Franchising Law

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Distribution, Licensing & Site Occupancy

The Franchising Code of Conduct contains a checklist for what will constitute a ‘franchise agreement’. Many distribution and licensing arrangements can unintentionally be caught by the criteria, meaning they will be a franchise for legal purposes.

It is therefore important to correctly structure your business arrangements for distribution or licensing. If franchising isn’t right for you, then Stone Group Lawyers can give you the advice you need to achieve your intended goal.

Site Occupancy

There are a variety of ways that a franchisee may occupy a site-based premises, each carrying different considerations for franchisors.

Many franchisors will also choose to have a level of involvement in the process of dealing with a landlord of a site or shopping centre.

We can assist franchisors in all aspects of site occupancy including:

Advising on the most appropriate occupancy arrangements for your franchise system and the level of involvement you should have;
For franchise systems where the franchisor will hold the head lease, negotiating leases with landlords, preparing the requisite disclosure statements to comply with retail leasing legislation and preparing/issuing licence to occupy agreements to your franchisees;
For franchise systems where the franchisee will hold the lease or own the site, preparing and negotiating step in deeds with the franchisee and landlord.