Ca, Home Improvement Contract Input

Jack_Clark

I am creating a new Home Improvement Contract and Including the Terms and Conditions or "Provisions" to the back. My question for everyone interested would be, "what does everyone have included as Terms and Conditions"? I have several templates and everything looks wonderful however if I left it all in I would have a novel not a contract.

I am just curious what others have included or excluded.

And yes I have used Neb's and other web templates as a self employed General, however the company I now manage wants their own not a store purchased product.

Thanks for the feedback.

Chris Johnson

California contracts are a novel, anything less and you get screwed or sued...your choice

If I write it (my own contract) is about 7 pages, if a G.C. give me theirs I have seen them range from 11 to 18 pages for residential and 25 pages for commercial

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Chris

Jack_Clark

Well I am on page 8 as we speak. Such a shame that this world has come to the 20 page Contract. How many pages do you have for the Terms, Clauses or provisions??

pcplumber

I am happy to see that there are more contractors who have contracts that are greater than 7 pages. I thought I was the only crazy contractor.

http://www.box.net/shared/r04jkemi79

Pictures of several 'different' contracts

Microsoft Word files that contain several 'different' contracts. You can enter you name in these files and use these contracts for your business.

MS Access database that has several templates for printing contracts on a laser printer. The templates serve several purposes. The most important is the amount of detail. For example: We replace drains, in several homes, every week. We have a template for replacing drains. You pull up the drain template, make a few modifications, and print several copies. We have templates for copper repipes, furnaces, and other things, You can easily change the templates. Maybe you can figure out how to use this program. If not, contact me, and I will walk you through, on the phone.

Each morning, after you type your contracts, you put copies on clipboards that hang on your wall. Every morning, you print out a report of active jobs. This way, you can review the report, every morning, to make sure you have employees covering each job. You need MS Access to run this program. Well worth your investment.

MS Word document that discusses the seriousness and use of contracts. This is brief and many very important details are left out. Also, this is fairly raw, as I did not edit this file.

Mutual Cancellation Agreement. This is a very critical form you should carry at all times.

Three Day Waiver Of Right To Cancel. This form is very critical when you want to sign a contract, for an emergency and start the job immediately. If you are in business long enough, and do a fair amount of jobs, you are going to be sorry when a customer cancels a job, after you are finished, and you have to return 100% of their money, even up to four years, after you completed the work.

When you violate a contract law, a judge can make you give back all the money, for up to four years.

In California, if you sign a contract, with a homeowner, and start the job, the same day, the customer can cancel (rescind) the contract, for up to four years, unless you get a Waiver Of Right To Cancel, signed. But, the Waiver Of Right To Cancel, has more laws, you must follow. Therefore, read the enclosed Waiver Of Right To Cancel, very carefully. We put everything of the form, for very practical reasons.

The link contains a copy of the contract we use in the laser printer. You will probable need to contact me to modify the software so you can put your name on these forms. I will not charge, one penny, if you intend to use the program. It will take only a few minutes to change.

Many contractors don't understand exactly what the ramifications are for the 3-Day Right To Cancel Without Any Obligation. This means; if you sign a contract on Monday, start the job the same day, and finish the job on Wednesday, on Thursday morning, the customer can cancel the job, and demand all their money back. We had to give a customer back all their money, two years after a job was finished, because the husband died, and the wife said we never gave them the 3-Day Right To Cancel. This is why you need the Three Day 'Waiver' Of Right To Cancel. With this form, the customer cans still cancel, but there will be an obligation, and in our contract, the customer is obligated to pay up to 40% of the contract amount, regardless, of the portion of work, you actually completed. Of course, you never ask for more than we completed, but this 40% amount gives you more clout to bargain with.

Many contractors, are more familiar with sub-contracting, and the use of Lien Releases. Many contractors don't realize, the law does not require you to give the customer a Lien Release, when you are dealing directly with the customer, or you are the 'Prime Contractor', or when materials are delivered directly from your shop. Our contract spells this out fairly clearly, just above our Conditional Lien Release.

A few years ago, California came out with some new laws regarding repairs. All repairs, under $700 (I think) need an entirely different contract, and there are some serious new laws, you must adhere to. I keep reading the laws and they are difficult to understand.

Our contracts are 7 pages, plus we usually have a 2-page specification sheet. We hand-write the contract, the first day, and get signatures. On the following morning, we use our MS Access template, to print copies of the contract, and the new copy has much more detail. On the second day, we get the printed copies signed. Now the customer has signed and initialed 9 pages of the contract, plus they have the specifications.

Review the Mutual Cancellation Agreement. This form is very critical when a customer cancels a contract. This form relieves you of all obligations, and the customer cannot even file a complaint, against you, even if you committed fraud (not than anyone would), but I just wanted to express how powerful this form is.

We carry several different contracts in our vehicles:

2-page contracts for estimates

7-page contracts for when we sign a contract

Contracts (or, call them invoices), for cleaning drains

We are going to make a separate contract, for furnace repairs, and for inspecting furnaces. When we walk into a customer's home, we want the customer to turn the furnace on, and show us that the furnace works, before we touch the furnace.Then, when the furnace does not come on, we intend to make the customer sign the form stating it did not come on.

Write the best contract possible.