Get a maintenance services agreement that matches how the work is actually delivered

Businesses often run into trouble here when they rely on assumptions instead of checking the scope properly. A generic agreement may not clearly state what is included in routine maintenance, what counts as extra work, who provides access to the site, what happens if conditions on site change, or how urgent call-outs are handled. It can also leave gaps around subcontractors, delays, damage claims and payment triggers. Those issues matter because many maintenance disputes come from the day-to-day reality of the work rather than from one obvious legal point.

A maintenance services agreement will usually cover the services being provided, any exclusions, service frequency or response arrangements, access requirements, customer responsibilities, fees and invoicing, variations, subcontractor use, liability allocation, termination and record-keeping. Depending on the work, it may also need to address equipment supplied by the client, emergency attendance, health and safety responsibilities, and handling of personal information collected during service delivery. The exact mix depends on whether you provide scheduled maintenance, reactive call-outs, or a combination of both.

The drafting depends on the kind of maintenance work you do, whether you service residential or commercial sites, whether you use employees or subcontractors, how jobs are approved, and whether you offer recurring plans, one-off visits or emergency response. It can also matter whether you access customer systems or collect contact details through apps, portals or job-management tools. The practical working model can be just as important as the contract wording, so the document needs to reflect how instructions, attendance, reporting and follow-up work happen in practice.

Template wording often needs adjustment so it matches the actual transaction, workflow and risk allocation. However, it often stays too high level for maintenance businesses with recurring work, variable site conditions or layered approval processes. For example, templates may not deal well with attendance windows, excluded works, customer delays, re-attendance charges, or the line between maintenance and repair. They may also be weak on liability wording where property damage or third-party contractor issues can arise. A tailored agreement is usually more useful if your business has a defined workflow, uses subcontractors, or works across multiple property types.

After you instruct us, we collect the key details about your maintenance model, such as the services offered, how jobs are booked, your fee structure, and any existing terms or proposals you already use. A lawyer then drafts or reviews the agreement and provides the document for your consideration. If there are points that need adjustment, we can discuss those within the agreed scope. If the project raises related legal needs, such as subcontractor agreements or website terms, we can let you know what would need to be scoped separately.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Maintenance Services Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.