Helicopter contract work.
 

Hello all,

I am starting contact work under EASA in Europe soon. As I have formerly only been an employee and not a contractor I was wondering what Helicopter contract pilots do when engaging with a new customer/ company.

Is it advisable to draw up a letter of intent or a contract of sorts, if so does someone have templates that I can use ?

Thanks!

Any other tips or advice regarding starting on contract work would also be greatly appreciated.

Which jurisdiction?
 

If you want people to advise you, you need to tell them which jurisdiction your client is based in. Contractual and social security rules very greatly between different European countries.

RHRP

Get public liability insurance

Bit difficult to be a contractor without a contract! You may get advice from people with actual experience, but from observing over time it seems the normal method is to set up a company, with you as the sole employee, and then the contract is with that company. However, as RHRP says, the laws of the country you are in will have a significant bearing on how you go about doing business, particularly with tax. Some countries take a very dim view of self employed people working for a single client, as it can be perceived as a way of avoiding the person being employed directly as a means to dodge various obligations that would then be mandated. e.g. social security payments, leave entitlement (including paternity/maternity paid leave), redundancy pay etc etc. Plus the contractor is also able to gain tax benefits by reclaiming costs associated with the business, such as costs associated with a vehicle, office equipment etc. Have a look through this thread as an example..... https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-591436.html

RHRP, Thank you for your reply. I and my company are based in The Netherlands. I have multiple customers ( not aviation related ) this will be my first "aviation customer" as such I am looking to find out how I would go about a contract. what would be in there, what wording etc.

If you have multiple clients, a consultancy agreement under Dutch law should be all that is required. A quick look on Google shows various templates you can download. As paco says, it will be very important to include clauses regarding insurance and liability as well as defining the commercial terms (eg fees, hours, termination period etc).

Good luck

RHRP