# Do we need an NDA before discussing scope with you? **slug:** `faq-nda-before-scoping` · **URL:** `/knowledge/faq/nda-before-scoping/` · **reviewer:** Tatiana ### Short answer We default to working under a mutual NDA from the first scoping call. If your team has a standard NDA template, we sign yours. If you don't have one, we provide our standard mutual NDA. There is no charge for scoping discussions or for the NDA review. ### What our standard NDA covers Our standard mutual NDA covers technical, business, and personnel information shared during scoping discussions, engagement execution, and post-engagement support. It is mutual: protections apply equally to both parties. It includes: - Confidentiality term: 5 years from disclosure for general technical and business information; perpetual for trade secrets clearly marked as such - Permitted disclosure: to professional advisors (legal, accounting) under their own confidentiality obligations - Return-or-destroy obligations at engagement end - No grant of intellectual-property licenses through information sharing - Jurisdiction: Hong Kong arbitration is our default; we adapt to client preference where required by client jurisdiction We sign client-template NDAs without modification in the great majority of cases. Where a client template includes terms that conflict with our professional obligations (mandatory reporting, technical-finding ownership transfer, perpetual unilateral confidentiality without reciprocity), we discuss those specific clauses before signing. ### The case for moving fast on the NDA A signed NDA in place before the first technical conversation lets the client share the actual system architecture, source-code layout, and incident history that drive accurate scoping. Scoping engagements that operate under "let's be vague until the contract" tend to under-scope the actual technical surface, which produces engagement-execution friction that benefits no one. ### Related - [Rules of Engagement](/trust/rules-of-engagement/) - [Security & Data Handling](/trust/security-data-handling/) - [Engagement models — overview](/engagement-models/) --- End of faq-batch-3/article.md (5 FAQ pages).