Channel Partner Agreement Guide: What to Check Before You Sign with a Developer

The mandate scope sets out what you are being appointed to sell and on what basis. It usually names the project or projects covered, the location or phase if the project is sold in parts, the type of inventory covered, and the territory or customer segment if the developer divides the market between partners. It also usually states whether your appointment is exclusive or non exclusive, and what exclusivity, if any is offered, actually covers.

Exclusivity is one of the most misunderstood words in these agreements. An exclusive mandate might cover a whole project, one tower or phase, one territory, one customer segment, or only a fixed period. It might also come with conditions, such as a sales target or a marketing commitment from your side. The word exclusive on its own tells you very little. The scope, the period and the conditions give it meaning.

• Which exact projects, phases, towers or inventory types are covered, and which are not. If you plan to sell a later phase, check whether this agreement covers it or whether a fresh mandate is needed.
• Whether the appointment is exclusive or non exclusive, in plain words, and if it is exclusive, what the exclusivity covers and for how long, as the agreement itself states it.
• Any condition attached to exclusivity, such as a minimum number of bookings, a marketing activity commitment or a review point, and what happens if that condition is not met.
• Whether the agreement restricts you in any way, for example on selling competing projects, and if so, how that restriction is worded and which projects it covers. Read any such restriction slowly and take advice on it, because it can affect your wider business.
• Whether the developer can appoint other partners, sell directly, or change the scope during the term, and what notice, if any, the agreement says will be given.

• The project list covered by the mandate, named project by project, rather than a general description.
• A clear statement of whether the mandate is exclusive or non exclusive, and if exclusive, the exact scope, period and conditions of that exclusivity.
• Any target or commitment you are accepting in return for the mandate, stated in measurable terms, with the review date the agreement will use.
• How a change in scope will be handled and communicated in writing, if inventory, phases or territory are added or removed later.

If the commercial conversation used the word exclusive but the draft does not, raise it before you sign. It is far easier to align the wording with the conversation at this stage than to argue about what was meant after you have built your marketing around one understanding of the mandate.

This is the money clause, and it usually decides three things together: the rate or slab, the value the rate is applied to, and the event that makes commission payable. A slab is a tiered rate, where the percentage changes as the number of bookings or the business volume crosses levels the agreement sets. The trigger is the defined event after which your right to commission arises, as the agreement words it. That event is not the same in every agreement, so never assume it. Read the exact event your own agreement names.

The base value matters as much as the rate. Two agreements can show a similar rate and produce different amounts if one applies the rate to a wider value and the other applies it to a narrower value, or if one includes or excludes certain charges, upgrades or other amounts. The clause, read with the definitions, should let you work out the amount for a real booking without guessing.

• The full slab table as the agreement states it: each tier, the rate for that tier, and what counts toward moving to the next tier, such as bookings in this project only or across projects, as the agreement defines it.
• Whether a higher slab rate, once reached, applies to all bookings in that slab or only to bookings inside that tier, as the agreement states it. This one detail can change the final amount on a strong project.
• The exact base the commission is calculated on, and what is included or excluded from that base in the agreement wording.
• The exact trigger event for payment, in the agreement words: for example whether commission becomes payable on a booking, on a later document, on the buyer reaching a payment stage the agreement names, on registration, or on a combination the agreement sets out. Treat these as examples of wording to look for, not as a standard rule.
• What happens to commission if the buyer cancels, defaults, transfers the unit or changes the unit, and whether any amount already paid can be adjusted or recovered under the agreement. Read this part carefully even if you expect every booking to complete.
• Whether the rate can be changed during the term, how a change would be notified, and whether a change would apply to leads or bookings already in progress, as the agreement states it.
• How tax on the commission is handled in the agreement, including what you must invoice and what documents you must provide, so your invoicing matches the process from the first booking.

• The complete slab in one place in the agreement or its annexure, not spread across emails and presentations.
• One worked example, confirmed by the developer, showing the calculation for a single booking from rate to final amount, including the base used. An example removes most calculation disputes before they start.
• The trigger event stated as a single clear sentence, with any buyer payment condition stated just as clearly.
• The treatment of cancellations and changes stated plainly, including whether commission is reduced, withheld or adjusted in each case the agreement covers.

For the wider background on how slabs and payout stages work in practice, read our channel partner commission guide and test your understanding on a real deal before you rely on any rate in conversation with a buyer or a co broker.

The payment timeline clause usually decides when you can raise your invoice, what the developer will check before paying, and within what period payment will be released after the trigger and the checks are complete, as the agreement itself states that period. It may also link release to stages, so that parts of the commission are paid at different points in the buyer journey the agreement describes.

This guide does not state a standard timeline, because there is no single timeline you can safely assume. The timeline that governs your cash flow is the one written in your agreement for this developer and this project. Your job before signing is to make sure that timeline is stated, complete and workable for your business, not to compare it with a number you heard from another partner on another project.

• When an invoice can be raised: at the trigger event, after it, or only after a further confirmation from the developer, as the agreement states it.
• The exact payment period the agreement promises after a correct invoice and any required documents, and the event that period is counted from.
• If payment is in stages, the size and condition of each stage as the agreement states it, and what evidence shows that a stage has been reached.
• What can delay or hold a payment under the agreement, such as a buyer payment delay, a missing document or an invoice error, and how you will be told about a hold.
• Who approves payouts on the developer side, how you track the status of an invoice, and what you should do if a payment is later than the period the agreement states.
• Whether interest, or any other consequence for late payment, is mentioned at all. If the agreement is silent, note that silence and raise it in discussion rather than assuming a protection exists.

• The payment period counted from a named event, for example from receipt of a correct invoice after the trigger, in the agreement own wording, rather than a loose phrase such as payment in due course.
• The stage split, if any, with the condition for each stage stated beside the amount or share for that stage.
• The invoice format, the details it must carry and the documents to attach, listed once in the agreement or its process annexure.
• A named contact or team for payout queries, and the step you should take first if a payment does not arrive within the stated period.

Plan your own cash flow from the written timeline, with a margin for delay. Commission that depends on buyer payments can move when a buyer pays late, and a firm that has already spent the full expected amount at booking stage will feel that movement first.

Lead registration is the process by which you record, in the developer system, that a buyer came through you. The related rules usually decide how and when you must register, what buyer details are required, how long a registration protects your claim, and what happens when the same buyer appears more than once, for example through another partner, a portal, a walk in or a direct enquiry with the developer.

These rules decide many commission disputes before they begin. A buyer you worked for weeks can be lost on a technical point if the registration was late, incomplete or made through the wrong channel. Read this section of the agreement and any linked process document as operating instructions, not as fine print.

• The registration method the agreement or process requires: a portal, a form, an email or another stated route, and the exact point by which you must register, such as before the site visit, as the process states it.
• The buyer details you must provide for a valid registration, and what makes a registration incomplete or invalid under the stated process.
• The protection period the agreement states for a registered lead, what extends or ends that protection, and what activity, if any, you must show during that period to keep the claim alive.
• The duplicate rule: what happens if the buyer was already registered by another partner, is already in the developer database, or enquires directly after your registration. Note which registration the rules treat as first or valid, and any window or condition the rules apply.
• Whether a registration covers only that buyer, or also family members or related buyers the agreement names, and whether it covers only one project or other projects of the same developer, as the agreement states it.
• How you will receive confirmation of each registration, and how a rejected or duplicate registration will be communicated to you, so you learn about a problem while you can still act.

• The registration steps in order, in a short process document you can train your team on, with the required fields listed.
• The protection period and the duplicate rule stated in one place, in plain sentences your team can apply without interpretation.
• Written or system confirmation for every registration, with the date and time visible, that you can save on the lead record.
• What happens on a genuine dispute: who reviews it, what records each side should produce, and by when a decision will be shared, as far as the developer is willing to state it.

Whatever the rules say, build one habit in your own firm: register first, visit second, every time, and keep your own dated record beside the developer confirmation. In Leadvio, that record sits on the lead itself, so the source, the registration note, the visit and the booking read as one story if a question is raised later. Our guide on how to manage real estate leads covers the daily system that keeps those records complete.

The termination clauses usually decide how the agreement can be ended, by either side, the notice that must be given, if any, and any grounds for immediate ending the agreement lists. A related set of sentences, sometimes called survival or post termination terms, usually decides what survives the end date: the treatment of leads already registered, visits already done, bookings already made, and commission already triggered but not yet paid.

Partners often skip this area because the relationship feels strong at signing. That is exactly when it is cheapest to clarify. At the end of an agreement, goodwill may be lower, teams may have changed, and only the written wording will be applied. If your agreement is silent on pipeline treatment, you do not have a clear protection. You have an open question that will be answered later, possibly against your expectation.

• How either side can end the agreement, the notice period the agreement states, and whether ending is allowed without a stated reason or only for reasons the agreement lists.
• Any immediate termination grounds the agreement lists, and what happens to work in progress if the agreement is ended on one of those grounds.
• What the agreement states about leads registered before the end date that have not yet visited or booked: whether your registration continues to be recognised, for how long after the end date as the agreement states it, and on what conditions.
• What the agreement states about bookings made before the end date where the payment trigger or a later payout stage falls after the end date.
• What the agreement states about commission already triggered but not yet paid at the end date, and the timeline for settling it.
• Any duties that continue after the end date, such as returning marketing material, stopping use of branding, or handling buyer data in a stated way.
• Whether either side can end the agreement for one project only, where the agreement covers several projects, and how that partial ending affects the pipeline for that project.

• A clear pipeline sentence covering registered leads, completed visits and completed bookings at the end date, with the period for which each will still be recognised, as agreed between you.
• A clear sentence on unpaid commission at the end date, covering amounts already triggered and stages that will trigger later on those same bookings.
• The notice method the agreement requires, such as the address or email a termination notice must be sent to, so a notice is never lost on a technical point.
• A short closing process: the final statement of accounts, the last date for raising invoices for work covered by the agreement, and the contact for closing queries.

If any of these points cannot be clarified in the draft, note that clearly for your adviser. The size of your pipeline at any future end date can be large, and the value at stake in this one area often exceeds the value of the rate discussion that gets far more attention at signing.

Branding rules usually decide how you may present the project and the developer in your own marketing: use of the project name, logo and images, approval for creatives or advertisements, the claims you may and may not make about price, offers, possession and returns, and the details you must include in your advertising, such as registration details the agreement requires you to display.

These rules protect the developer, but they also protect you. Marketing that follows the written rules is far less likely to bring a buyer complaint, a takedown request or a dispute with the developer back to your firm. Marketing built on an unapproved offer or an outdated price can do all three at once.

• Which brand assets you may use, where you may use them, such as on your pages, social posts and advertisements, and whether each use needs prior approval under the agreement or its brand annexure.
• The approval process the agreement states for marketing material: who approves, what you must submit, and how you will know a creative is approved.
• Any claims the rules prohibit or restrict, and how current prices and offers must be checked before you publish, including how updates or withdrawals of an offer will be communicated to you.
• What your advertisements must carry under the agreement, in the position and format the agreement states, and what you must not imply, such as presenting yourself as the developer rather than as a channel partner where the rules draw that line.
• What happens to live marketing when the agreement ends or when a campaign is withdrawn: what you must remove or stop, and within what period the agreement states.
• Who owns and pays for leads generated by your own marketing, and how those leads are registered, so branding and lead ownership work together rather than in conflict.

• The approved brand assets and the current price and offer source you should rely on, with the update channel the developer will use when prices or offers change.
• The approval steps and expected review route for a new creative, stated once, so your team does not guess on every campaign.
• A clear statement of any prohibited claims relevant to the project, in a short list your team can check before publishing.
• The end of agreement branding steps, including what to remove and by when, as the agreement states it.

Build a simple internal habit from these rules: no creative goes live until one person in your firm has checked the price, the offer wording and the required details against the current developer source on that day. That single check prevents the most common branding problem, which is not defiance of the rules but an old creative still running after the facts have changed.