Home > Businesses > Specific businesses and industries > Fitness suppliers > Membership agreements

Membership agreements

Printable view

Essential information

The agreement must contain the following details:

your service´s name and address
the client´s and your rights and obligations
fee details
the cooling-off period start and end dates
the client´s right to terminate the agreement due to permanent sickness or physical incapacity
circumstances under which the client can terminate the agreement before the membership ends, other than those listed above
how the client can terminate the agreement
the opening date, if the agreement is signed before the fitness centre opens for business.

Fee disclosure

Before a client signs a membership agreement, you must give them a clear, written statement that outlines:

each fee they will pay
what services each fee pays for
when they need to pay each fee
the total amount of fees they will pay during the agreement´s term.

Specifically, the statement must disclose:

the initial joining fee
the membership fee
the fee for each visit to the centre
the fee for services you provide
the administration fee for terminating the agreement during the cooling-off period or due to permanent sickness or physical incapacity
the fee for terminating the agreement outside the cooling-off period or for a reason other than permanent sickness or physical incapacity
any fee for transferring membership to another fitness centre or person
any fee for suspending membership
any other fee that they may pay under the agreement.

If you offer a free or discounted fitness service under a membership agreement, the written statement must also disclose:

the usual service fee before the offer
whether the usual service fee was increased before the offer and, if so, by how much
whether the service has decreased in quality or is restricted in any way because of the offer and how.

Prepaid fees

You cannot ask a client to pay prepaid fees for more than 12 months of the agreement´s term. This applies specifically to membership terms longer than one year.

Ongoing agreements

Memberships with an initial membership period (usually 6 or 12 months) that continue beyond the initial term are called ongoing or rollover agreements.

When a client signs an ongoing agreement, the membership agreement must state that it is an ongoing agreement, and the client must sign and date it.

At least two months before the initial expiration date, you must write to the client explaining:

the date that the initial agreement will end
that the agreement will continue beyond the initial term unless the client terminates the agreement.

Agreements with minors

The fitness centre must get its own legal advice about a minor´s ability to enter into a binding contract, how to handle the situation, and the implications.