42 Common Types of Business Contracts Explained, with Maryland, D.C., and Virginia Rules

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Most small businesses sign more contracts in a year than their owners could name. A vendor’s order form, a contractor’s statement of work, a new hire’s offer letter, and a software license all carry obligations, and each type tends to hide its risk in a predictable place.

This guide is for owners and managers in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia (DMV) who want a working map of the agreements they will see most. It groups 42 common contracts by what they do, then covers the three legal questions that change from one DMV jurisdiction to the next: which contracts must be in writing, whether an electronic signature counts, and when a non-compete holds up. A Maryland business contracts attorney licensed in all three can review the ones that matter most before you sign.

Which Contracts Cover Sales and Purchases?

These agreements move goods, property, and payment between a buyer and a seller. The risk usually sits in delivery, acceptance, and cancellation terms.

1. Bill of sale. Confirms that ownership of specific property passed from seller to buyer. Check that the property is described precisely enough to identify it.

2. Purchase order. The buyer’s written offer to buy stated goods at stated prices. Watch for delivery dates and what happens if the seller ships late.

3. Order form. A short document that places an order under an existing agreement. Read which master terms it pulls in.

4. Renewal order form. Extends a subscription or supply arrangement for another term. Check price increases and the notice window to cancel.

5. Warranty. A promise about the quality or performance of goods or property. Know what is covered, for how long, and what remedy you get.

6. Distribution agreement. Gives a distributor the right to market and sell a product. Territory, exclusivity, and minimum purchase terms drive its value.

7. Manufacturing agreement. Sets terms for producing goods to specification. Pin down quality standards and who owns tooling, designs, and improvements.

8. Transfer agreement. Moves ownership of an asset, tangible or intangible, from one party to another. Confirm what liabilities travel with the asset.

Which Contracts Cover Services and Vendors?

Service agreements describe work rather than goods. Scope creep, acceptance standards, and liability caps are where disputes start.

9. Master service agreement (MSA). Sets the legal terms for an ongoing relationship so later projects only need a short add-on. Negotiate it carefully, because every future order inherits it.

10. Statement of work (SOW). Defines the deliverables, timeline, and price for one project under an MSA. Vague deliverables invite fee disputes.

11. Service level agreement (SLA). Commits a provider to measurable performance, such as uptime or response times. Check what credit or remedy you get when the provider misses.

12. Vendor service agreement. A general contract with a supplier of services. Confirm payment terms and how either side can exit.

13. Enterprise service agreement. Gives an organization broad access to a vendor’s services, often across many users. Look for usage limits hidden in the definitions.

14. Consulting agreement. Engages an outside advisor for defined work. Address who owns the work product and how the consultant’s time is billed.

15. Outsourcing agreement. Moves an internal function to a third party. Confidentiality, data handling, and transition terms matter most.

16. Request for proposal (RFP). Invites bids for a project. State clearly whether the RFP itself creates any obligation.

17. Beta agreement. Lets a company test a product before release. Expect confidentiality terms and limits on the provider’s responsibility for defects.

18. Security and privacy addendum. Adds data protection duties to a service contract. Confirm breach notice timing and who pays for a data incident.

Which Contracts Cover Employees and Contractors?

Workforce agreements carry a lot of state-specific law, especially on restrictive covenants. They also decide who owns what your people create.

19. Employment agreement. Sets pay, benefits, duties, and termination terms for an employee. Make sure it matches how the job actually works.

20. Independent contractor agreement. Engages a non-employee for defined services. Describe the working relationship as it actually operates, not as you hope it will be treated.

21. Non-compete agreement. Restricts where a worker can work after leaving. Maryland, D.C., and Virginia all limit these by statute, covered below.

22. Non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Protects confidential information shared with another party. Define confidential information carefully and say how long the duty lasts.

23. Employee invention assignment and confidentiality agreement. Assigns an employee’s work-related inventions to the employer and adds confidentiality duties. Check which inventions it reaches.

24. Intellectual property assignment agreement. Transfers ownership of existing intellectual property. Confirm the assignor actually owns what is being assigned.

25. Termination notice. Documents the end of an employment or service relationship. Make it consistent with any notice or severance terms in the underlying contract.

Which Contracts Cover Intellectual Property and Brand?

These agreements control how your name, content, and technology are used. Exclusivity and approval rights usually carry the most value.

26. License agreement. Grants permission to use property such as software, content, or a trademark. Check scope of use, fees, and whether the license is exclusive.

27. Inbound license agreement. Brings in a third party’s intellectual property for your use. Confirm sublicensing rights if contractors or affiliates need access.

28. Franchise agreement. Subject to some exemptions, Maryland and Virginia require a franchise offering to be registered with the state before the franchise is offered or sold there.

29. Influencer agreement. Pays a creator to promote a brand. Spell out deliverables, deadlines, approvals, and disclosure responsibilities.

30. Marketing agreement. Engages a firm to promote products or services. Define scope and who owns the creative work.

31. Sponsorship agreement. Pairs a brand with an event, team, or organization. Timelines, exclusivity, and termination rights drive the deal.

32. Photography release. Consents to the use of a person’s image or likeness. State where and how long the images can be used.

33. Terms of use. Sets the rules for a website or online service. Keep liability limits and user obligations clear and current.

34. Research and development agreement. Funds or structures the development of a product. Roles, milestones, and ownership of results need to be explicit.

Which Contracts Define Ownership, Money, and Risk?

These agreements shape the business itself and its exposure. Review them before signing, not after a dispute starts.

35. Partnership agreement. Sets capital contributions, profit sharing, management, and exit terms among co-owners. Address what happens when a partner leaves or dies.

36. Joint venture agreement. Combines two parties’ resources for a defined project. Clarify profit allocation, decision-making, and how the venture ends.

37. Memorandum of understanding (MOU). Records a shared plan before a final deal. State plainly which terms, if any, are meant to be binding.

38. Indemnity agreement. Shifts responsibility for certain losses from one party to another. Look for exclusions and caps.

39. Security agreement. Gives a lender an interest in collateral. Review default triggers and what the lender may do after a default.

40. Property or equipment lease. Grants use of real estate or equipment for a term. Check repair duties, renewal options, and early termination costs.

41. Settlement agreement. Resolves a dispute, typically by trading a release of claims for payment or other value. Confirm exactly which claims are released.

42. Amendment. Changes an existing contract. Make sure it identifies the original agreement and says which terms change and which stay the same.

Which Business Contracts Must Be in Writing in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia?

Each jurisdiction has a statute of frauds that lists agreements you cannot sue on unless there is a writing or memorandum signed by the party being charged. If your deal falls into one of these categories, get it in a signed writing or record.

All three jurisdictions list these categories:

• A promise to answer for another person’s debt. A personal guarantee of a company’s obligation is the common business example.
• An agreement not to be performed within one year. Maryland bars an action on any agreement that is not to be performed within 1 year from its making unless it is in a signed writing, and D.C. and Virginia say the same.
• A contract for the sale of land. Maryland, D.C., and Virginia each require a signed writing to bring an action on a contract for the sale of real estate or an interest in it.
• A sale of goods priced at $500 or more. Each jurisdiction’s commercial code requires a signed writing or record sufficient to show a contract for sale was made, subject to exceptions such as specially manufactured goods, goods for which payment has been made and accepted, goods that have been received and accepted, and a written confirmation between merchants that the recipient does not object to in writing within 10 days.

The old rule of thumb that services over $500 need a writing is wrong. The $500 rule in each code covers contracts for the sale of goods, not services.

Virginia’s statute also expressly lists a lease of real estate for more than a year and an agreement to lend money or extend credit of $25,000 or more. Maryland reaches loan promises through a separate statute. A business loan or credit commitment from a bank, trust company, savings bank, or savings and loan association, or an affiliate of one, cannot be enforced in Maryland unless it is in writing, states the consideration and the key terms, and is signed by the party being held to it, whatever the amount. D.C. and Virginia also cover a promise by an executor, administrator, or personal representative to pay out of their own estate.

Two more commercial code rules apply in all three jurisdictions. A security agreement that gives a lender rights in collateral generally must be signed by the person putting up the collateral and describe the collateral. And a lease of goods, such as equipment, generally needs a signed writing or record once total lease payments reach $1,000.

Does an Electronic Signature Count?

It can. Maryland, D.C., and Virginia have each adopted a version of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and each says that if a law requires a record to be in writing, an electronic record satisfies it, and if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.

Maryland’s version, for example, applies only to transactions between parties that have each agreed to conduct transactions electronically, judged from the context and the parties’ conduct. In a standard form contract, Maryland also requires the clause agreeing to deal electronically to be conspicuous and separately agreed to. It also leaves the legal consequences of an electronic record or signature to that act and other applicable law.

Are Non-Compete Agreements Enforceable in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia?

Sometimes, and the answer depends heavily on the jurisdiction and the worker. Each has a statute, and each draws the line differently.

Maryland

A non-compete or conflict of interest provision that restricts an employee from joining a new employer or becoming self-employed in the same or similar business is void for employees earning 150 percent of the state minimum wage or less. The same rule covers certain licensed direct patient care workers and licensed veterinary practitioners and technicians, but it does not reach provisions about taking or using client lists or other proprietary client information. For licensed direct patient care workers earning more than $350,000 a year, Maryland allows a non-compete but limits it to one year and 10 miles from the primary place of employment.

Washington, D.C.

An employer may not require or request that a covered employee sign a non-compete provision, and a prohibited provision in an agreement entered into on or after October 1, 2022, is void as a matter of law. Highly compensated employees fall outside the ban, though separate D.C. requirements apply to their non-competes, and a seller’s promise not to compete with the buyer of a business is excluded from the definition.

Virginia

No employer may enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete with a low-wage employee. For agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, the same ban covers health care professionals, meaning people licensed, registered, or certified by Virginia’s Boards of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, or Social Work.

Separately, for a non-compete entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, the covenant cannot be enforced if the employer discharges the employee without severance or other monetary payment, unless the discharge is for cause. That payment must be disclosed when the covenant is signed. The statute does not define “for cause.”

Virginia’s statute also preserves nondisclosure agreements that protect trade secrets and confidential information. For a business with workers in more than one DMV jurisdiction, one company-wide non-compete template is unlikely to fit all three.

How Should a Business Owner Review a Contract?

A short checklist catches most problems before signature.

• Confirm the parties. Use each party’s exact legal name, including the entity type.
• Read what it incorporates. Order forms and online terms often pull in documents you have not seen.
• Find the exit. Know how each side can terminate, on what notice, and at what cost.
• Check the risk terms. Indemnity, limitation of liability, and insurance clauses decide who pays when something goes wrong.
• Leave no blanks. Fill or strike every blank before signing, and have both sides initial handwritten changes.
• Match the law to the work. A clause that holds up in one DMV jurisdiction may not hold up in the next.

A careful review can prevent a routine agreement from becoming an expensive dispute. Before signing, have a business contracts attorney assess provisions that affect your obligations, remedies, and ability to enforce the deal under the law that applies.

Why Work With Thienel Law?

Stephen Thienel handles business, tax, and estate matters under one roof at Thienel Law, PLLC, so a contract gets read for its tax and succession consequences as well as its terms. He is admitted in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, which matters when a company hires, buys, and sells across all three.

He holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland, an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Baltimore, and an M.A. in Economics from Virginia Tech. The practice runs online through secure video meetings, document sharing, and electronic signatures.