24/7 BDSM Contract Template: TPE Clauses + Sample

This guide draws on consent frameworks from the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, abuse-prevention work from Network La Red and RAINN, and legal commentary from attorney Sergei Tokmakov, Esq. (California Bar #279869), via his analysis of BDSM relationship contracts and NDAs. It is educational, not legal or mental-health advice.

What a 24/7 TPE Contract Actually Is (and Isn't)

A 24/7 contract — total power exchange, or TPE — documents a dynamic with no scheduled "off" time. Unlike a scene contract, which governs bounded play that starts and stops, a 24/7 contract reaches into ordinary life: meals, schedules, money, household, language, the texture of a normal Tuesday. The whole point is that there is no moment when the rules switch off by default.

That is exactly why the word "total" is dangerous if it's read literally. "Total" describes how continuous the framing is, not how complete the surrender is. Consent in a 24/7 dynamic is no more permanent than consent in a single scene — it remains revocable at every moment. California attorney Sergei Tokmakov, Esq. — who covers kink-related contract questions in his practice — puts it directly: a BDSM agreement "should be thought of as a written record of negotiations, not a binding contract." A written agreement does not override criminal or civil law, and it cannot pre-give consent on either partner's behalf.

A usable 24/7 contract does one job that the scene contract can't: it makes the floors explicit. Because the dynamic governs real life, the document has to say — in writing, before anyone is in subspace — which decisions authority never touches. People write these documents for the floors they protect, not for the surrender they describe.

"Total" power exchange is a framing, not a waiver. The most important sentences in a 24/7 contract are the ones that say what authority can never reach.

Who Writes a 24/7 Contract — and Who Probably Shouldn't

A 24/7 TPE contract is the right tool when:

• You and your partner already run a recurring D/s dynamic and want to extend it deliberately into daily life
• You cohabit, or you're planning a live-in arrangement, and need explicit carve-outs for work, family, health, and money
• You're experienced enough to know which floors you need protected, because you've already bumped into them
• Authority is starting to touch schedules, finances, or household, and both partners want guardrails written down

A 24/7 contract is the wrong tool when:

• You haven't done bounded scenes yet — a 24/7 framing is the deepest end of the pool, not the entry; start with safe words and a scene-based BDSM contract or a basic D/s contract
• Either partner is treating "24/7" as a way to lock in permanent consent or remove the other's right to leave — that is not what the framing means, and a contract cannot make it safe
• One partner is isolated, financially dependent, or unable to walk away freely — when the exit is gone, the dynamic is coercive control, which is abuse, and no document fixes that

How a 24/7 TPE Contract Differs from a Scene Contract and Basic D/s

The difference is scope. A basic D/s contract names the roles; a scene or BDSM contract negotiates bounded play; a 24/7 contract governs ordinary life with no scheduled off switch — and so it needs heavier machinery to stay safe.

If your relationship is mostly about who's in charge during agreed windows, the basic D/s contract is the cleaner start. If it's about what you do together in bounded play, the BDSM contract fits. The 24/7 template below is only for couples who genuinely want the dynamic to run continuously — and who understand that continuous scope is precisely why the floors and carve-outs have to be heaviest here.

What Should Be Included in a 24/7 TPE Contract?

Nine clauses cover the repeat failure points. The first three — scope, floors, and context protocols — are what make a 24/7 contract different from a scene contract. The summary table is the framework; the sections below are the detail.

Clause 1 — Scope and Authority Domains

The scope clause is the spine of a 24/7 contract. It lists, by name, which life areas authority covers and which it does not. "Everything" is not a scope; it is an abdication of the conversation. List the domains explicitly — daily structure, diet, dress, language, household, sexual availability — and equally explicitly list what is out.

Example. Authority domains: daily schedule, morning and evening protocols, dress within agreed wardrobe, household division of labour, forms of address. Out of scope by default: career decisions, medical choices, finances, contact with friends and family, and anything covered by the floors clause below.

Clause 2 — Non-Negotiable Floors and Real-Life Carve-Outs

This is the most important clause and the one bad contracts omit entirely. The floors are decisions authority never overrides, in any state, regardless of protocol: medical care, mental-health crises, legal and financial autonomy, personal safety, and the right to exit. Carve-outs protect the parts of life that "total" must never swallow — work, family, health, money, safety. Without this clause, "24/7" drifts into coercive control, which is abuse, not power exchange.

Example. Floors that authority never overrides: the submissive's medical and mental-health care; their legal and financial decisions; their personal safety; their contact with family, friends, and support networks; and their right to pause or end this dynamic at any moment without justification. These floors are in force at all times, including in scene and including in subspace.

Clause 3 — Protocols by Context (Home / Public / Work)

A 24/7 dynamic cannot run the same ruleset everywhere. Home protocols, public protocols, and the explicit suspension of protocol at work or in front of people who don't consent to witness it all need to be written. The default at work and around non-consenting third parties is "no visible protocol."

Example. At home: full protocol as listed in scope. In public: discreet protocols only (agreed signal, no kneeling or visible address). At work, with family who are not aware, and around any non-consenting third party: protocol is fully suspended. No protocol is ever permitted to interfere with the submissive's job or professional standing.

Clause 4 — Safe Words and Auto-Withdraw Triggers

A continuous dynamic needs safe words more than a scene does, not less. Keep the traffic-light convention and a non-verbal signal, and then add auto-withdraw triggers: situations in which consent is automatically considered withdrawn and the dynamic pauses by default. These don't require anyone to call a safe word.

Example. Standard traffic light; non-verbal signal: three rapid taps on any surface. Auto-withdraw triggers — the dynamic pauses by default, no safe word required: active mental-health crisis, illness or injury, intoxication above one drink, an unresolved conflict from outside the dynamic, or either partner stating they are not consenting today.

Clause 5 — Structured Check-In Cadence

Because a 24/7 dynamic touches daily life, its check-in cadence has to be heavier than a scene contract's. A scene contract can review monthly; a live-in TPE dynamic needs a short weekly check-in held outside the dynamic, where the submissive speaks as an equal, plus a heavier periodic review.

Example. Weekly check-in: every Sunday, twenty minutes, protocol suspended, both partners speaking as equals. Standing questions: what felt good, what chafed, which carve-outs came under pressure, anything to add or remove. Either partner may call an unscheduled check-in at any time.

Clause 6 — Mutual Aftercare and Decompression

A 24/7 dynamic with no off-ramp eventually overheats. Build in scheduled decompression — windows where protocol lifts entirely — and mutual aftercare after heavier scenes. Decompression is not a failure of the dynamic; it is what keeps it sustainable. Aftercare belongs to both partners, because dominants drop too.

Example. Scheduled decompression: one full day per week with protocol suspended, and a longer break each quarter. Post-scene aftercare, both directions: water, shared quiet time, and a check-in within twenty-four hours. Either partner may call for decompression early if the dynamic feels heavy.

Clause 7 — Finances and Autonomy Boundaries

Money and freedom of movement are the classic vectors by which power exchange curdles into control. A 24/7 contract should state plainly that each partner keeps independent access to their own income and accounts, retains the ability to leave, and keeps outside relationships. Financial control is not a kink clause; it is a red flag.

Example. Each partner retains sole control of their own income, bank accounts, and identity documents. Neither partner restricts the other's money, transport, phone, or contact with friends and family. Any shared finances are governed by ordinary agreement between equals, entirely outside this dynamic.

Clause 8 — Review Cadence

Separate from the weekly check-in, the contract should name when it gets formally re-read and renegotiated. For a 24/7 dynamic, that is heavier at the start: monthly for the first six months, then quarterly once the terms stabilise.

Example. This agreement is formally reviewed monthly for the first six months, then quarterly. A review is triggered early by any called safe word, any fired auto-withdraw trigger, any major life event, or any strain on a carve-out. At each review, every clause is open to renegotiation.

Clause 9 — Pause, Termination, and Exit

Either partner can pause the dynamic at any moment by saying so, with no justification. Either partner can terminate it in writing at any time, again with no justification and no conditions. The exit must be unconditional — an exit with strings attached is not an exit.

Example. Either party may pause instantly by stating "I'm pausing"; all protocol suspends until both agree to resume. Either party may end this dynamic at any time, verbally or in writing, with no justification, no penalty, and no conditions. Ending the dynamic does not end the relationship's care for each other's wellbeing.

How to Customize the Template for Your Dynamic

Three steps, in order:

1. List authority domains by name — never "everything." The scope clause is only safe when it's specific. Write down each life area authority covers, and write down what's out. If you can't list it, you can't consent to it.

2. Write the floors before anything fun. Medical, legal, financial, safety, and exit floors come first and are non-negotiable. They stay in force in scene and in subspace. A draft that has protocols but no floors is not a TPE contract; it's a liability.

3. Build in decompression and auto-withdraw triggers. Because there's no scheduled off-time, you have to engineer one: a weekly off-ramp, plus triggers (crisis, illness, intoxication, an outside fight) that pause the dynamic by default. These keep a continuous dynamic from running with no release valve.

Common Mistakes When Writing a 24/7 Contract

Related Reading

• BDSM contract template — the scene-bounded contract this page builds on
• Basic D/s contract template — for power-role-centric dynamics with defined windows
• Submissive contract template — for articulating what each partner offers
• Safe words guide — the conversation that has to happen before any contract
• BDSM aftercare guide — what aftercare and decompression look like in practice
• All contract templates — browse the full set

Sources & Further Reading

Research

1. Sagarin, B. J., Cutler, B., Cutler, N., Lawler-Sagarin, K. A., & Matuszewich, L. (2009). Hormonal changes and couple bonding in consensual sadomasochistic activity. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(2), 186-200.
2. Wismeijer, A. A., & van Assen, M. A. (2013). Psychological characteristics of BDSM practitioners. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10(8), 1943-1952.
3. Connolly, P. H. (2006). Psychological functioning of bondage / domination / sado-masochism (BDSM) practitioners. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 18(1), 79-120.
4. Holvoet, L., Huys, W., Coppens, V., Seeuws, J., Goethals, K., & Morrens, M. (2017). Fifty shades of Belgian gray: The prevalence of BDSM-related fantasies and activities in the general population. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 14(9), 1152-1159.

Books

• Hardy, J. W., & Easton, D. (2003). The New Bottoming Book. Greenery Press.
• Harrington, L. (2012). Playing Well With Others. Mystic Productions Press.

Legal & Community Resources

• National Coalition for Sexual Freedom — Consent Counts
• Network La Red — partner abuse prevention for LGBTQ+ kink communities
• RAINN — sexual assault support (1-800-656-HOPE)
• Tokmakov, S. (2024). BDSM relationship contracts and NDAs. terms.law.

Author Note

The first contract I ever saw call itself "total power exchange" had two pages of protocol and not one sentence about what the dominant could never touch. That's backwards. In a 24/7 dynamic the floors are the document — the protocols are just decoration on top of them. If you write down only one clause, write down the one that says she can always leave, always see a doctor, always keep her own money. The rest is detail.

— Ren Vale