12 practical tips to master your contracting: tip 7

The tip for today is: Make sure the contract is in final form ready for signing by the parties

🚨 Before the contract is signed, you need to check that all of the content is completed, this includes the content of the schedules and any appendices.

🚨 You need to remove all square brackets, tracking, highlighting, comments and drafting notes from the execution version and remove any draft watermarks. You also need to check all the clause numbering and cross-references.

🚨Be wary of the “find and replace all” function – it can lead to inadvertent mistakes in the contract.

🚨It is always a good idea to do a final, careful, read through of the contract before proceeding to the signing stage.