Contractor agreement template for UK startups.
Startups run on contractors: the designer before the design hire, the freelance developer, the fractional finance person. The contractor agreement is what makes the work product yours, the fees definite, and the relationship clearly not employment.
Unlike an employee, a contractor's work is not automatically owned by the company that pays for it. Without an express IP assignment, the contractor keeps the copyright in what you paid them to build. This template closes that gap in writing before the work starts.
The moments this document comes up.
- A freelancer is about to start and nothing is in writing beyond an email thread.
- An agency's own terms say they keep the IP until final payment, or say nothing at all.
- Due diligence asks who owns the code and designs your early contractors produced.
- A contractor will handle personal data and you need the data protection terms in place.
What the template covers.
The sections below mirror the document the generator drafts. Every template is a starting point, not legal advice, and says so on its face.
01
Services and term
02
Fees and payment
03
Independence
04
Intellectual property
05
Confidentiality and data protection
06
Liability and termination
Drafted from choices you make.
A downloaded template hands you someone else's prose with holes in it. Here the document is generated from a settings sheet, so the wording follows your answers, and changing an answer later regenerates the parts it touches.
CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT
SETTINGS- JurisdictionEngland & Wales
- Fee basisDay rate
- IP assignmentOn creation
- Notice2 weeks
After generating, the document opens in the editor like any other: edits arrive as tracked changes you accept or reject, compliance checks run against real rulepacks, and exports come out as print-ready PDF or DOCX your lawyer can redline. What a compliance check actually does →
Fair questions.
Does the contractor or the company own the work by default?
For a genuine independent contractor, the contractor keeps the copyright by default; paying the invoice does not transfer it. That surprises founders because the rule is the opposite of employment. The express assignment clause in this template is what makes the work yours.
Does this agreement deal with IR35?
It includes the independence terms consistent with self-employment: substitution, own equipment, control over how the work is done. But honestly: no clause can decide employment status, because HMRC and tribunals look at how the relationship works in practice. If the engagement is long, full-time, and directed like a job, take advice on status; a well-drafted agreement supports the position, it cannot manufacture it.
Contractor or employee: which should this hire be?
A contractor fits defined deliverables, part-time or fixed-term work, and specialists you could not hire full time. Someone working full-time hours indefinitely under your direction is an employee in substance and should be on the employment contract, whatever the paperwork says. Getting this wrong creates back-tax exposure that grows every month.
Related templates.
Employment contract
A compliant England & Wales employment contract: particulars, IP, confidentiality, notice.
Mutual non-disclosure agreement
A mutual NDA both sides can sign without a fight: obligations, carve-outs, and term.
Advisor agreement
Put an advisor relationship in writing: scope, equity, vesting, and conflicts.
Draft your contractor agreement this week.
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