Requirements of Services Contract & Agreements

All contracts are agreements but not all agreements are contracts. There is a minor difference between a contract and agreement that an agreement comprises of promises made by both the parties, whereas the contract is formal. Service agreements are between customers and clients. The one who provides the other with their services. The freelancing service providers will come under this too. They provide their services to the business holders or contractors for a limited period. The contract must include the duties that are to be performed over time. All the discussed and distributed things should be particularly mentioned as to avoid future conflicts with the parties. A service agreement is an essential business tool, without the clear terms it could lead to court. A service agreement is a benefit of both parties. It helps the service provider more as after the completion of the work client cannot hesitate to pay for the services.

Types of Service Contracts

1. General service contract– These include some generalized instructions and terms of the independent contractor offering services.
2. Consultant service contract– This contract has a client and a consultant; it includes and discusses what type of relationship they both will share during the consulting process.
3. Artist service agreement– When a content writer, designer, technical support helpers, graphic designers, or any other artist works with a business person they sign it. The editing process, how many times the revision will take place before public view, and editing work should all be kept in mind.
4. Child care service contract– Child care and a parent share this contract. The parents bear all the costs of the items used by the child care agent from a pin to clothes.
5. Product service contract– The product when sold off comes under a warranty for a certain period. These include what kind of warranty the product has, cost, time, protection, expiration or usage, and control. It also may include the repairs, replacement of parts, upgrading the product software, diagnosis of the product, and refunds and returns.
6. Master Service agreement– known as service level agreement, general agreements over project-specific.

While creating a service contract the period of the service should be mentioned, it seems like a minor thing but it can create disputes regarding dissolving the contract and the matter can be taken to court if this crucial thing is not mentioned. The client’s expectation and the execution must always match for the desired results.

The fee structure should be mentioned that according to what process the work is defined and worth, whether the fee is paid as per the working hours per day, week, monthly, or per task completion, and what method will be used to transfer the money to the service provider.

To create a legally binding contract there has to be offer and acceptance which means an offer has to be made through one party and the other must accept the same offer without any counter offer. The terms of the offer must be clear to both parties before the acceptance of the offer. The offer and acceptance should take place with mutual consent, no party should be forced to enter in the contract or there should not be any threat to the other person to make the other person sign the contract.

The consideration is an essential part of the contract, it is what makes the contract value. This is often in the form of money when the contract has been performed but this could also be in the forms of goods and services. The parties should have surpassed the legal age because the contract with a minor is void since the beginning.

The above mentioned are the essentials of the service contract and agreements. During an issue of the contract, the parties can go to dispute resolution providers through mutual interest and the arbitration clauses must be defined in the contract to save time as well as money.