How to Write Your

Are you confused by legal jargon? Would you like to know the bare minimum

you need for a legal contract? Would you like to gain the confidence to

write your own contract? Do you want to create contracts which help

achieve successful projects?

Then these tips are for you!

Why You?

Step 1Why Bother With A Contract?

“A contract… is the expression of agreement that has been reached”

Peter Hibberd, JCT Newsletter 2013

What Is A Contract?

Many Roles of A Contract

Contracts do more than merely record the parties’ agreement:

“An effective contract… sets out the common and agreed rules; it helps define the goals and how to achieve them; it states the agreed mechanism for managing the risk and the rewards; it lays down the guidelines for resolving disputes.”

CIC Guide to Project Partnering

Tip #1

Before you write your 500-Word Contract™, decide:

• What do you want the contract to do?

• Is it merely recording an existing agreement?

• Is it going to be comprehensive or comprehensible?

• What else has still be to decided?

Step 2What You Need for a Legal

Contract

“There is no orderly negotiation of terms... the picture is one of the parties jockeying for

advantage inching towards the finalisation of the transaction”

Percy Trentham v Archital Luxfer

Contract Essentials

Contract Formation is Messy

The practical realities of contract formation are often messy, especially in the construction industry which:

“has steadfastly adopted [an] anarchic approach to contract formation…[contract] formalities in the construction industry are typically left until the contract is half-completed and, in many cases, until after the performance of the contract is actually complete”

An agreement is a ‘meeting of minds.’ The external evidence is:Offer Acceptance Intention Consideration Certainty

Contract Essentials

Offer (definite promise to be bound on specified or ascertainable terms)

Acceptance (unqualified act or conduct communicated to person making the offer)

Intention (a desire to create a legal relationship)Consideration (anything of value)Certainty (includes all ‘essential terms’ - the terms

required before a court will enforce it)

Defining Contract Essentials

Agreement = offer + acceptance

Intention = presumed in business

Consideration = sweet wrapper

Be sure and certain

Offer = to do somethingAcceptance = offer is agreedIntention = presumed for businessesConsideration = price, promise or anything of valueCertainty = clarity

Contract Essentials

Tip #2

Before you write your 500-Word Contract™, decide:

• What was the offer?

• Has it been accepted?

• Do the parties want to create a legal contract?

• What is the reward (consideration)?

• Can you record the agreement using terms that are clear and certain?

Step 3Writing a Contract

Writing A Contract

“…attention should be paid to the clear unambiguous drafting of contracts so

that they record exactly what the parties intend”

Simon Tolson, Fenwick Elliott

Contract Contents

Your contract should include:Details of the project & its aimsRisk & responsibility to manageRights and remediesProcedures

Sign up for a 10-point guide on ‘How to Write Your 500-Word Contract™’ on my website

Creating success

Agree before doing Create good

relationshipsShare common interestsAim for mutual goals

Tip #3

Before you write your 500-Word Contract™, decide:

• How will you measure success?

• What are the objectives of the parties?

• What are the objectives of the project?

• Are they best promoted through carrots or sticks?

Step 4Writing a 500-Word Contract™

“No contract can require particular forms of behaviour, style or approach. If people do not want

to work together, they will not, whatever the contract says”

Peter Hibberd of JCT

Using 500 Words

500-Word Contract™

easy to read = plain language easy to understand = accuracy, brevity & clarity easy to use = simple format easy to adapt = flexible

These are the principles which guide how the contract was drafted

Tip #4

Before you write your 500-Word Contract™, decide:

• Who will read it?

• Who needs to understand it?

• Who will negotiate it?

• Who will adapt it?

• Who will use it?

• Who will resolve disputes under it?

Thank you for listening