The Roommate Agreement

The Roommate Agreement was written by Sheldon and was signed by Leonard when they first became roommates. These events were shown during a flashback in "The Staircase Implementation". Sheldon starts mentioning paragraphs from a Friendship Agreement in the episode "The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem". Later episodes describe it as a Roommate Agreement, and Sheldon continues to cite from it throughout the series, usually when one of the clauses is being violated.

Sheldon revamped the Agreement to better favor himself in The Agreement Dissection (although as written by Sheldon, the Agreement, even before Priya took it apart, has always been constructed to favor only him due to his selfishness, his self-centeredness and his insistence on always having his way). The new version was however only agreed upon by blackmail as Sheldon had set up a one-minute timer which would then send an email to Priya's parents informing them of her relationship with Leonard, which Leonard objected to at first.

The Roommate Agreement was in effect for the majority of the show; however since Sheldon has moved in with Amy into Penny's old apartment, it can be assumed that the agreement is no longer in effect.

Contents

• 1 Articles of the Roommate Agreement
• 2 Unspecified Clauses
• 3 Friendship Rider
• 4 Cohabitation Rider
• 5 Breaks of the Roommate Agreement
• 6 Other Unnamed Clauses by Sheldon
• 7 Trivia
• 8 Controversial Clauses

Articles of the Roommate Agreement [ ]

• Skynet Clause: Leonard will help Sheldon destroy an Artificial Intelligence that Sheldon has created that is taking over the earth. ("S2 Ep6")
• Body Snatchers Clause: Leonard will help Sheldon destroy someone who they know that has been replaced by an alien pod.("S2 Ep6")
• Godzilla Clause: Presumably, Leonard will help Sheldon destroy a monster that has destroyed Tokyo. ("S2 Ep6")
• Section C: Sheldon can call for an emergency meeting. ("S2 Ep10")
• Unnamed Clause: Leonard will name Sheldon as his sidekick if Leonard obtains superpowers. ("S2 Ep10")
• Section 9: The apartment's flag is a gold lion rampant on a field of azure and should never be flown upside down, unless the apartment is in distress. ("S3 Ep22")
• Section 9: If one of the roommates ever invents Time Travel, the first stop has to aim exactly five seconds after this clause of the Roommate Agreement was signed. ("S3 Ep22")
• Section 74C: Leonard must assist Sheldon if he ever becomes a robot ("S4 Ep2")
• Unnamed Clause: If Sheldon turns into a Zombie, Leonard cannot kill him.
• [Clause] : If one of them will be visiting CERN, they must take the other roommate along. ("S3 Ep15")
• Friendship Clause: Sheldon will take Leonard swimming to Bill Gates' house should he ever be invited. ("S3 Ep15")
• Unnamed Clause: The thermostat must be kept at 72 degrees at all times. ("S3 Ep22")
• Unnamed Clause: Fridays are reserved for watching Firefly due to Sheldon's assumption that it would be on for years. ("S3 Ep 21")
• Unnamed Clause: Leonard must drive Sheldon to work. ("S3 Ep15")
• Section 37B: Miscellaneous Duties: Leonard is obligated to drive Sheldon to his various appointments, such as to the dentist. Leonard must also provide a "confirmation sniff" to tell if questionable dairy products are edible. ("S5 Ep15")
• Addendum J: When Sheldon showers second, any and all measures shall be taken to ensure an adequate supply of hot water. ("S4 Ep21") This is supposedly supersedes the occupancy limit on the shower, however it is presumed that after Sheldon rewrote the agreement, this was corrected.
• Unnamed Clause: Thursday night is Jets pizza night. ("S4 Ep21")
• Unnamed Clause: Selection of a new takeout restaurant requires a public hearing and a 60-day comment period. ("S4 Ep21")
• Clause 209: Sheldon and Leonard both have the option of nullifying their roommate agreement, having no responsibilities or obligations toward each other, other than paying rent and sharing utilities. ("S5 Ep15")
• Unnamed Addendum: Once a year, Leonard and Sheldon take one day to celebrate the contributions Leonard gives to Sheldon's life, both real and imaginary. Leonard does not get breakfast in bed, the right to sit in Sheldon's spot, or permission to alter the thermostat; the only thing that Leonard gets is a thank-you card. This day is called "Leonard's Day." ("S5 Ep15")
• Roommate Review: Once a year (presumably), Sheldon assesses Leonard's worthiness as a roommate. ("S6 Ep2"). It is unknown what the failure of this assessment leads to, however fines or expulsion are possible.
• Unnamed Clause Leonard has to put up with Sheldon's craziness. ("S6 Ep15")
• Section 27, Paragraph 5: The roommate agreement, like the American flag, cannot touch the ground. ("S6 Ep15")
• Unnamed Clause Once a day Sheldon must ask how Leonard is.
• Unnamed Clause Roommates must notify each other 12 hours in advance if they wish to have a house guest.
• Unnamed Clause Sheldon settles all ties to one-against-one.
• Unnamed Clause Any changes in furnishings have to be approved by the furnishing committee (which is Sheldon) which meets on alternate years on his spot. ("S7 Ep16")
• Section 8, Subsection C, Paragraph 4 - Coitus - Roommates shall give 12-hour notice of impending coitus ("S3 Ep22").
• Unnamed Clause: In the case that the Cohabitation Rider is activated the distribution of fridge shelves goes from two personal shelves (one for Sheldon and one for Leonard) and one communal shelf to three personal shelves (one for Sheldon, Leonard, and whomever is living with the pair) and the door being convered to communal status. It is unknown what the shelf distribution is configured to when the Cohabitation Rider is not activated. It is also unknown what occurs if there is only one or four occupants.
• Unnamed Clause: Pieces of tape on the bathroom floor specify where one should stand when flossing or peeing. Evidence uncovered during an inspection of incompliance will result in the loss of TV privileges ("S4 Ep20").

Unspecified Clauses [ ]

• Since the “Sweaty Night of '06”, Sheldon has control of the thermostat in the apartment, which is set at 72 degrees in winter. ("The Staircase Implementation")
• Leonard has the right to allocate fifty percent of the cubic footage of the common areas in the apartment, but only if Sheldon is notified in advance by e-mail. ("The Staircase Implementation")
• Pets are banned under the roommate agreement, with the exception of service animals such as cybernetically enhanced helper monkeys, and seeing-eye dogs ("The Plimpton Stimulation")
• No "hootennany|hootennanies", sing-alongs, raucous laughter, clinking of glasses, celebratory gunfire, or barbershop quartets after 10 PM as well as no whistling, no spontaneous Biohazard drills, or Tuvan throat singing ("The Roommate Transmogrification", "The Werewolf Transformation" and "The Agreement Dissection")

Friendship Rider [ ]

Appendix C - Future commitments

• No.37: In the event one friend is ever invited to visit the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, he shall invite the other friend to accompany him. ("S3 Ep15")
• If one friend gets super powers, he will name the other one as his sidekick. ("S2 Ep10") ("S3 Ep15")
• If one friend is bitten by a zombie, the other can't kill him. ("S3 Ep15")
• If one friend wins a MacArthur grant, he must mention the other friend in his speech. ("S3 Ep15")
• If one friend gets invited to go swimming at Bill Gates' house, he will take the other friend to accompany him. ("S3 Ep15")

Cohabitation Rider [ ]

• Unnamed Clause: A girlfriend shall be deemed “living with” Leonard when she has stayed over for:
  • A: ten consecutive nights, or
  • B: more than nine nights in three week period, or
  • C: all the weekends of a given month plus three weeknights. ("S2 Ep10")

  Breaks of the Roommate Agreement [ ]

  • Sheldon frequently accuses Leonard of potential breaks of the roommate agreement or uses the agreement to get his way. ("S2 Ep6") ("S2 Ep10" ) ('S3 Ep15") ("S3 Ep22")
  • Although pets are banned under the roommate agreement (see Unspecified Clauses), in Season 4, Sheldon bought a bunch of cats, or clowder, after he and Amy went their separate ways. Leonard doesn't seem to catch this as a break of the roommate agreement. However, Sheldon wasn't entirely in his right mind following the breakup, and, in fact, he gave the cats away with $20. each\ after reuniting with Amy. Similarly, Sheldon was emotionally unwell when he brought goldfish into the apartment in order to make them glow in the dark (and succeeded), though this would not count as a breach as they were goldfish night lights, making them a service animal.
    • The fish would classify as work since he was doing it for science not a pet. Raj also brings his dog in.

    Other Unnamed Clauses by Sheldon [ ]

    • Unnamed Clause: No hootenannies, sing-a-longs, or barbershop quartets after 10 PM ("S5 Ep18")

    Trivia [ ]

    • Leonard nitpicks the Agreement in "The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem", but seems to forget about it whenever it inconveniences him.
    • Leonard was technically not required to do anything for Sheldon in "The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification" since the wording of the section in the Roommate Agreement mentions becoming a robot, not using one to get around while the original body is still in use and intact.
    • Sheldon at one point constructed a "Penny-specific" section of the roommate agreement when he thought that Penny and Leonard were getting back together, but this was never ratified and the contents remain unknown.

    Controversial Clauses [ ]

    Sheldon states that the Roommate Agreement contains a specific clause that all ties will be settled by him. Leonard affirmed this but underlined that he didn't sign that clause, while Sheldon argues that while Leonard disagreed, he agreed, and since all ties are settled by Sheldon, the tie clause is made valid. Technically, Leonard is right, as the rule was not in effect while they were arguing over the clause, so it could not apply in that situation ("S3 Ep22").