# Contract > A written agreement setting out rules, limits and consequences in a discipline arrangement. What a useful one contains, and why it binds nobody in UK law. - Canonical URL: https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/contract/ - Section: A–Z - Updated: November 2026 (2026-11-01) - Audience: consenting adults over 18 only. Everything on this site concerns consenting adults over 18. A document with no legal force whatsoever, which is worth writing anyway. The value is in the argument you have while drafting it, not in the piece of paper you end up with. --- ## In short - A contract here means a written agreement of rules, limits and consequences between two adults. - It has no legal force in the UK and cannot make anyone obliged to submit to anything. - The value is the conversation it forces. Vague clauses turn into arguments at eleven at night. - Any agreement without a review date and a stated way out is a warning sign, not a formality. Everything on this page concerns consenting adults over 18. ## What it means In a discipline or [power exchange](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/why/power-exchange/) arrangement, a contract is a written statement of what the two people have agreed: rules, limits, how consequences work, and how the whole thing gets reviewed. It borrows the language of law without any of the effect, which is part of its appeal and the source of most of the trouble around it. The related site page is [rules and agreements](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/discipline/rules-and-agreements/), which goes into what to put in one. ## In practice I am mildly in favour of writing one and fairly sceptical of the object afterwards. Drafting forces two people to be specific about things they have been comfortably vague about. What actually happens if a rule is broken. Who decides. What the ceiling on a consequence is. Whether it is on when one of you is ill, or working away, or has had a genuinely awful week. Those are the questions that cause the arguments, and having them at the kitchen table on a Sunday is far cheaper than having them halfway through an evening. Things worth including: a small number of rules rather than twenty; a plain statement of hard limits; a maximum for any consequence; how either person raises a problem without it counting as disobedience; and a review date, which I would set at six weeks for a new arrangement and then annually. The clause I insist on is the exit. Written plainly: either of us can end this at any time, without notice, without a reason, and nothing in this document changes that. If the other person will not put that in writing you have learned something extremely useful for the price of a conversation. ## The usual mistake The dangerous misunderstanding is thinking it binds anyone. It does not, in any respect. It is not enforceable, it cannot waive criminal law, and nobody has ever been obliged by one. Anyone telling you that you agreed and are therefore committed is misusing a prop. A related pattern is the contract used to close doors: clauses about not seeing friends, handing over money or passwords, or requiring permission for ordinary life. That is not a kink document. Behaviour of that kind can amount to controlling or coercive behaviour under section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, and in England and Wales it is a criminal offence regardless of anything signed. > ## If an agreement is being used against you > > > > No document obliges you to stay. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247, free and 24 hours. The Men's Advice Line is 0808 8010 327. The Samaritans are on 116 123 at any hour. ## Read next - [Rules and agreements](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/discipline/rules-and-agreements/) - [Consent and coercive control](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/discipline/consent-and-coercive-control/) - [House rules](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/house-rules/) - [Consent withdrawal](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/consent-withdrawal/) ## Sources 1. Serious Crime Act 2015, s.76 (controlling or coercive behaviour). [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/9/section/76) 2. *R v Brown* [1993] UKHL 19. [bailii.org](https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1993/19.html) > **Not legal advice.** Where this page mentions the law, it is general information written from an England and Wales position unless it says otherwise, and it is not legal advice. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law. If your own legal position matters, speak to a solicitor. ## Common questions ### Is a BDSM contract legally binding in the UK? No. A document of this kind has no legal force in the UK. It cannot create an enforceable obligation to submit to anything, it cannot waive the protection of the criminal law, and consent to actual bodily harm is not a defence under R v Brown regardless of what anyone has signed. Its value is entirely in the conversation that produced it. ### What should a discipline agreement include? The activities that are in and out, the hard limits, how consequences work and what their ceiling is, how either person raises a problem, what happens if someone wants to stop, and a date to review the whole thing. A useful agreement is short, specific and written in ordinary language rather than borrowed formal phrasing.