Terms and Conditions

Kyle Hohler

Kyle Hohler

Location
Kalamazoo
As I'm gearing up to start the 2017 tree season I'm feeling as though I need to update/refine my terms and conditions when signing jobs. Does anyone care to share their terms and conditions that they use? I'm looking to compare others to mine.

I'm considering this year to add a commitment portion to the terms and conditions. For example, "by signing below I commit my business to (enter company name) and will thereby not hire another contractor to preform the work (within a given window)". Seems as though sometimes I shake a customers hand on the job and then when I reach them on my list (sometimes several weeks later) they've hired another contractor for the job and the job is already completed. This really messes with my scheduling if I'm planning on doing a couple jobs within a close proximity to each other which is usually how I try to schedule.

Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

Kyle
 
If in your contract, your client has already agreed to pay you a certain sum, to perform a certain task, your contract may already be enforceable even if they hire somebody else. You should probably talk to a local attorney specializing in contractor contracts. You might already have what you need, or perhaps you can put in a cancellation fee clause.
 
Take small deposit at time of scheduling???

Consider a 50% payment a week before, or less time if it's an instant credit card payment.

What guarantee to you have if work completed within "x" days of scheduling/ beginning the work?
 
cerviarborist said:
If in your contract, your client has already agreed to pay you a certain sum, to perform a certain task, your contract may already be enforceable even if they hire somebody else. You should probably talk to a local attorney specializing in contractor contracts. You might already have what you need, or perhaps you can put in a cancellation fee clause.
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I've thought about going to a local attorney but I figured I can write up something good enough for what I need. A cancellation fee clause would be a good idea. In the past I haven't been best at making every customer sign a contract and this year I want everything to be in writing and transparent. I hate when the customer says "well that's more than you told me it was going to be" when in reality it was exactly what I told them. Just seems like a more professional route and if they're not willing to sign the contract then chances are I don't want to be doing business with them anyway.
 
southsoundtree said:
Take small deposit at time of scheduling???

Consider a 50% payment a week before, or less time if it's an instant credit card payment.

What guarantee to you have if work completed within "x" days of scheduling/ beginning the work?
Click to expand...

I've taken deposits on bigger jobs before but usually don't on jobs less than $2,000. It's another option for sure but I've always preferred collecting payment upon completion and customer satisfaction. Keeps me motived to get the job done.
 
The money you'll spend to have an attorney help you prepare a contract template to use will be very well spent. You wouldn't recommend that an attorney climb trees and rig them down, would you? You do you, and let your attorney do your attorney. Besides, if you invest 2-3 hours of time in getting a good contract template prepared, you're going to be that much more likely to actually use it on a day to day basis.
 
cerviarborist said:
The money you'll spend to have an attorney help you prepare a contract template to use will be very well spent. You wouldn't recommend that an attorney climb trees and rig them down, would you? You do you, and let your attorney do your attorney. Besides, if you invest 2-3 hours of time in getting a good contract template prepared, you're going to be that much more likely to actually use it on a day to day basis.
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Very true in the aspect of actually using it on a day to day basis. And not having my attorney climb and rig trees lol. I guess I just feel as though if I can do it why pay for someone else to do it. Kind of like changing oil and general maintenance on my equipment. I can do it so why pay someone to do it for me. You're probably right though, should let my attorney do it.


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One of the best pieces of business advice I ever received had to do with "Core Competencies". Core competencies are those tasks you perform better than most and as well or better than the competitors in your market. When a task comes along that doesn't fit into your core competencies, you've got 3 choices. 1. Develop that skill set so that you're the best at it, and add it to your core competencies. 2. Just decline to do that task. 3. Farm that task out to someone for whom it is their core competency. This comes into play constantly. Example: I used to wrench on my own stuff, but now my hourly rate exceeds the shop rate for a good mechanic, so I let them do mechanical..and I do trees. My mechanic and I both wind up ahead.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're an ace at writing contracts and clauses, you should be practicing law.
 
cerviarborist said:
One of the best pieces of business advice I ever received had to do with "Core Competencies". Core competencies are those tasks you perform better than most and as well or better than the competitors in your market. When a task comes along that doesn't fit into your core competencies, you've got 3 choices. 1. Develop that skill set so that you're the best at it, and add it to your core competencies. 2. Just decline to do that task. 3. Farm that task out to someone for whom it is their core competency. This comes into play constantly. Example: I used to wrench on my own stuff, but now my hourly rate exceeds the shop rate for a good mechanic, so I let them do mechanical..and I do trees. My mechanic and I both wind up ahead.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're an ace at writing contracts and clauses, you should be practicing law.
Click to expand...

By no means am I an ace at writing law lol. I agree totally with what you're saying and have thought much about that before. I do farm out all mechanic work for the very reason you stated about; it's not one of my core competencies. Although maintenance is something I may farm out in the future I'm still very small and like to be in touch with my own equipment. I still have the time currently but there might come a day when I don't. As for a contact, definitely not one of my core competencies; therefore I will likely hire an attorney.

Any advice/ tips on locating an attorney and or what I should expect to pay for him/her to write up a contract?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'd start by contacting your local ISA Chapter headquarter office and ask them who has presented "Trees and the Law" topics for their members over the past few years. If they're anything like the Florida Chapter, they hold classes on that topic once or twice a year. You could also reach to consulting/litigant arborists in your area.

You should expect to pay their hourly rate times 2-3 hours to consult with them so that you come away with a template, which covers all the bases and doesn't leave any issues unassigned. Going forward, you'll want to spend an hour or so every few years to make sure that you're kept up to date.
 
The legal aspects are addressed well here

Look at customer service. Keep up a dialog with clients to let them know when they're scheduled. If that changes call and see if you can renegotiate...once!

Your word is your bond. Keep it
 
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