What contract drafting should cost, and what a template misses that a person catches

You've found a template online for R50 or downloaded one a friend used. Now you're wondering: what would a proper drafter actually charge, and is the gap worth paying? The real question underneath is whether you're saving money or storing up risk.

Cost isn't just a number — it's what you get for it and what you don't. A template and a person-drafted contract sit at opposite ends of a spectrum of specificity, local accuracy, and enforceability. Understanding what drives a drafter's fee will show you why a bare-bones quote can be dangerously incomplete.

Diagnosis and scoping takes time templates skip

When you hand a template to an attorney or HR consultant, they don't start typing. They ask. How many employees will use this contract? Are they permanent, fixed-term, or seasonal? Do they work from home, on-site, or both? Will they have access to sensitive business information or customer data? Are they in a sector with specific rules — construction, security, financial services? Do you operate across multiple provinces?

Each answer changes what must be in the contract. A template, by design, contains generic placeholders and standard clauses that fit nowhere perfectly and everywhere loosely. A drafter's fee reflects the time spent understanding your actual business before they write a single clause. That diagnosis phase is invisible in a template price but absolutely real in a proper quote.

Once they know your setup, a drafter tailors confidentiality clauses, restraint-of-trade periods, notice requirements, and probation terms to match what you actually need to protect and how you genuinely manage people. A template assumes you fit its mould. You probably don't.

What gets left out, and where it costs more later

Templates omit or skim content that matters in a dispute. Restraint-of-trade clauses in a generic template rarely account for geography, industry specifics, or reasonableness thresholds — exactly what the CCMA examines if someone challenges one. Intellectual property language in a downloaded contract might say "all work created belongs to the company" without defining what counts as work created, whose time or tools were used, or what happens to pre-existing knowledge the person brought in. A drafter considers case law, local practice, and enforceability before they draft.

Performance management and dismissal procedures are another gap. A template might reference "misconduct" without laying out what that means in your context, what investigation or hearing you'll actually offer, or how you'll distinguish between a performance issue and a conduct breach. Courts and the CCMA read contracts closely. Vagueness that felt like flexibility when you signed becomes a liability when you need to act on it.

Special clauses — probation terms, benefits, deductions, remote-work policies, device return, garden leave — either don't appear in a template or appear boilerplate. Each one carries risk if it doesn't fit your circumstances or local law. A drafter asks whether you need them and drafts them to survive scrutiny.

Where the fee structure really sits

A drafter's quote usually reflects scope: one contract, multiple variants, a review of your existing templates, or an ongoing retainer. An attorney might charge per hour or per contract; an HR consultant might bundle contract drafting into a broader engagement. The fee accounts for their expertise, liability insurance, time spent on back-and-forth revisions, and their obligation to keep the contract legally sound.

What a cheap quote often omits is revision cycles. If the drafter asks clarifying questions and you answer them — or if you ask for changes — iterations have a cost. A template has no iteration; you live with what it says. That's not a saving; it's deferring the problem.

The most expensive contract is one that fails when you need it. A restraint clause struck down at the CCMA, a dismissal overturned because the contract was vague on procedure, or a confidentiality breach because clauses were boilerplate — each costs far more than a proper drafter's fee. When you're weighing a quote, ask what they're diagnosing before they draft, whether they're asking about your business, and what happens if you need revisions. That's where you see whether the price reflects real work or just a quick fill-in-the-blanks.

Verified employment law specialists and HR consultants on Strove can walk you through what scope makes sense for your business before you commit to a fee.