Download this Service Agreement to provide a one-off or ongoing service to a client in exchange for a fee.
Word Document (.docx)
Ready to use legal template
Drafted by experienced lawyers
Compliant with Indian law
Ready to use legal template
Drafted by lawyers
Compliant with Indian law
A Service Agreement is a contract that describes the exchange of services for pay between a service provider and a client. A Service Agreement outlines the conditions of service and should contain a description of the job, the fee for the service, and contact information for both the contractor and the client. A service contract can be used for a single work or for an ongoing role with no end date when the contract is signed. Service Agreements are frequently required when the parameters of a project grow more complicated or require a full explanation. A Consulting Agreement can also be utilized for particularly specialised services or a highly qualified service provider.
The Service Agreement is a business contract that aims to formalize the relationship between a company, in this case a service provider, and its client. This contract aims to frame the rights and obligations of both parties.
Many companies have recourse to service providers in return for an agreed price. Whether it is a question of computer maintenance services, collective catering services for companies, cleaning services, security services… The variety of situations means that there is no standard service provision contract. It is therefore important to download a model that can be adapted and modified according to your needs or even in some cases to call upon the services of a lawyer specialized in its drafting.
Note that when you are selling a product and not a service, the Sales Contract should be used.
A service agreement is a business contract, just like a subcontracting agreement. In concrete terms, the difference lies in the duration of the agreement. A subcontracting agreement is in principle limited in time and punctual whereas the service agreement can outsource an activity of the company in a durable way.
The difference is also in the purpose of the agreement. Under a subcontracting agreement, the company entrusts the subcontractor with the task of carrying out a task that it could be able to perform itself because it corresponds to its core business, but that the client delegates because it does not have sufficient resources to perform it itself. Conversely, he concerns a task that the client company cannot perform internally because it does not have the skills to do so.
Consequently, the difference finally concerns the final recipient of the service. The services of the provider are provided to the customer directly, whereas the subcontracting relates to services to be rendered to the final customer. The subcontracting relationship is thus triangular. More legally speaking, and in view of these points in particular, subcontracting is also subject to specific and very strict regulations, to protect the subcontractor.
The service agreement does not have to be in writing. However, it is strongly recommended that it be in writing in order to avoid any future dispute. Moreover, if no agreement is signed, in the professional world, estimates are also used. This consists, even before there is an agreement between the parties, in giving a written document to the customer detailing the services that the professional will carry out as well as their price and the date of their realization.
This estimate thus makes it possible to the customer to have a precise idea of the service which will be carried out and, in the event of acceptance of its share, to materialize its agreement effectively with the realization of the envisaged services. The establishment of an estimate does not have the same consequences for the professional and for the customer:
| ➤ It definitively engages the professional on the price and the methods of execution of its service (this is why it can be advisable to limit the validity period of its estimates). |
| ➤ The customer is only committed when he expresses the will to entrust the professional with the execution of the service (before that he remains free and can even entrust the service to a competitor). |
