Free legal document templates for trades businesses

Small trades businesses tend to encounter the legal side of the trade only when something has already gone wrong, which is the most expensive point at which to start reading. Having reasonable documents in place beforehand rarely prevents every dispute, but it changes the outcome of most of them, because the party with a signed piece of paper is in a considerably better position than the party with a recollection.

The subcontractor agreement is the one most firms need first. If you use self-employed labour, an agreement setting out scope, rate, payment timing, insurance requirements, CIS status, standard of work, snagging responsibility and who owns the defect if the customer complains six months later is worth every minute it takes to complete. It also helps demonstrate the commercial reality of the relationship, which matters for employment status and for CIS treatment.

Also here: a structured response to a customer complaint, which buys you time and shows you took it seriously. A letter before action for a debt you intend to pursue through the small claims track. A settlement and final discharge letter for when you agree a reduced figure and want it to be genuinely final. And a privacy notice — under UK GDPR you must tell people what personal data you collect and why, which applies to your website enquiry form, your quote emails and the customer database on your phone just as much as it does to a large company.

These are working templates written in plain English for common situations in UK trades. They are not legal advice, and they are not a substitute for a solicitor where the sums are significant, the contract is a JCT or similar standard form, or the other side has already instructed one. Use them for the ordinary cases and get advice for the unusual ones.