Client Agreements For Interior Design Studios

Yes, you should have a written interior design contract before you start paid work for a client in the UK.

The nuance is that an interiors project usually isn't just design time. You might be creating concepts, sourcing furniture, managing supplier orders, handling trade discounts, arranging installation access and making judgment calls when items are delayed or discontinued.

A good client agreement gives you a clear way to say, here is what's included, here is what's not, and here is what happens if the project changes. It also helps your client feel more confident, because the process is easier to follow from day one.

Do I Need An Interior Design Contract In The UK?

Yes, if you're charging for interior design services, you should have client terms in writing before work begins.

A written agreement helps you avoid the most common project issues: unpaid invoices, unclear deliverables, unlimited revisions, disputes over furniture purchases and confusion about who owns the final design materials.

It also helps you meet your legal obligations. For example, if you work with individual residential clients, parts of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 may apply. Your services need to be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and your terms should be fair and transparent.

If you sell to consumers online or away from your usual business premises, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 can also affect what information you need to give before the client commits, including cancellation rights. This can be especially relevant if you take deposits remotely.

If you work with commercial clients, clear terms are still essential. You may need to manage procurement agreements, budgets, site access, landlord approvals, brand guidelines and contractor coordination. Without written terms, a small misunderstanding can turn into a delayed install or a difficult payment conversation.

Your interior design contract doesn't need to be intimidating. It just needs to reflect how your studio actually works, including sensible liability limits.

What Should An Interior Design Agreement Template Include?

An interior design agreement template should include the commercial details of the project, but it should also be tailored to your workflow before you use it.

Templates can be a helpful starting point, especially when you're still shaping your processes. The risk is that a generic template may miss the parts that matter most for interiors work, such as concept approval, procurement authority, trade discounts, installation access and design copyright.

A lawyer should tailor the document before you rely on it, but this outline gives you a practical structure to work from:

1. Parties And Project Details: Write the client's legal name, your business name, the property address and the project areas, such as living room, kitchen or reception space.
2. Scope Of Work: List the design services included, such as site measurements, mood boards, floor plans, sourcing schedules, procurement and installation styling.
3. Project Stages: Set out each stage, including consultation, concept design, detailed design, procurement, installation and completion.
4. Fees And Payment Terms: Explain whether you charge a fixed fee, hourly rate, day rate, retainer, procurement fee or percentage uplift.
5. Client Approvals: State when written approval is needed and what approval allows you to do next.
6. Changes And Revisions: Include the number of included revisions and how extra work will be charged.
7. Purchasing And Suppliers: Explain who buys items, who contracts with suppliers, whether a supplier agreement is needed, who bears delivery costs and what happens if a product is delayed.
8. Trade Discounts: Say clearly whether discounts are passed on, shared or retained as part of your commercial model.
9. Access And Installation: Set out what access, parking, lift bookings, building permissions and site readiness the client must arrange.
10. Intellectual Property: Explain who owns drawings, concepts, renders, specifications and photographs.
11. Cancellation And Termination: Set out how either side can end the agreement and what fees remain payable.
12. Data And Confidentiality: Cover personal information, project photos, supplier pricing and private client details.

Free templates, online documents and hourly legal support all have their place. What matters is choosing a route that gives you terms you can confidently send to a client and actually use when something changes.

How Should Your Scope Of Work Cover Concepts And Approvals?

Your scope of work should say exactly what you're delivering, how many concept rounds are included and what counts as client approval.

Interior design work can feel subjective. A client may approve a mood board, then later say the room doesn't feel like what they imagined. Your agreement can't remove every creative discussion, but it can create a fair process.

What To Include In The Scope

For each project, define the deliverables in plain language. For example:

• one initial consultation of up to 90 minutes
• site measurement based on visible access only
• one concept board per room
• one floor plan option and one revision
• one furniture, fixtures and equipment schedule
• paint, fabric and finish recommendations
• procurement support for approved items
• one installation styling day

If something isn't included, say so. This might include structural design, building control approvals, planning advice, contractor supervision, subconsultant management, electrical design, asbestos checks, bespoke joinery drawings or project management beyond agreed design coordination.

How Concept Approval Should Work

Your agreement should explain that once the client approves a concept, you can rely on that approval to move into the next stage. Approval should ideally be in writing, such as email confirmation or an e-signature on a presentation pack.

You can also say that changes after approval are treated as extra work. This is especially useful where you've already spent time sourcing items, preparing schedules or coordinating supplier quotes.

For example, if the client approves a natural oak and linen concept, then later asks to switch to a dark walnut and velvet scheme, that may be a fresh design direction rather than a small revision. Your terms should let you charge fairly for that extra work.

How Do Design Fees, Deposits And Payment Terms Usually Work?

Your design fee agreement should clearly explain what the client is paying for, when payments are due and what happens if invoices are late.

Interior design studios use different pricing models. There isn't one correct approach, but your contract should make your model easy to understand.

Common Fee Structures

• Fixed Design Fee: You charge one agreed amount for a defined scope, such as concept design for three rooms.
• Hourly Or Day Rate: You charge for time spent, often useful for consultancy, styling days or ad hoc design support.
• Retainer: The client pays an amount upfront or each month for ongoing access to your services.
• Procurement Fee: You charge for time spent sourcing, ordering, tracking and coordinating products.
• Percentage Of Project Spend: You charge a percentage based on approved purchases or budgeted items.
• Trade Margin Or Uplift: You purchase items and resell them to the client at an agreed price.

Be clear about VAT if you're VAT registered. Also explain whether expenses are included, such as travel, parking, couriers, sample orders, printing, storage, returns and supplier restocking fees.

A Worked Example

Say Mia runs a small interior design studio in Manchester. She charges a fixed design fee of £2,400 plus VAT for a living and dining room project. Her terms say the client pays 50% upfront and 50% when the concept pack is delivered.

The scope includes one concept presentation, one furniture schedule and one round of revisions. Extra design work is charged at her agreed hourly rate.

The client approves the concept, then two weeks later asks Mia to redesign the room around a different sofa style and a new colour palette. Because Mia's contract treats post-approval changes as extra work, she can quote for the redesign rather than absorbing the time for free.

For late payments from business clients, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 may allow statutory interest and compensation if your terms don't say otherwise. For consumer clients, keep late fees fair and transparent.

Who Is Responsible For Furniture Purchases, Trade Discounts And Delays?

Your agreement should say who is buying each item, who carries the commercial risk and how trade discounts are handled.

This is one of the biggest areas where interior design projects become messy. A client might assume you're simply passing through supplier prices. You might be pricing procurement as part of your business model. Neither approach is wrong, but the contract needs to say what you're doing.

Two Common Procurement Models

• Client Purchases Directly: You recommend items and the client buys from the supplier. The contract should say you're not responsible for supplier stock levels, delivery dates, defects, returns, supplier terms or price changes.
• Your Studio Purchases And Resells: You buy the items and invoice the client. Your terms should cover deposits, title to goods, delivery risk, cancellations, storage, returns and what happens if the supplier changes lead times.

If you receive trade discounts, say how they're treated. You might pass the discount on in full, share part of it, or retain it as part of your procurement margin. The key is transparency, especially where you're dealing with consumers.

What About Supplier Delays?

Your contract should make clear that supplier lead times are estimates unless you expressly guarantee them. You can also require the client to approve substitutions where an item is discontinued or delayed.

For example, Mia sources dining chairs at £350 each, with an estimated 10 week lead time. The supplier later pushes delivery to 16 weeks. If Mia's terms say supplier delays are outside her control, she isn't automatically responsible for paying for temporary chairs or refunding her design fee. She still needs to communicate clearly and help the client decide whether to wait, cancel or choose an alternative.

For installation, your terms should require the client to provide safe access, keys or concierge permissions, parking, lift bookings and a clean, ready site. If your installer arrives and can't access the property, your agreement should let you charge for wasted time, rebooking fees and extra delivery costs.

What Happens If The Client Changes Their Mind Or The Project Is Delayed?

If the client changes their mind or causes delays, your contract should give you a process for pausing, repricing or extending the project.

Interior design projects often depend on other people. Builders run late. Stock sells out. A client needs more time to decide. A landlord refuses access. Your agreement should separate delays within your control from delays outside your control.

Changes You Should Charge For

Your terms can treat the following as chargeable variations:

• new rooms or areas added to the project
• extra concept options beyond the agreed number
• changes after written approval
• additional site visits or meetings
• urgent resourcing because the client missed an approval deadline
• reordering because the client gave incorrect measurements or information
• storage, redelivery or restocking costs

Make the process simple. For example, your agreement can say you'll provide a written variation quote, and you won't start the extra work until the client approves it.

Project Delays And Suspension

Your contract should also allow you to pause the project if the client hasn't paid, hasn't provided information or hasn't approved a decision needed for the next stage.

You can include a time limit for inactive projects. For instance, if the client doesn't respond for 30 days, you may suspend the project and reschedule based on your next available date. If the delay continues, you may end the agreement and invoice for work completed, committed supplier costs and non-refundable expenses.

This doesn't need to feel harsh. It simply protects your calendar and helps clients understand that design projects need timely decisions.

Can You Use Photos, Floor Plans And Designs After The Project?

You can usually use your own design materials and project photos only if your contract, copyright position and privacy obligations allow it.

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, copyright can protect original creative works such as drawings, mood boards, renders, specifications, written design concepts and photographs. As the creator, you may own copyright unless you've assigned it in writing or someone else created it under separate terms.

Your client may still need a licence to use the materials for the project. Your contract can say the client receives a licence to use the final approved design materials for their own property, once they've paid your fees in full.

At the same time, you may want to use photos and design materials in your portfolio, on your website, in award submissions or on social media. Get this right in your agreement.

What Your IP And Photo Terms Should Cover

• who owns original drawings, presentations, schedules and renders
• what licence the client gets once they pay
• whether the client can share your materials with builders, suppliers or other designers
• whether the client can copy the design for another property
• whether you can photograph the finished space
• whether the client can approve images before publication
• whether private information, family photos, security details or addresses must be removed

If you collect personal information, such as names, addresses, access codes, photos of a private home or contact details for household staff, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 may apply. Keep that information secure, only collect what you need and be clear about how you'll use it.

If your studio name or logo is becoming known, you may also want to protect it through a UK trade mark application with the UK Intellectual Property Office. That's separate from your client contract, but it's often part of protecting your creative business as it grows.

Key Takeaways

• An interior design contract in the UK should cover more than design fees. It should deal with approvals, procurement, changes, access, delays and IP.
• Your scope of work should be specific about rooms, deliverables, project stages and the number of included revisions.
• Concept approval matters. Once a client approves a direction, your terms should let you charge for major changes later.
• Be transparent about furniture purchasing, supplier delays, trade discounts, delivery costs and who carries the risk.
• Your agreement should explain who owns design materials and whether you can use project photos in your portfolio or marketing.
• Templates can help you start, but interiors contracts work best when they're tailored to your studio's pricing, procurement model and clients.

If you'd like help with your interior design client agreement, procurement terms, design fee structure or IP and photo permissions, you can reach us at 08081347754 or team@sprintlaw.co.uk for a free, no-obligations chat.