fourteen day cancellation right where the booking is agreed at a distance or away from your premises.

Venue access, client obligations and site conditions

Most overruns are caused by something the producer does not control: a load-in window that slips, rigging points that are not where the plan said, a lift that will not take the flight cases, or brand assets that arrive the night before. Your terms should make the client responsible for venue permissions and licences unless you have agreed to obtain them, for accurate guest numbers, and for delivering content by a stated deadline. Where the venue or the client's own contractors delay you, the terms should allow you to recover standby crew and overtime costs rather than absorb them.

Liability, insurance and damage on site

Set a cap at a level your public liability and professional indemnity cover will actually meet, and exclude the heads of loss a producer cannot insure against: lost profit, lost sponsorship income and reputational harm from an event that did not go to plan. The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 prevents you excluding liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and where you contract on written standard terms your other exclusions and limits are judged against a reasonableness test that takes account of bargaining strength, knowledge and insurance. Deal separately with damage to the venue and with equipment hired in on your account.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting 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 full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I stop a client using my concept if they award the job elsewhere?

Your terms can state that pitch material, drawings and visuals remain your property and are supplied for evaluation only, with a licence granted when the production is commissioned and paid for. That gives you something to write to the client about if the idea reappears on someone else's stage. Enforcement is a separate matter, but the term is worth having.

My client is a marketing agency buying for a brand. Does that change my terms?

The important point is identifying who is liable to pay you. The terms should name the contracting party, confirm that payment is due whether or not the agency has been paid by the brand, and set out who approves variations on site. Agencies will often ask you to accept their own terms instead, which is worth reviewing before you sign.

What if a key supplier or performer lets me down on the day?

Your terms should allow you to substitute suppliers of equivalent standard, state what you are responsible for in your supply chain, and exclude liability for a third party's failure where you selected them with reasonable care. Back that with cancellation terms in your own supplier contracts so the exposure does not stop with you.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Contract review, £495
• Terms and conditions for a conference and exhibition organiser

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