The franchisor says the agreement is standard and cannot be changed. Is that true?

Mostly, for a single-site franchisee of an established system. What can usually be discussed is the term, the territory, the initial fee, the timing of the fit-out and, sometimes, a personal guarantee cap. The larger value of a review is knowing exactly what you are agreeing to, so the decision to sign is made with open eyes rather than on the broker's summary.

What does the Franchising Code actually require of a franchisor?

Disclosure before signing and a cooling-off period afterwards, good faith throughout, restrictions on what can be demanded of franchisees, a defined dispute process, and a public disclosure register entry. The Code has civil penalties attached to many of its provisions, so compliance is a real obligation rather than good practice. The practice's insight on the Code goes through the 2025 changes.

Can I sell my franchise?

Usually, with the franchisor's consent, which the Code says cannot be unreasonably withheld. The agreement will set out the process, the transfer fee, what the buyer must satisfy, and what you remain liable for afterwards. Start with the transfer clause well before you list the business.

Practice · 05

Franchising

Franchise documents are long, standardised, and weighted one way. The important clauses rarely announce themselves.

For prospective and existing franchisees, and for franchisors building or running a system.

The work

A franchise is a long contract with a stronger party, governed by a Code that gives the weaker party some real protections and a lot of paperwork. The practice's job on the franchisee side is to find the provisions that matter before signing, and to hold the franchisor to the Code after it. On the franchisor side, it is to build documents that fit the business and do not fall over when a franchisee's lawyer reads them.

Franchise agreement and disclosure reviews are quoted as a fixed fee, with a written report rather than a marked-up document, because the question for a prospective franchisee is usually whether to sign at all. System build work is scoped and quoted stage by stage.

Read: the Franchising Code of Conduct, the 2025 Code →

This work includes

Franchise agreement review
Disclosure documents
The Franchising Code of Conduct
Entry and exit
Renewals and transfers
Franchise disputes and mediation
Setting up a franchise system
Franchisor compliance and the Franchise Disclosure Register
Master franchise and multi-site arrangements

How it usually runs

For a prospective franchisee: before you sign anything

The disclosure document, the franchise agreement and the Code read together, with a report that says what the numbers do not: what you are locked into, what you can be charged, how you get out, and what the franchisor can change without asking.
For a franchisor: the system, built to the Code

A franchise agreement and disclosure document that fit the business and survive the Code's requirements, the disclosure register entry, and the operating documents behind them. Then the annual updates that keep it compliant.
When something goes wrong

Most franchise disputes are resolved through the Code's dispute process and mediation rather than court. The practice handles that stage for either side.

Where the line is

The practice acts for franchisors and franchisees, but never for both sides of the same system. A conflict check runs before any franchise instruction is accepted.
Checking the premises lease against the franchise documents is leasing work and runs through The Leasing Lawyer.
A franchise dispute that reaches court goes to a litigator on the panel.

Nobody pays anybody for a referral here, in either direction. How the practice hands work on →

Common questions

The franchisor says the agreement is standard and cannot be changed. Is that true?

Mostly, for a single-site franchisee of an established system. What can usually be discussed is the term, the territory, the initial fee, the timing of the fit-out and, sometimes, a personal guarantee cap. The larger value of a review is knowing exactly what you are agreeing to, so the decision to sign is made with open eyes rather than on the broker's summary.
What does the Franchising Code actually require of a franchisor?

Disclosure before signing and a cooling-off period afterwards, good faith throughout, restrictions on what can be demanded of franchisees, a defined dispute process, and a public disclosure register entry. The Code has civil penalties attached to many of its provisions, so compliance is a real obligation rather than good practice. The practice's insight on the Code goes through the 2025 changes.
Can I sell my franchise?

Usually, with the franchisor's consent, which the Code says cannot be unreasonably withheld. The agreement will set out the process, the transfer fee, what the buyer must satisfy, and what you remain liable for afterwards. Start with the transfer clause well before you list the business.

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