Lease of non-residential premises (office, studio, storage) template
A lease of an office, studio or storage space for business, not as a home: rent, deposit, repairs, term and handback. A sample contract you can read in full, edit in QuoteBill and sign online with a secure link.
Sample — review with a lawyer · Simple electronic signature with an audit trail
Who it is for
For an owner or tenant of an office, workshop, studio or storage unit who wants rent, deposit, repairs, term and handback agreed in writing. It is not for homes.
For business premises only; renting a home is regulated in most countries and is not covered. Business leases can also have mandatory rules on form, notice and registration.
What it covers
15 clauses, in this order. Each one is in the sample text below, and you can edit, remove or add clauses before you send.
1. Purpose
What the agreement is for: the Landlord lets non-residential premises to the Tenant for business use. It is not a lease of a home.
2. Premises
Blanks for the address, the floor area and what is included, such as parking or storage. Both sides record the condition on handover in an inventory or photographs.
3. Permitted use
The premises are used only for the stated business purpose and nobody lives there. The Tenant follows the laws and house rules, causes no nuisance and stores nothing dangerous or unlawful.
4. Term
A set number of months from the effective date, unless ended earlier. A blank says whether the lease then ends or renews month by month.
5. Rent and payment
The monthly rent comes from the price schedule or a blank, with tax added where the law requires it. A blank allows a yearly rent review and states how it is worked out.
6. Service charges and utilities
A blank says whether service charges, utilities and property taxes are in the rent or paid on top. If on top, the Landlord gives a yearly statement with records and any difference is settled in a set time.
7. Security deposit
The Tenant pays a deposit of a stated amount. The Landlord holds it as security and returns it within a set number of days after handback, less amounts owed that it can show.
8. Condition and handback
The Tenant takes the premises as recorded and returns them empty, clean and in the same condition apart from normal wear, with all keys. They inspect together and record the result.
9. Repairs and maintenance
The Landlord keeps the structure, roof, outside walls and shared systems in repair. The Tenant does minor repairs and cleaning inside, pays for damage it or its visitors cause, and reports defects at once.
10. Alterations and subletting
Alterations, signs, subletting and passing the lease on need the Landlord’s written or electronic consent. The Landlord may ask the Tenant to remove alterations at the end.
11. Access and inspection
The Landlord may enter to inspect, repair or show the premises on a set number of hours’ notice and at reasonable times, or at once in an emergency.
12. Insurance and liability
The Tenant insures its contents and its liability as a blank states, and the Landlord insures the building. Each side answers for damage it causes. Other loss is capped at a set number of months’ rent, with the usual exceptions.
13. Termination
Either side may end the lease early on a set number of months’ notice at the end of a month, not before a stated date. A serious unremedied breach, including unpaid rent after a reminder, allows immediate ending.
14. Changes and notices
This contract is the whole agreement on the premises. Changes need both sides’ written or electronic agreement. Where the law asks for registration or a special form, both complete it without delay.
15. Governing law and disputes
The law you name applies. The sides first try to settle a dispute in good faith, and otherwise the courts you name decide.
A price schedule is optional: add one if you want the amounts in a table, or write the agreed amount into the payment clause.
The sample text
The whole sample, as QuoteBill starts it. Text in double square brackets, like [[10]], is a blank to fill in or check, and QuoteBill does not let you send a contract while one is left. The clause text is written in English, Korean, Japanese and German; in other languages a contract starts in English for you to translate.
Read the sample text
Lease of Non-Residential Premises
Parties: Landlord · Tenant
1. Purpose
This agreement sets out the terms on which the Landlord lets the non-residential premises described below to the Tenant for business use. It is not for the rental of a home.
2. Premises
The Landlord lets and the Tenant rents the following premises: [[Address and description of the premises, e.g. an office on the second floor]]
Floor area: about [[Area]]
Included: [[Parking, storage, shared areas, fittings and equipment, or none]]
The parties record the condition of the premises on handover in an inventory or in photographs, and each keeps a copy.
3. Permitted use
The Tenant uses the premises only for [[Use, e.g. an office, a studio or the storage of goods]] and for no other purpose. Nobody lives in the premises. The Tenant complies with the laws, permits and house rules that apply to its use, does not cause a nuisance to neighbours or other occupants, and does not store dangerous or unlawful goods.
4. Term
The lease starts on the effective date and runs for [[12]] months, unless it is ended earlier under Termination. After that period it [[ends / renews month by month]].
5. Rent and payment
The Tenant pays the rent shown in the price schedule of this contract or, if there is none, [[Rent per month and currency]], on the payment terms stated in this contract. Where the law requires tax on rent, it is added.
Rent review: [[none / the yearly adjustment and how it is calculated]]
6. Service charges and utilities
Service charges, utilities and property taxes are [[included in the rent / paid by the Tenant in addition to the rent, as described here: details]]. Where they are paid in addition, the Landlord gives a statement with supporting records at least once a year, and the parties settle any difference within [[30]] days.
7. Security deposit
On signing, the Tenant pays a security deposit of [[Amount]]. The Landlord keeps it as security for amounts the Tenant owes under this agreement and returns it within [[30]] days after the Tenant has handed back the premises, less amounts that are owed and that the Landlord can show.
8. Condition and handback
The Tenant takes the premises in the condition recorded on handover. At the end of the lease the Tenant hands the premises back empty and clean, in the same condition apart from normal wear, with all keys, and removes its own goods and fittings and makes good any damage that removing them causes. The parties inspect the premises together at handback and record the result.
9. Repairs and maintenance
The Landlord keeps the structure, the roof, the outside walls and the building’s shared systems in good repair and repairs defects it is responsible for within a reasonable time. The Tenant carries out minor repairs and cleaning inside the premises, pays for damage caused by it, its staff and its visitors, and tells the Landlord without delay of any defect or damage that needs the Landlord’s attention.
10. Alterations and subletting
The Tenant needs the Landlord’s consent in writing or in electronic form for alterations to the premises, for signs on the building and for subletting the premises or passing the lease to anyone else. Where the Landlord asks, the Tenant removes alterations at the end of the lease at its own cost.
11. Access and inspection
The Landlord may enter the premises to inspect them, to carry out repairs or to show them to a new tenant or a buyer, on at least [[24]] hours’ notice and at reasonable times, or at once in an emergency.
12. Insurance and liability
The Tenant insures its own contents and equipment and its liability for damage in the premises, as stated here: [[Insurance cover required]] The Landlord insures the building.
Each party is liable for damage it causes, as the law provides. The Landlord is not liable for loss of the Tenant’s goods unless the Landlord’s fault caused it. Except for intent, gross negligence, personal injury or where the law does not allow a limitation, each party’s liability for other loss is limited to [[12]] months’ rent.
13. Termination
Either party may end the lease early by giving [[3]] months’ notice in writing or in electronic form, effective at the end of a month, but not before [[Earliest date, or none]]. Either party may end it immediately if the other seriously breaches it and does not remedy the breach within [[14]] days of being asked to. Not paying rent within [[30]] days after a reminder is a serious breach. When the lease ends, the Tenant hands the premises back as stated under Condition and handback.
14. Changes and notices
This contract, including its price schedule, is the entire agreement between the parties on the premises. Changes are valid only if both parties agree to them in writing or in electronic form. Where the law requires a lease of this kind to be registered or to take a particular form, the parties complete this without delay.
15. Governing law and disputes
This agreement is governed by the law stated under Governing law. The parties will first try to settle any dispute in good faith. Otherwise the courts stated under Jurisdiction decide, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
Payment terms
The rent is payable [[monthly in advance, by the 5th day of each month]] by bank transfer to the account stated on the invoice or in this contract.
Governing law
[[Country or state whose law applies]]
Jurisdiction
[[Courts that decide disputes, e.g. the courts of your city]]
How to use it
Choose the template
Press the button to use this template. If you are not signed in, you first sign in or sign up for free and then come straight back to it.
Start a draft
The new-contract page opens with this template marked. Press its card to create a draft. Your company details fill in Party A, and you fill in the blanks, the other party and, where the template has one, the price schedule.
Send it for signature
You sign first, then send each signer a secure link and, by another route, an access code. Signers need no account.
Next steps
Your client opens the link on any device and needs no account. See what the signing looks like on the E-Contracts page, and read which kind of electronic signature is enough for which document.
Already signed? Make the invoice from the signed contract: the parties and the price lines carry over, in full or for a deposit. The guide on turning a quotation into an invoice shows how to review the new draft, its dates and the PDF.
What it is, and what it is not
QuoteBill creates a simple electronic signature with an audit trail. In the EU, the UK, the US and Korea a signature is not denied legal effect only because it is electronic, and in Japan most contracts need no particular form at all. What a simple electronic signature proves in a dispute depends on the evidence behind it, and some documents need another form.
It is not a qualified or advanced electronic signature, and QuoteBill does not verify who the signers are. It records the use of the link and access code you delivered, so anyone who has both can sign. The signature certificate lists every link issued and, for each action by the sender or a signer, its IP address and browser where they could be read.
Some documents need another form. Wills, many real-estate transfers, guarantees and some employment documents must, in some countries, be handwritten, notarised or signed with a qualified signature. The templates are samples, not legal advice: review them with a lawyer.
Other contract templates
Sales and supply agreement
Goods, orders, delivery, inspection, warranty and payment.
Simple general contract
What each party does, payment, term and termination.
Master services agreement
Standard terms for repeated work, with each job agreed in its own statement of work.
Statement of work
One piece of work under a master agreement: scope, milestones, acceptance, fees and dependencies.