Contract paperwork - how to write service agreement for a client

[ccllondon]

Greetings from a contracting newbie... been lurking here for a while, and couldn't find any relevant info on this when searching the forums.

I've got a limited company together with my wife, who started a contract last year. I'm in discussions with a company that I'm likely to start doing some contract work for, probably as soon as this Friday, and need supply them with a service agreement.

Do people tend to go to a solicitor to do this, or do you write your own?
If using a solicitor, how much should you expect to pay?
If you write your own, are there any pitfalls to avoid, or things that must be included?

Basically, I'll be providing expert advice via email, and undertake specific projects (migrations of IT systems, etc), sometimes from home, sometimes on site locally, and possibly sometimes traveling to other offices in the UK and abroad. It will be part time work, and each assignment will be based on a specific requirement.

It should hopefully be a no-brainer to keep it outside of IR35, but I don't want to open myself up to any un-necessary risks.

Cheers!

[tim123]

The biggest risk of DIY is not getting paid (or having to do far more work than you expect for the same money).

If the amount you are charging is significant then you need someone to do this properly for you. But if you are only talking about a couple of grand then I wouldn't bother.

tim

[Ardesco]

PCG has some draft contract templates that I have used, you need to be a member to access them though.

[TheFaQQer]

Join the PCG and use one of their standard contracts.

[ccllondon]

Had a look at PCG, and think I might join - I can see some contracts that you can download, but it's all agency related stuff, rather than direct between client and service provider. Has anyone used their contracts and know that they've got ones for a contract that doesn't go through an agency?