Parties
Who enters into the contract: a person's full name and identity document details, or an organisation's full registered name. A mistake in a party's details later makes it hard to tell who owes what to whom.
Basics
The basics
An everyday contract may fit on a single page or run to a dozen, but it is almost always built from the same parts. Once you know where to look for each of them, any contract becomes much easier to read, and you can see straight away what is missing.
A good contract answers questions that have not yet occurred to you. A bad one leaves them for later, that is, for the moment when the parties no longer agree.
This page describes the general logic of a contract without tying it to a specific type of transaction. It is based on Russian law, which adds its own rules for particular contracts, and wording in real documents varies widely. Rules differ in other countries, so check your own law or ask a local lawyer. If money or housing depends on how a term is read, show the text to a lawyer.
What a contract is made of
Six elements worth finding in any contract before you sign.
Subject
What exactly one party hands over, does or provides to the other. The more specific the description (the flat's address, the list of works, the item's model), the less room for different readings.
Price
How much the subject of the contract costs, what the amount includes and what is paid separately, and how and when payment is made: up front, in instalments or after acceptance.
Deadlines
When performance starts and ends, and by what date you must pay, hand over the work or vacate the property. Phrases like "within a reasonable time" are better replaced with a specific date.
Liability
What happens if a party breaches an obligation: pays late, fails to do the work, damages property. This is also where penalties and the procedure for compensating losses are usually set out.
Termination
Under what conditions you can leave the contract early, how much notice you must give the other party and how you settle up for what has already been done or handed over.
Related sections
- Guides
Checklists for common everyday contracts: renting from a private landlord, repairs and services, buying second-hand, online offers; how to read them and red flags.
- Documents
What proves an agreement: the contract, a receipt, an acceptance certificate, messages, a payment slip; when the law requires writing and why deadlines matter.
- Terms
A glossary of contract terms: party, offer, acceptance, essential terms, receipt, acceptance certificate, claim, penalty and the limitation period.
Sources
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Part One), Article 432
These materials are based on the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and describe Russian law. Rules change over time, so check the article against the current version on the official Russian legal information portal, and take a real dispute to a lawyer. Rules differ in other countries: check your own law or ask a local lawyer.