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What are general terms and conditions for services? They are the standard provisions that you, as a service provider, declare applicable to all your assignments: regarding liability, payment, termination, additional work, and the nature of your obligation. They are not a legally mandatory document, but they are the most important piece of evidence with which you cover your risks. Without general terms and conditions, the law applies purely — and that often works out unfavorably for the service provider.
The short answer
- What: a fixed set of rules that you declare applicable to every assignment.
- Objective: To limit your liability and record payment, termination, and additional work.
- Core: do you determine an obligation of effort or an obligation of result?
- Validity: binding only if the customer could have known them before or at the time of concluding the agreement (provision).
- Attention consumers: the black and grey lists limit what you may negotiate.
What exactly are general terms and conditions for services?
General terms and conditions are the clauses you draw up for use in a series of agreements, without negotiating them separately for each client (Art. 6:231 BW). For a service provider — consultant, IT agency, marketer, coach, installer — they regulate matters that the law does not address or addresses unfavorably: the extent of your liability, when an invoice must be paid, how an assignment ends, and what happens with additional work.
The content of your assignment (what you will do, at what price) is stated in the quotation or order confirmation. The general terms and conditions are the layer below that: the legal framework conditions that apply to every assignment.
Effort or result: the key distinction
For service providers, this is the most important provision. Do you promise a result or an effort?
- Obligation of effort: you promise to make a professional effort, not that a specific result will be achieved. An advisor, coach, or marketer normally promises this.
- Obligation of result: you are responsible for a concrete result. A contractor who seals a roof, or a developer who delivers working software, often falls into this category.
If you do not stipulate this, the judge will determine retrospectively which of the two applied — with all the entailed uncertainty. A marketer who generates “more revenue” can suddenly be held accountable for a result without a clear best-efforts clause.
Liability and payment
Without conditions, you are in principle fully liable for all damages arising from a breach. With conditions, you limit that, for example:
- Liability is limited to the invoice amount of the assignment (or the amount paid out by your insurance).
- Exclusion of indirect damage (consequential damage, lost profits, lost savings).
- A time limit: claims must be reported within a certain period.
For payment, you set the payment term (14 or 30 days), plus what happens in the event of late payment: statutory commercial interest and collection costs. For business customers, you may deviate from the statutory standard, while stricter limits apply to consumers.
Termination, additional work and handover
Three provisions that service providers often forget:
- Termination: how does the assignment end? In the case of a contract for services (Art. 7:408 BW), the client may in principle always terminate the contract prematurely. Specify the notice period and whether compensation is required for work already performed.
- Additional work: work outside the original assignment. Without a clause, it is difficult to charge for additional work. Stipulate that additional work is quoted separately or settled at an hourly rate.
- Provision: your terms and conditions only bind the customer if he could reasonably have been aware of them (Art. 6:233 BW). In practice: send them along with the quotation, not just on the invoice. Otherwise, the customer can invalidate the terms and conditions.
The black and grey list among consumers
If you supply to consumers, additional restrictions apply. The law includes a black list (Art. 6:236 BW) of clauses that are always unreasonably burdensome, and a grey list (Art. 6:237 BW) of clauses that are presumably unreasonable. Examples:
- Completely excluding your liability towards a consumer: off the books, and therefore void.
- An unreasonably long notice period or automatic renewal: grey areas, easily challenged.
A set of terms and conditions that works fine for business clients may partially fail when dealing with consumers. Those who serve both often require a consumer version.
Honest recommendation
If you operate exclusively for business purposes (B2B), provide a clearly defined service, and the risks are small, you can get quite far with a good template and common sense — a lawyer is not strictly necessary. Do ensure, however, that the effort-or-result is clearly stated and that you can demonstrably provide the terms and conditions.
If significant money or liability is at stake, if you supply to consumers, or if you work with subcontractors and long-term assignments, have your terms and conditions drafted or reviewed. A poorly formulated liability clause costs more in a single claim than the entire set cost.
Want to know more: view drafting general terms and conditions for services and the common mistakes and pitfalls. Want to outsource it: general terms and conditions for services.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the standard provisions that you, as a service provider, declare applicable to all your assignments: regarding liability, payment, termination, additional work, and whether you promise an effort or a result. They fill in the matters that the law does not regulate or regulates unfavorably.
No, it is not a legally mandatory document. Without terms and conditions, the law applies purely — and that often works out unfavorably for a service provider, for example regarding liability. Terms and conditions are therefore highly recommended, even though they are not mandatory.
With an obligation of effort, you promise to make a professional effort, not that a specific result will be achieved (advisor, coach, marketer). With an obligation of result, you guarantee a concrete result (roof sealed, working software). Document this explicitly; otherwise, the judge will determine retrospectively which of the two applied.
Only if the customer could reasonably have known them before or at the time of concluding the agreement (provision, Art. 6:233 BW). In practice: send them along with the quotation, not just on the invoice. Otherwise, the customer can invalidate the terms and conditions.
Yes. The black list (Art. 6:236 BW) always prohibits certain clauses, while the grey list (Art. 6:237 BW) presumes others to be unreasonable. Completely excluding your liability towards a consumer, for example, is void. Anyone who also serves consumers often requires a separate consumer version.
In the case of a contract for services, the client may in principle always terminate the contract prematurely (Article 7:408 of the Dutch Civil Code). In your terms and conditions, you specify the notice period for this and whether work already performed and costs incurred will be reimbursed.
The payment term (14 or 30 days) and what happens in the event of late payment: statutory commercial interest and collection costs. For business customers, you may deviate from the statutory standard; for consumers, stricter limits apply to interest and costs.
