Has an Owner ever asked you to sign his contract before you started work on a new design project? Rhetorical question– this happens all the time, right? Especially in commercial work, developers or owners typically are not happy to simply agree to your Proposal for Services, but instead want you to sign *their* contract.

There are some risks with that you should be aware of — one of which is the seemingly arcane and legalistic language that reads something like this:

“The Developer’s contract with Owner is hereby incorporated by reference.”