A clear contract is more than a formality. It helps both parties understand who will do what, by when, for what payment, how the result will be accepted and what happens if the agreement changes.
Sections 1470 and 1533 of the Latvian Civil Law tie a contract's essential elements to the particular type of transaction: a contract is finally concluded when the parties fully agree on those elements with the intention to be bound. There is therefore no single mandatory content list for every contract.
For a sale, for example, the parties agree on the item and the price (Section 2004). Where the law requires a particular form, or the parties have expressly made the transaction's validity depend on that form, Sections 1473–1475 must also be considered. The checklist below is a practical way to review an agreement; a particular transaction may require other terms as well.
Contract clarity checklist
Question | What to record | Fictional example |
|---|---|---|
Who are the parties? | Identifying details, roles and the basis of any authority to represent another person | “Customer” and “contractor,” with each party's details and the company's representative |
What is the agreement about? | A specific subject, scope, characteristics and schedules | Not simply “renovation work,” but the rooms, work list and estimate schedule |
What does each party do? | Actions, information and prerequisites | Who buys the materials and who provides access to the site |
When is performance due? | Start, completion, stages, notice periods and acceptance | A work stage is completed by a date and recorded in an acceptance report |
How is payment made? | Amount or calculation, payment trigger, deadline and method | An advance after signing and the balance after acceptance |
How are the result and problems recorded? | Acceptance, identified defects and how they will be remedied | Defects are recorded with a deadline for remedying them |
How can the agreement change or end? | Approval of changes, notices and final settlement | Additional work starts only after the price and deadline are approved |
1. Parties: details, roles and authority
The contract should make clear which person assumes each obligation. For an individual, the parties normally record enough information to identify that person unambiguously. For a company, they check the entity's details and the person representing it. If someone acts for another person, the basis of that authority should be recorded.
Fictional example: a project manager signs for a company. The other party checks that the manager has authority to represent the company or a valid power of attorney. The contract identifies the company, the signatory and their role rather than recording only the signatory's name.
2. Subject: what the parties are promising
The subject is the specific transaction: an item, service, work, right of use or another performance. The description should allow both parties to distinguish what is included in the agreed scope and what is outside it.
If information is placed in a schedule, the contract should identify that schedule clearly. Both parties should be able to check that they are using the same version.
Fictional example: instead of “renovate the bathroom,” the parties list removal of the old tiles, wall preparation, tiling of a specified area and installation of the agreed sanitary equipment. They attach the materials list and estimate as a numbered schedule.
3. Obligations and prerequisites
Sometimes one party cannot begin until the other has supplied information, materials, keys or access. It is useful to record each prerequisite together with the responsible party, deadline and method of confirmation.
Fictional example: the customer sends the floor plan and hands over an access card by an agreed date. The contractor's start period begins only when both prerequisites have been completed, which the parties confirm by email.
Avoid phrases such as “the party will provide everything necessary” when their meaning is unclear. List the main actions and separately state how the parties will approve matters that could not be anticipated before signing.
4. Deadlines, stages and acceptance
A fixed date is not the only option. A deadline can start with a verifiable event, such as receipt of an advance payment or handover of access. The agreement should state which event starts the period and how it can be evidenced.
Fictional example: “The contractor begins work within three business days after receiving the advance payment and the access card. The parties inspect the result together and record it in an acceptance report.”
For work in stages, each stage can have its own result, deadline, price and acceptance process. This avoids placing several different actions under one unclear “final deadline.”
5. Price and payment
Record an amount or a calculation method that both parties can reproduce. If the price depends on quantity, time or actual volume, specify the unit price and how the volume will be confirmed.
Unclear: “Payment is due after the work is completed.”
Fictional clarification: “After both parties sign the acceptance report, the contractor sends the invoice to the email address stated in the contract. The customer pays it by bank transfer within 10 calendar days after receiving it.”
This is not a universal payment clause. The parties may choose an advance, stage payments or another arrangement. They should agree what triggers payment, when the payment period begins and how the triggering event can be evidenced.
6. Result, defects and liability
A liability section is more than a list of contractual penalties. In practical terms, it should explain how a party reports a problem, how the problem is documented, when the other party must respond and what happens to incomplete or non-conforming performance.
Fictional example: the parties record in the acceptance report that two doors still need adjustment, attach photographs and agree a deadline for the correction. The report separates completed work, identified defects and unresolved matters.
For a transaction-specific example, see what to clarify in an apartment rental agreement.
For a rental, see also how to record the apartment’s condition in a handover act.
7. Changes and termination
It is useful to state how the parties approve changes, where notices must be sent and what happens to work already completed. This matters especially when a change affects the price, deadline or result.
Fictional example: the customer asks for one additional electrical socket. Before the work starts, the parties record its location, price, effect on the completion date and both parties' approval. For a practical example, see the guide to agreeing additional renovation work.
Termination terms depend on the type of contract. A notice period found in one online document should not be assumed to fit every situation.
The content depends on the type of contract
Contract type | Practical questions to check |
|---|---|
Sale | What is sold, at what price, how payment is made, and how and when the item is handed over |
Rental | The property provided for use, payments, condition, rules of use, changes and termination |
Services | The result or activity, deadlines, cooperation duties, price and acceptance |
Renovation work | Scope, estimate, materials, approval of additional work, stages and recording of defects |
If you start with an existing document, check how to adapt a contract template instead of only filling in blank fields.
Before signing
As a final check, confirm that:
- the parties and their roles are stated correctly;
- the subject and schedules can be identified;
- amounts and dates do not contradict one another;
- each deadline has a clear starting point;
- the price, scope and deadline cannot change without both parties' approval;
- the form required for the particular transaction and any other specific rules have been checked;
- both parties receive the same final version of the document.
How Doqubit helps prepare a contract
In Doqubit, the user first selects a document type and then answers guided questions about the parties and the agreed terms. The answers are arranged in a structured draft. Before signing, review the file you receive and send it to the other party to agree any changes; wording in a DOCX version can be edited in a compatible word processor.
This process provides a prepared structure for a standard situation, but the parties still need to check that the text reflects the terms they actually agreed. A non-standard or high-risk transaction may require individual legal advice.
Next step — check the agreement and prepare the document
Before preparing the document, use the checklist to align the key points. To see the full preparation process, read the step-by-step guide to creating a contract online.
Sources
This article provides general information. All examples are fictional and illustrate how an agreement can be expressed more precisely; they are not universal contract clauses or individual legal advice.