OEM agreements for New Zealand manufacturing deals

Commercial understanding is helpful, but manufacturing relationships often break down around the details that were assumed rather than written down. Common pressure points include who owns tooling or designs, what specifications apply, who is responsible for defects, how forecasts and orders work, and what happens if supply is delayed or interrupted. An OEM agreement records those points in one place and gives the relationship a clearer framework. It can help you assess and reduce risk, but it gives you practical support while recognising that some outcomes depend on third parties in every scenario or remove all commercial risk.

It often covers the products being manufactured, technical specifications, quality standards, ordering and forecasting, pricing, payment terms, delivery obligations, acceptance or rejection processes, intellectual property ownership, confidentiality, warranties, indemnity positions, liability caps, termination rights and what happens to stock, materials or tooling at the end of the relationship. Some OEM arrangements also need wording around branding, exclusivity or information handling. The exact content depends on whether you are the manufacturer, the brand owner, or operating in a more mixed supply model.

We usually need a practical picture of the relationship, including what is being made, who controls specifications, whether products are custom or standard, how orders are placed, what quality checks apply, and how responsibility moves between the parties. It also matters how your business collects, uses and shares information across the supply chain, especially where drawings, customer data, forecasts or confidential manufacturing know-how are involved. Those operational details often shape the IP, confidentiality, warranty and liability wording.

A template may help you spot common headings, but it often misses the commercial mechanics that matter most in an OEM arrangement. For example, a generic form may not deal properly with custom specifications, acceptance testing, ownership of improvements, supply interruption risk or the way confidential information moves between manufacturer and customer. If the template does not reflect the real arrangement, important gaps can remain. Targeted drafting is usually more useful where manufacturing, branding, IP and delivery obligations are closely connected.

The timeframe depends on the complexity of the supply arrangement and how quickly the key commercial information is available. A straightforward OEM relationship with settled terms is usually faster than one involving custom products, detailed specifications, multiple parties or heavy negotiation over IP and liability. The next step is generally for us to review your instructions and any existing documents, then prepare the agreement around the main risk points. This service covers the legal drafting work itself rather than managing the whole commercial rollout.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the OEM 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 work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.