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What are general terms and conditions for training agencies? They are the standard rules that you, as a provider of open and in-company training, declare applicable to every booking in advance: how participants register, when cancellation or rescheduling is permitted, who may use the course material, when payment is due, and what you are and are not liable for. They form the legal backbone of your offering and determine what happens as soon as a client cancels a training course, a group fails to show up, or resells the course material.
The short answer
- Definition: Pre-drafted standard terms and conditions that apply to every training agreement.
- Function: manage cancellation, rescheduling, no-show, payment, intellectual property on course materials, and liability in one document.
- Status: valid if provided before or at the closing of the booking (Art. 6:233-234 BW).
- Difference from a contract: the contract regulates the specific training; the terms and conditions regulate the recurring rules of the game.
- Without conditions: in that case, only the legal basis applies, and you are responsible for cancellations and no-shows yourself.
What exactly are the general terms and conditions for training agencies?
A training agency continuously enters into the same types of agreements: someone books an open training course with a fixed date, or a company orders an in-company program on-site. In both cases, you do not want to negotiate payment terms or cancellation fees for each booking. General terms and conditions establish these recurring rules once, ensuring that every participant and client books under the same conditions.
They are separate from the content of the training itself. The training agreement or order confirmation describes what you deliver (subject, date, number of participants, price); the general terms and conditions describe how the parties conduct themselves regarding that delivery.
Which topics should be included for a training agency
The core of a training agency differs from that of a coach or a training institute with long-term courses. For standalone and in-company training, it revolves around these points:
- Cancellation and rescheduling: tiered system with time limits (for example, free of charge up to 4 weeks, 50% up to 2 weeks, 100% thereafter) and the distinction between open enrollment and in-company.
- No-show: a participant who fails to appear without cancelling remains liable for the full fee.
- Intellectual property on course materials: slides, workbooks, and exercises remain your property; participants receive a right of use, not a right to copy or distribute internally.
- Payment: payment term, prepayment for open enrollment and the consequences of late payment.
- Liability: limited to the invoice amount and exclusion of consequential damages.
- Minimum participants and force majeure: the right to cancel a training session due to insufficient registrations or the trainer's absence.
The legal status: when do they apply?
General terms and conditions only bind the customer if you do two things. First, you must declare them applicable — a single sentence in the registration confirmation or quotation suffices. Second, you must give the customer a reasonable opportunity to review them: the provision of the terms and conditions (Art. 6:233 sub b BW). In practice, this is done by sending the terms and conditions along with the confirmation or by having the customer tick a box on your booking form.
If you fail to do so, the customer can invalidate a clause. It is precisely your cancellation and no-show rules—the clauses that generate revenue if things go wrong—that are then at risk. A mere reference to “our terms and conditions on the website” is risky; ensure that they demonstrably reach the customer before or at the time of booking.
Consumer or business: that makes a difference
If you book with consumers (private individuals attending an open training course), stricter rules apply. Certain clauses are on the black or grey list (Articles 6:236-237 of the Dutch Civil Code) and may not be unreasonably burdensome. A cancellation clause that requires a consumer to pay 100% without any refund may be invalidated.
With business clients (in-company, B2B), you have more flexibility. You are allowed to apply stricter cancellation and payment terms. Many training agencies therefore work with a single set of terms and conditions with a separate clause for consumer participants, so that both situations are covered.
A brief practical example
A training agency plans an in-company day for twelve employees. Two weeks in advance, the client cancels due to an ongoing reorganization. The terms and conditions state: cancellation within 14 days entails a charge of 75% of the agreed rate. Because the terms and conditions were included with the order confirmation and were accepted commercially, the agency is able to invoice and collect that amount. Without that provision, the day would simply have been a loss.
Honest recommendation
If you work with fixed, well-structured open training courses and a small number of participants, you can often start perfectly well with a solid basic set of terms and conditions — a lawyer is not immediately necessary. Just ensure that the terms are provided correctly and that your cancellation, no-show, and intellectual property provisions align with your working methods.
If you run in-company training programs with larger contract sums, a mix of consumer and business clients, or proprietary teaching materials you wish to protect, a tailor-made set pays off. The cost of a single missed cancellation or a copied workbook far exceeds that of good terms and conditions.
Read more: drafting general terms and conditions for training agencies and having general terms and conditions for training agencies drafted. Need a set immediately? View the general terms and conditions for training agencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard terms and conditions that you declare applicable to every training booking in advance. They govern cancellation, rescheduling, no-shows, payment, intellectual property rights regarding course materials, and liability, for both open training courses and in-company programs.
Not legally required, but without conditions, only the legal basis applies. In that case, it is difficult to justify cancellation fees and no-show rates, and you bear the cost of cancellations yourself. In practice, however, they are indispensable.
Provided you declare them applicable and give the customer a reasonable opportunity to read them (provision, Art. 6:233-234 BW). Send them along with the confirmation or have them ticked during booking. Merely referring to the website is risky.
The agreement or order confirmation describes the specific training: subject, date, number of participants, and price. The general terms and conditions govern the recurring rules regarding that delivery, such as cancellation and payment.
Under good conditions, the intellectual property of slides, workbooks, and exercises remains with the training agency. Participants receive a personal right of use but may not copy, resell, or roll out the material internally without permission.
Yes. Stricter rules apply to private participants (black and grey lists, Art. 6:236-237 BW). Clauses may not be unreasonably burdensome. With business and in-company clients, you have more leeway for strict cancellation and payment terms.
If you include a no-show clause, a participant who fails to appear without cancelling remains liable for the full fee. The spot was reserved and the costs have been incurred. Without such a clause, this is more difficult to collect.
