Contracts clarify the details when you offer services for sale

In Common Law tradition the three elements of a contract are:

Offer, Acceptance, and Consideration The business web site Canada One has an article which may serve as a Contract content overview

Do I need a contract to Produce Electrical/Electronic drawings?

Things you should include in every contract

Contracts vary widely depending on the nature of the goods or services you are buying or selling. A good contract is detailed and provides a clear description of the exact goods or services to be provided.

To protect yourself, there are a few things you should be sure to include in every contract.

• Parties to the contract. Include the legal names and addresses of all parties.
• Scope. A clear, detailed description of the goods or services to be provided. Due dates are normally included here. Be as clear as possible; as we explain below, this is the one most commonly disputed parts of a contract.
• Price and payment terms. Be sure to include not only the amount, but also when payment is due, the length of time the purchaser has to pay, and any interest charges that will be applied to late payments.
• Responsibilities. Try to anticipate what could go wrong. For example, missing a deadline can have consequences.
• Terms and conditions. This is where lawyers have a lot of fun. Typical things to include here are limitations of liability, terms for amending or terminating the contract, warranties and disclaimers.
• Signatures. You will want to include the signature, typed name, and title of each signatory as well as the date signed for each signatory.

For the purpose of this exercise choose one of the business ideas below:

1. Produce well formatted reports for Trades and Technology students 
2. Produce quality graphs and charts for Trades and Technology students 
3. Produce electrical/electronic drawings for Trades and Technology students 
4. Produce electrical/electronic drawings for technical users in the general public

What would you write in the business contract to sell your services under the heading? Parties to the Contract

What would you write in the business contract to sell your services under the heading? Scope

What would you write in the business contract to sell your services under the heading?  Price and Payment Terms

What would you write in the business contract to sell your services under the heading? Responsibilities

What would you write in the business contract to sell your services under the heading? Terms and Conditions

In Canada governments often issue a tender to acquire engineering services. This form of RFP (Request for Proposal) may involve two contracts. The first phase involves a request for a proposal from the government, a proposal from the engineering company and a cash bid deposit to the government account.

Try to pick out the contract elements in the first phase of an engineering company responding to a government tender by sending a proposal and a bid deposit to a government agency.

Describe the consideration in the 1st phase of the tender process.

Describe the acceptance in the 1st phase of the tender process.

Describe the offer in the 1st phase of the tender process.

References

(2003). Contract - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract.

(2010). Business Contracts 101 - CanadaOne. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/june2010/business_contracts.html.