What Is a Contract Review and Does Your Business Need One?
A contract review checks a commercial agreement protects your interests before you sign. Here's what's involved, when you need one and what it costs.
What is a contract review?
A contract review is a careful examination of a commercial agreement by someone with legal knowledge, before you sign it. The purpose is to identify clauses that could create risk, cost or obligations you did not intend to accept — and to give you the information you need to negotiate or walk away.
Contract reviews are not just for large businesses. Small businesses and sole traders sign contracts regularly — with clients, suppliers, landlords, software providers and service partners — and the consequences of signing the wrong terms can be significant.
Why businesses need contract reviews
Many business owners read a contract themselves and believe that if they understand the words, they understand the risk. The problem is that contract risk is often not in what the document says clearly — it is in what it does not say, or in standard clauses that shift liability in ways that are not immediately obvious.
Some of the most costly contract problems come from clauses that look routine at first glance. Auto-renewal provisions that lock you in for another year. Indemnity clauses that make you responsible for the other party's legal costs. IP assignment clauses that transfer ownership of work you have created. Payment terms with triggers that are easy to miss.
A contract review does not just check that the document is grammatically correct. It assesses whether the terms are reasonable, where the risk sits, and what you could realistically negotiate.
What does a contract review cover?
- Payment terms and triggers
- Liability and indemnity clauses
- Intellectual property ownership
- Termination rights and notice periods
- Auto-renewal clauses
- Dispute resolution and governing law
- Restrictive covenants
- Data and confidentiality obligations
When should you get a contract reviewed?
Any time you are about to sign a commercial agreement that has real consequences for your business — particularly service agreements, supplier contracts, partnership arrangements, client agreements and consultancy contracts. As a general guide, any contract worth over £1,000 in value or that will last more than three months warrants a review.
The most common mistake is assuming that because a contract looks standard, it is fine. "Standard terms" are standard for the party who drafted them — not for you. Supplier terms, platform terms and consultancy agreements are frequently drafted to protect the other side, not yours.
How long does a contract review take?
A typical contract review at Buzz Legal takes 1-3 working days depending on length and complexity. Most commercial contracts of 5-15 pages can be reviewed in 1-2 days. Longer or more complex agreements — including multi-party contracts, software agreements or agreements with detailed technical schedules — may take slightly longer.
We will confirm the expected turnaround when you contact us, along with the fixed fee.
What does a contract review cost?
Buzz Legal offers fixed-fee contract reviews from £249. This means you know the cost before we start — no hourly billing, no unexpected additional charges. The fee covers the review and a summary of the key issues and negotiation points.
If additional work is needed — such as redrafting specific clauses or supporting negotiation — this can be quoted separately as a fixed fee.
Common mistakes businesses make
The most common mistake is simply signing without reading — particularly for online agreements, platform terms and supplier standard terms where the pressure is to click and move on. These agreements often contain significant limitations on liability and one-sided termination rights.
A close second is assuming that understanding the words is the same as understanding the risk. Legal risk is often contextual — the same clause can be fine in one situation and very problematic in another, depending on what your business does and what the relationship involves.
Third is not keeping copies. If a dispute arises, you need to be able to show what terms applied at the time. Many businesses cannot locate the contract they signed, or realise they only signed a summary rather than the full terms.
Finally, many businesses do not negotiate even when negotiation is possible. Most commercial contracts are not take-it-or-leave-it — but if you have not had the contract reviewed, you do not know which clauses are worth pushing on.
If you need a contract reviewed, contact Buzz Legal for a fixed-fee quote. Most contracts are turned around within 1-2 working days.