Ask HN: Looking for a boilerplate contract for software development side job

jamessb · on Jan 28, 2021

I haven't used it, but SuperFriendly share their Service Agreement template: http://agreement.superfriend.ly/

usr1106 · on Jan 28, 2021

The OP does not mention what country they are talking about. It seems to be more common in the US than in many other countries to forget to mention that. So we could guess which country the question refers to.

Legal things are always national. What could be common practice in country A might be void or illegal in country B.

Doing a Web search for my country results in plenty of hits. A recurring focus seems to be agile development. That requires of course special consideration if the contents of the work has not been defined to great detail when signing the contract.

eschutte2 · on Jan 28, 2021

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g16p77ws8z29lt1/Independent_Contra...

(Originally posted at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12690495)

As mentioned there: be sure you understand everything in whatever contract you sign, and consult with a lawyer if you're unsure of anything.

davismwfl · on Jan 28, 2021

IANAL so all that goes with that, and I am assuming you are in the U.S. This is based on my own experience running consulting firms and having done a lot of freelance. First, there are a number of templates you can find on the internet. I purchased an MSA and RSA from a reputable source and then had an attorney review it and make a few modifications for my specific needs. Total cost was < $300 for the templates and the attorney review.

A few things to pay attention too: First figure out if you need a Master Services Agreement or a Retained Services Agreement or both, the terms between them are different and will result in different levels of protection etc. That said, a lot of terms are common between them (and most contracts honestly) and you need boiler plate for them: for example Warranty (never give one), non-exclusivity, intellectual property transfer, confidentiality, travel expenses, incidental expenses, payment terms, confidential information, public domain, disclosure, publicity, termination & breach, severability, notifications, force majeure, dispute resolution, change request and governing law etc. I listed out the common ones, and if your contract doesn't cover at least those you don't have a complete contract. The short form contract I have covers all these plus a few more and is 2 pages long, the long form is 5-6 pages long (more details for larger value contracts, or more complex situations). Work is generally spelled out in a separate addendum, e.g. a Statement of Work (SOW), which lets you keep adding new SOW without resigning a new contract if you put everything together correctly.

So as you evaluate contracts make sure you look for things that cover you, honestly almost every section I listed you can read in plain english and it makes sense, warranty is really important so is IP transfer and payment obviously. All these interlink in ways to protect you and to protect the client from you being a douche which is only fair.