Free Minnesota Independent Contractor Agreement Template

A Minnesota independent contractor agreement is a written contract for services between a business and a self-employed worker or company. It records the scope, the price, and the terms of the job.

Minnesota differs from most states in one important way. Where the work is building construction or improvement, state law dictates what a Minnesota independent contractor agreement must say.

Which rules apply depends on the kind of work. Minnesota Statutes section 181.723, called Misclassification of Construction Employees, sets the strictest ones.

That section covers commercial and residential building construction and improvement work, public or private. It does not cover making, supplying, or selling products. Most standalone landscaping maintenance falls outside it too.

Construction Workers Start as Employees

Under subdivision 3, anyone doing building construction or improvement work for your business is your employee by default. That starting point runs across seven chapters of Minnesota law. They cover wages, workers’ compensation, workplace safety, unemployment insurance, and contractor licensing.

The 14-Factor Test

Subdivision 4 is the way out of that default. Since March 1, 2025, the worker must run a business entity. That entity must meet all 14 requirements at the time the work happens. An older nine-factor test covered work done on or before February 28, 2025, as the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry sets out.

Among other things, the business has to:

• Exist separately from and independently of you
• Own, rent, or lease its own tools, equipment, or premises
• Offer the same kind of work to other customers or the public
• Hold whatever tax registrations, licences, and certifications the law requires
• Carry workers’ compensation cover where chapter 176 calls for it
• Stand to make extra profit or take a loss on the job

Missing even one is enough to lose the classification.

Registration

Construction contractors without another licence often register with the Department of Labor and Industry. That duty sits at section 326B.701.

This is where Minnesota gets specific. For construction work, subdivision 4(a)(9) requires a written contract covering the exact services. That contract has to:

• Be signed and dated by someone authorised on each side
• Be fully executed within 30 days of work starting
• Name the specific services being provided
• Pay on a commission, per-job, or competitive bid basis, and on nothing else

Change orders are exempt from the 30-day deadline.

Two more requirements sit right beside those. Invoices and payments must run in the business’s name, and paying in cash does not count. The contract also has to give the business control over how the work gets done. The business must then truly exercise that control.

One more point closes the loop. The business is on the hook for finishing the work, and for what follows if it does not. Getting a Minnesota independent contractor agreement right therefore means writing it against the statute point by point.

1. Work out whether the job counts as building construction or improvement, since that decides if section 181.723 applies.
2. Check the contractor is a business entity rather than an individual before anything starts.
3. Name the specific services instead of describing a general role.
4. Price the job on a commission, per-job, or competitive bid basis.
5. Get an authorised person on each side to sign and date within 30 days of work starting.
6. Invoice and pay in the business’s name, and keep cash out of it.
7. Hold on to your paperwork, since subdivision 7 asks you to keep it for at least three years.

Different rules cover work outside construction. There, Minnesota applies its general misclassification law. Minnesota Rules in the 5224 series then set control tests trade by trade.

Beyond the statutory clauses, round the agreement out with:

• Names, addresses, and entity details for both sides
• Deliverables, milestones, and completion dates
• Change order process
• Insurance and indemnity terms
• Confidentiality, where applicable
• Dispute resolution and termination

Start your contract in minutes and adjust each clause to the job in front of you.