Contracts and customer rights: from agreement to handover
Start with the stage your agreement has reached. These guides help you find the documents, questions and official guidance you need for the next conversation with a customer, supplier or adviser.
Keep the agreed version, later changes and delivery records together. For questions about rights, notice or enforcement, the actual terms and governing jurisdiction matter.
Where are you in the agreement?
Use these steps to organise the records and questions for your next conversation. They don’t decide whether an agreement is binding or whether you can change or end it. Check the document, industry and governing state or territory. Official guidance checked 25 September 2026.
Open the stage you’re at. Each one has a short set of checks and links to further guidance.
Agree: are you still deciding what to accept?
- Gather the quote, proposed terms and any emails that change them. Keep the version and date of each document.
- Write down the legal names of the parties, the work, the price and anything still awaiting approval.
- Take unclear terms and document-specific signing questions to an adviser before committing.
Deliver: are you checking what has been supplied?
- Compare the delivery with the agreed scope and acceptance criteria. Record what was supplied and what remains unresolved.
- Keep the delivery evidence with the agreement and any approved changes.
- If something is wrong, check the applicable consumer guarantees and complaint options before deciding on a response.
Change: has either party proposed different terms or work?
- Put the original requirement beside the proposed change. Note the effect on price, timing and responsibilities.
- Check the agreement’s change process and who needs to approve the proposal.
- Keep the proposed change separate from the agreed record until its status is clear. Ask for advice if you disagree about whether it has been accepted.
Renew: is the agreement approaching a review or renewal?
- Find the expiry, renewal and notice provisions in the actual agreement. Record the source clause beside each date.
- Assign someone to check the dates and review proposed changes to scope, service and price.
- Get unclear renewal or notice requirements checked early enough to make a considered decision.
End: are you considering leaving or handing over an agreement?
- Gather the agreement, variations, service records and relevant correspondence.
- List the notice, payment, property, access and handover questions that need answers.
- Have the grounds and process for ending or transferring the agreement checked before sending a notice or stopping performance.
Agree: understand what you’re accepting
Start with the type of agreement, the parties and the terms supplied before work begins.
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