A general contractor agreement is the contract between a property owner and the general contractor who takes overall responsibility for a construction project — pulling permits, hiring and standing behind subcontractors, and running the draw-by-draw lien-waiver exchange that keeps a mechanic's lien off the owner's property. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 13 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
Need the other party to sign it too? Send it for signature with a full audit trail and a tamper-evident seal on the finished file — they never need an account. See pricing.
This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
These are the fields and clauses a general contractor engagement needs. Leaving one out doesn't necessarily void the agreement, but each gap is a spot where the owner and the contractor can end up disagreeing about who was responsible for what.
Owner & general contractor names, license number.Full legal names, the contractor's license number where the jurisdiction requires one, and the project address the agreement covers.
Project scope & contract documents. What's being built, referencing the plans and specifications the contractor is building to, the commencement date, and the target substantial completion date.
Contract price & draw schedule. The total price and the payment draws tied to stages of completion, plus any retainage the owner withholds until substantial completion and the final lien waivers are in hand.
Permits & regulatory approvals.The contractor's duty to obtain and pay for every permit the project needs and pass the inspections that go with it — not just comply with code once the work is done.
Subcontractor management.The contractor's right to hire subcontractors it selects, and its full responsibility for their work — the owner has no direct contractual relationship with any of them.
Change orders. No change to scope, price or schedule without a written change order both parties sign, with a narrow carve-out for work needed to address an immediate risk to life or property.
Lien waivers at each draw. A conditional waiver with every draw request, an unconditional waiver proving the prior draw was actually paid out to the contractor and its subcontractors before the next one releases, and a full waiver set plus a sworn payment statement before final payment.
Insurance & bonding.The general liability and workers' compensation coverage the contractor carries, the same requirement flowed down to every subcontractor, and whether a performance or payment bond applies.
Substantial completion & punch list. What counts as substantially complete, the joint walk-through that produces the punch list, and the deadline to finish it before retainage releases.
Warranty.The workmanship-and-materials warranty period after substantial completion, and the contractor's duty to correct a reported defect at its own expense during that period.
Liability / indemnification.The contractor's indemnity for claims arising from its or a subcontractor's negligence, and a cap on each party's overall exposure under the agreement.
Signatures & date.Both the owner and the general contractor (or its authorized representative) sign and date the agreement. An unsigned agreement is just a draft — it isn't binding until both parties have signed it.
Download the template above, fill in the blanks, then send it to the other party for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — lien-waiver forms and licensing rules vary by state, so for a project of any real size have a local attorney review your agreement.