Contracts - ongoing vs set end date?

Do you put an end date in your contract?

A little background is that I do break/fix and often have clients that have multiple projects. As such I have found it easy to have a contract that lays out the service I provide as well as how much I charge and the various other details (legal stuff) such that a client can email me about a new project and I can respond and agree and we can get started. BUT, this leaves me needing to have a conversation with each client if I need to change the terms. I have seen other people that will do this type of service contract for a given period of time, lets say a year, and at the end of the year a new contract is needed to move forward as thus any terms can be more easily updated. Either way you have to have a conversation about terms, but I just want to hear what other people are doing. Sometimes I have a client and it goes poorly and we go our separate ways and I would rather the contract expires than have to formally send them a termination agreement. Thanks!

We don’t really have expiration dates on project work, just agreements to our fee schedules and quotes that are provided to confirm scope of work.

Thanks! Always good to see what other people are up to.

I feel like if I define what I am doing, how much it costs, and a few other odds and ends (like when I get paid or leaving myself a way out if things go wrong) then it should be fine. Of course I should also have a local lawyer review it just in case I am missing any local ordinances. A lot of it is just making sure two parties are clear on the work they are engaging in. Thanks again!

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I charge by the hour and also offer a retainer rate on an annual basis. For work by third parties that is billed same with materials. Mostly design and project management as of late.