Agents, Representatives and Distributor Agreements An agent is a company or individual who represents another company (the 'principal') and who usually receives commission on sales that the agent arranges. An agent for a manufacturer, for example, will find customers for the manufacturer's goods, the manufacturer will sell directly to the customer and the agent will be paid a commission by the manufacturer. Sometimes a company will enter into an agreement with a "representative" whose role may be that of an agent or it may be confined to a particular task – e.g. informing the company of opportunities for tendering in a particular country. In this situation, a representation agreement may be required. A distributor, on the other hand, is someone who buys goods from a manufacturer or supplier and then sells the goods on to its customers, either retailers or end-users. For this situation, a distributor agreement, would be required. Agents, Distributors and Representatives are often appointed for defined territories and they may be exclusive, for example where an exclusive distributor is appointed for a territory – or non-exclusive – i.e. more than one in the territory. Our agreements are all reasonably balanced between the company or 'principal' on the one hand and the agent, or distributor, on the other but, as you will see from the list, we have legal documents designed for use by the agent or distributor as well as for the principal.

All Commercial Contracts This is our full list of Commercial Contracts covering new and existing businesses as well as international. If you know what contract you are looking for, you may find it easier to use the links to different categories of contract shown below.

Ancillary Employment Documents This section contains general employment documents which are intended to provide employment guidelines to staff. Included in this section are business template forms for expenses in general, travel expenses templates, and email policy documents.

Be Collaborative Construction Contract The Be Collaborative Contract was published in September 2003 and is available to buy online through ContractStore. You can select which forms you require and download the documents direct to your desktop, formatted for use in MS Word. Be is the acronym for Collaborating for the Built Environment, an organisation which is now part of Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment, an industry-wide body. For more information, see their website: http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/ A new version of the Be Contract, entitled the JCT - Constructing Excellence Contract, was published by the JCT in December 2006. It is not available online but can be obtained from the JCT and their selected stockists. For more information see the JCT website: http://www.jctcontracts.com/JCT/contracts/view_family.jsp?familyId=180

Business Sale Agreements There are two principal ways of buying or selling a business - you are either trading business assets or, in the case of a company, shares in that company are traded. Anyone buying a business ought to investigate it first. This is known as Due Diligence. A Confidentiality Agreement is always recommended for both sides before the Due Diligence exercise begins. This section contains example business sale contracts and business purchase agreements.

Chinese Contracts   If you are doing business in China, you may discover that sorting out a contract between you and your business partners can be complicated. We offer a unique collection of dual-language contracts to enable you to trade with partners in China securely and with good understanding between the parties. You can also download for free our notes on Doing Business in China with tips for newcomers. Whether you are looking for Chinese sales contracts, employment contracts, an agency agreement or licences for manufacture, these Chinese contract templates will be useful. These Chinese contracts, and their explanatory notes, are provided in duplicate, with one version in English and one in Chinese. They are in Word format using Chinese character sets - to view these Chinese contract documents your computer should have the appropriate language support installed.

Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements When discussing new projects, ideas and products with potential business partners, it is often important to keep the negotiations confidential. A Confidentiality Agreement or Non-Disclosure Agreement will protect your business and innovations from exposure.

Construction Contracts, Building Contract and Engineering Contracts For the full list of Construction contracts, Construction forms and Engineering contracts, scroll down to the bottom of this page. In this section we have a range of documents (including construction contracts & building contracts) suitable for professional consultants, contractors, clients and for people who need a contract for construction or maintenance work but who are not too familiar with the construction industry. To appoint an architect, quantity surveyor, engineer or other professional consultant, our document B100  (Appointment of Professional Consultant) is recommended. For a client, there is an advantage in having such a contract as it means that all members of  the professional team will work to essentially the same terms and conditions, which is much easier to administer than having each professional consultant appointed on his own profession's terms,  which are usually too heavily weighted in favour of the professional.  If you are consultant wanting to formalise an appointment with a client, documents B102 to B105 might be appropriate. For engaging in building works or working with contractors you should consider building contracts B121 (Short Form of Contract for Works & Services) or B122 (Conditions of Contract for Supply of Works & Services). B125 (Contract for Provision of Maintenance Services) may also be suitable if you are looking for maintenance work. If you are a contractor, you would find our construction contract B137 (Standard Terms & Conditions for Construction Work) suitable as your standard terms, and to appoint a subcontractor, go to B128. For larger projects, a contractor planning to enter into a joint venture can find an appropriate agreement at B148 (Joint Venture Agreement) and if you are bidding for work on a joint basis, try B138 (Bidding Agreement/Teaming Agreement). Construction work is often closely tied in with engineering work and therefore construction and engineering contracts are often needed between two parties or organisations. To cover both parties we suggest the A110 (Service Agreement) or the B124 (Letters of Intent). Other engineering contracts are also available. We also have a number of security documents – including Parent Company Guarantee (B149), Collateral Warranties (B143 to B145) and Performance Bond (B146). We also sell the BE Collaborative Contract which has recently been revised and published by the JCT as the JCT Constructing Excellence Contract. The Be CC is an innovative standard form and the co-author of both these contracts is our founder and managing director, Giles Dixon. To find out more about construction contracts or building contracts before you buy, click on the one that interests you and read the detailed Explanatory Notes about it.

Consultancy Agreements A lot of companies not only employ staff, they also have people providing consultancy services on a self-employed basis and this section has a list of some of those consultancy contracts. We also have consultancy agreement and services agreement contracts designed for individuals or companies who are providing consulting services.

Contracts for Existing Businesses Business relationships are made up of a whole range of different relationships between a business and its suppliers, customers, representatives, agents and distributors. In addition, a business will sometimes enter into a joint venture with another company to bid for or carry out a project. You'll find here all kinds of business contracts designed to establish and manage these alliances. We have put here a few of our most popular legal documents for running your business, such as employment contracts, partnership contracts and other general business contracts; but there are too many to list them all on this page so please browse the related categories by following the blue links below.

Contracts for New Businesses Below you will find contracts for when you start a new business. If you wonder why you should bother with business contracts, think for a moment: whether or not you write down the terms, you will be entering into contracts with other people all the time – with your suppliers, your customers or clients and your employees and /or consultants. In addition, unless you are a one-person business, you will need an agreement with your partners or fellow shareholders on how the business will be financed and managed and how decisions will be taken. Your new business will benefit because professionally drafted contracts will: protect you in your dealings with other people; give your business a professional, established image when you use standard terms for buying and selling goods and services; help you meet legal requirements, in particular with regard to employees and the regulatory and tax authorities. If you need something that is not listed here, have a look in the alternative contract collections indicated or use our search facility. We can also supply custom contracts for you - see the Legal Services section.

Dispute Resolution Examples If you get into a dispute there are various methods of resolving the conflict - including mediation, adjudication, and arbitration. Here we offer forms of agreement, Alternative Dispute Resolution examples and some free information on Dispute Resolution. When you are entering into a contract it can be sensible to have a carefully written Dispute Resolution clause. This gives options for direct negotiation and other procedures which are designed to avoid, or failing that, to manage any disagreement that arises. Our links page has a wide range of international organisations involved in Dispute Avoidance and Dispute Resolution.

Employment Contracts Employment Contracts for every situation from part-time workers to overseas posting. Almost every business will require legally binding employment agreements. Browse this list of general employment contracts or you can explore more employment contract categories by following the blue links.

Free Business Forms and Legal Documents ContractStore has compiled a collection of useful free information on a variety of legal topics for business and construction. Please help yourself to these Free Business Forms and Legal Documents and contact us if you would like more advice. We also compile links to useful sources of free information affecting business.

Full Catalogue This is our full catalogue of all legal business contracts and legal services. Unless you know exactly which legal contract you are looking for, you may find it more useful to use the Contracts drop-down menu, or the links (below) to Contract Collections, to find the document you want.

Intellectual Property Contracts Intellectual property includes copyrighted artwork, designs, photographs, and creative works in other media, as well as text copy, and inventions. We have a range of contracts to help you protect your intellectual property in business transactions. A key document for a new business idea for example, would be the Confidentiality Agreement or Non-Disclosure Agreement.

International Contracts Whether you are already working in more than one country or you want to expand your business activities into new territories, we have a wide range of specialist legal documents written by international lawyers for use in international business agreements. We can also supply custom international law contracts for you - see the Legal Services section.

Internet Contracts We have a range of templates for contracts used online, for internet businesses. If you don't see what you are looking for let us know as we are expanding our internet catalogue and would welcome your suggestions.

Joint Venture Agreements and Collaborating Contracts This collection is for when you are entering into a joint venture, bidding for work with another company or entering into a long-term arrangement, such as for the manufacture and sale of products. The contracts below include joint venture agreements and other join venture contracts relating to confidentiality and licences.

Legal Services You can request legal support services from ContractStore, including the following: Legal Document Tailoring We can tailor legal documents for you when you have circumstances that require particular extra consideration. Custom Legal Documents We can prepare new legal document templates on request. (Please note: This is not a tailoring service - we aim to make a new template contract available to all) Checking Your Legal Document You can have our lawyers check over your legal documentation to make sure it will be right for your needs. First, please use this form to let us know about your requirements. If we can help you, we will let you know how much the service will cost, and a delivery date. You can then return to this page and select the level of support you will require. These pre-paid legal services are provided by ContractStore and approved associate lawyers.

Manufacture, Purchase and Hire Agreements If you have invented a product that you want to have manufactured, our Licence for Manufacture and Sale A126 may be suitable. If you are already in business producing goods and wish to expand into a new market by licensing another company to manufacture your goods, then our Licence for Manufacture Overseas A134, is preferable. If you are asked to manufacture a product for someone who provides you with some of the raw materials, our Supply and Manufacture Agreement A150 is the document to use. As for a business that wants to receive regular supplies of goods or equipment, our Long Term Supply Agreement A138, is the contract for you. And if you are hiring – or want to hire equipment, have a look at the Hire Agreement A145.

Overseas and Expatriate Employment Contracts Employing an expatriate or sending an employee overseas requires a special form of employment contract, a variety of which you can find here. There are also some supporting documents relevant to overseas travel.

Partnerships and Shareholder Agreements If you are setting up a new business, or already in business with other people, you will need to regulate the arrangements between shareholders or partners using Partnerships and Shareholder Agreements. We have a number of partnership agreement templates that can be of help here. When forming a Limited Company, a Shareholder's Agreement is recommended. When forming a Partnership, you will need a Partnership Agreement and, if you're setting up a Limited Liability Partnership, you would use a Limited Liability Partnership Agreement. If your business is teaming up with another, for example to form a joint venture or to bid for work together, please follow the Collaborating with Other Companies link. Confidentiality is usually a pre-requisite of any collaboration and you see our collection in the link below.

Property Contracts Almost every business is involved in property in some way - usually as a tenant, sometimes as a landlord. This section contains a range of relevant documents - in addition to some forms of lease, we have related agreements such as a form of assignment, a surrender of lease and a short term licence to occupy. Since the law governing property transactions can be very different form one country to another, please note that these property documents are designed specifically for use in England and Wales and have been written by an English property lawyer (unless the description states otherwise).

Sale and Purchase of Goods and Services It is sensible for every business which regularly buys or sells goods and/or services to have some Standard Terms and Conditions for those transactions. Our collection includes a range of suitable T and Cs. You'll also find some more specialist forms including purchase and sale agreement templates, and contracts for hiring goods and premises. If your business involves collaboration with a Manufacturer to supply and sell products then please follow the link to the Manufacturing contracts.

Self Employed Contracts If you are self-employed or providing consultancy services, these self employed contract templates could be of use. If you are acting as an agent or in some other representative capacity please follow the link to view our Agents, Representatives and Distributors collection. You may also want to look at the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements which would be useful for self employed individuals.

South African Contracts So far, we only have one South African contract, a very useful Shareholders Agreement suitable for doing business in South Africa. Until more templates are available, please contact us if you have specific requirements for South African contracts.

UK Employment Contracts These employment contracts and related documents are designed for use in the UK. You can browse employment contracts for other territories using the blue links below.

US Contracts Doing business in the United States is always viewed both with anticipation (because of the opportunity that such a large market offers) and with trepidation (because of the complexity inherent in multiple legal systems and multiple layers of government). Having the right legal documentation can go a long way to control legal risk, however, and the US contracts section of the ContractStore website is intended to provide a number of the most common commercial contracts, appropriately tailored as far as possible to conform to US laws. In the United States, state laws govern many aspects of commercial relationships. These laws tend to be substantially similar across the country though they do vary from state to state. Most states follow some variation of English common law. However, Louisiana stands out in this respect, as it bases parts of its commercial and other laws on the civil codes rather than on the common law. When in doubt about a contract in America, it is imperative to consult with competent legal counsel admitted in the state in question.