Any business or individual engaging the services of a consultant or any company or person providing consultancy services should do so under the terms of a Consultancy Agreement. As with any commercial contract, a Consultancy Agreement can create certainty between the parties as to their respective obligations and liabilities. Some of the areas dealt with within a consultancy agreement are as follows:
- Status of the consultant - is the consultant employed, self employed or a worker. The actual status of the consultant could have significant tax implications for both parties
- Duration of the arrangement – how long is the consultant going to be appointed, in what circumstances can the arrangement be terminated, are there project milestones that need to be met within specific timescales
- Intellectual Property (IP) – Certain IP rights (e.g. copyright) can arise out of services provided by a consultant (e.g. the consultant might provided training materials created for the company). Usually, these IP rights will belong to the consultant but the client/company may want ownership of these right (i.e., it may want to retain aspects of the training material for its own future use)
- Insurance and Liability - the parties will need to clarify what insurances, if any, the consultant is required to have in places and what the limits of this cover will be.
These are examples of just some of the points to consider when entering into a consultancy arrangement.
If you are a business looking to engage the services of a consultant (or you act as a consultant), and you require further information on Consultancy Agreements (or advice on any other contract law matter), please contract Andrew Tzialli on 020 8422 5678 or by email at Andrew.Tzialli@haroldbenjamin.com
