Template set of contractor agreements for an agency

A business that engages contractors every month does not need a new contract every month; it needs one set of terms that every contractor signs once and a short schedule that captures each engagement in a few lines. The template set is that: a master agreement containing the status, IP, confidentiality, covenant, liability and termination terms drafted once, and a schedule for the project, the rate and the dates, with variants for individuals, limited companies and agencies in the chain. I draft the set for a fixed fee of £895, delivered in five working days, and the marginal cost of the next contractor is a form fill.

Who this is for

Agencies, consultancies, studios, software businesses and any business in England and Wales that engages contractors and freelancers regularly and wants the legal work done once.

What matters in a template set

Why one master agreement and a short schedule beats a new contract each time

A master agreement signed once by each contractor, with a statement of work or engagement schedule for each piece of work, means the legal terms are negotiated once, every contractor is on the same terms, the business can see at a glance what applies, and a new engagement takes minutes; a new contract each time means terms drift, versions multiply, and the IP assignment that was in the first contract is missing from the fourth. The set is drafted so that the master prevails over the schedule on conflict, each schedule is a separate contract under it, and the schedule can be completed by non-lawyers.

What goes in the master and what in the schedule

The master contains the terms that do not change: the parties' status and the description of a self-employed engagement, substitution, the IP assignment and the licence of pre-existing materials, confidentiality and data protection, restrictive covenants, insurance and liability, invoicing mechanics, termination and the boilerplate; the schedule contains the services or deliverables, the client (where the contractor works on client projects), the rate and the estimate or fixed fee, the dates, the named contractor and any variation the engagement needs, with a short form that prompts for each.

The variants an agency needs

A business engaging contractors meets three situations: an individual sole trader, an individual working through their own limited company, and a contractor supplied through another agency or umbrella; the set provides a version of the master for each, because the contracting party, the tax provisions, the opt-out under regulation 32 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 and the indemnities differ, with the individual bound personally in the limited company version so that the covenants and confidentiality reach the person doing the work.

The status and off-payroll provisions built in once

The master describes a self-employed engagement in the terms that reflect it (control, substitution, equipment, other clients, no obligation to offer or accept work) and contains the off-payroll provisions for contractors working through companies: where the business or its client is medium or large, the determination under Chapter 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 is required before the engagement starts, the schedule records it, the rate adjusts where the engagement is inside, and the risk of a wrong determination sits with whoever makes it; where the business is small, Chapter 8 leaves the assessment with the contractor's company, and the master says so. Status is checked for each engagement with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and the set cannot guarantee it.

IP, confidentiality and covenants set once for every engagement

The master assigns the IP in every deliverable under every schedule to the business on creation or on payment, in writing under section 90 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, with moral rights waived, pre-existing materials licensed and open source disclosed; imposes confidentiality covering the business's clients and each client's information; and contains covenants at a width a court will enforce (a non-solicitation of clients the contractor worked with, for a short period), so that every engagement is protected without the business remembering to add the clauses; the data processing terms Article 28 of the UK GDPR requires are in a schedule used where the contractor handles personal data.

Keeping the set current

The set should be reviewed when the law changes (the off-payroll rules, the employment status framework, data protection), when the business's model changes (it starts supplying contractors to clients and becomes an employment business, or starts working with clients abroad), and when a client's contract requires terms the master does not contain; the set is drafted with a version date, a change log and the clauses most likely to need updating identified, and the business should re-sign contractors on a new master when the changes are material rather than relying on a variation clause for everything.

What it costs

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

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

How many documents are in the set?

A master agreement in up to three versions (individual, limited company, agency in the chain), an engagement schedule, and a data processing schedule for engagements that involve personal data. Each contractor signs the master once; each engagement is a schedule.

Can our project managers complete the schedule without a lawyer?

They can. The schedule prompts for the services, the client, the rate, the dates and the named contractor, and the master does the rest. That is the point of the structure.

What if a client insists on its own contractor terms?

The set is drafted so that a client's required terms can be added to the schedule for that engagement, and the master prevails otherwise. Where a client's terms conflict with the master on IP or status, that engagement needs a look.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £895, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Statement of work for a consultancy engagement
• Freelancer agreement for a marketing agency

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.