Joint execution.
WHEN IT ARISES
Contracts requiring capability across parties Projects too large for one Work requiring presence in multiple places
WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE COMMITTING
Who leads Who contracts with the customer Who does which parts Who is liable for what How problems are resolved
WHY LIABILITY MATTERS
In many arrangements each party is exposed to the whole.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether liability is joint, and what that means for you.
WHAT TO DEFINE PRECISELY
The boundary between each party's work.
WHY
Failures occur at boundaries, and each party assumes the other covered it.
WHAT TO IDENTIFY
Everything at the interface: handovers, dependencies, shared responsibilities.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Who does each, explicitly.
WHAT TO AGREE ABOUT QUALITY
Standards applying to both Who checks What happens if one party's work is inadequate
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT THE CUSTOMER
Who they deal with.
WHY A SINGLE POINT
Customers receiving conflicting information from two parties lose confidence in both.
WHAT TO AGREE ABOUT COMMUNICATION
Who speaks to the customer, and what the other party does.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT PAYMENT
How money flows and when each party is paid.
WHY
Being paid only after the lead party is paid transfers their collection risk to you.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether your payment depends on theirs.
WHAT TO AGREE ABOUT FAILURE
What happens if one party cannot perform.
WHY
It is the situation that destroys these arrangements.
WHAT TO DOCUMENT
All of it, before work begins.
