"Boilerplate" means a standard term or terms in a contract, typically copied from other contracts, contract form books, or other sources to deal with typical or recurring issues.  The term derives from the newspaper business.  Syndicated columns or other syndicated material were sent to subscribing newspapers in the form of a "mat."  The newspaper would then pour boiling led into the mat to create a plate used in printing the newspaper.   The material printed on a "boilerplate" could not thereafter be altered. 

      Parties to a contract may use boilerplate deliberately to avoid the expense of reinventing the wheel (especially given the speed and convenience of electronic word processing) or to avoid the risk that the drafting of new language may fail to adequately state what boilerplate does adequately state.  Or parties to a contract may use boilerplate without even reading or understanding it simply because it happens to be in a document that they are signing that includes other, individually negotiated terms (e.g. price, quantity, dates) that are the core of the deal.  You may find examples of some boilerplate clauses in Sample Documents.