Legal mumbo-jumbo on back of proposals

[ponderosatree]

I think it's time to include some legal mumbo-jumbo on the back of my proposals. Never had much of a problem but it's always good to be preemptive. Does anyone have examples of what they include? I want to include stuff like a 48 hour advance notice for work cancellations, responsibility for payment, etc.

 

[rfwoodvt]

Keep It Simple, Plain English

We've been working with an atty over the years to get our wording down. Best advise they have given us yet is to

Keep it simple, Be specific and use plain english.

The courts will love you, the judges inclined to support you and your customers cannot plead ignorance to what you were trying to say.

Also, you must be specific, but you have to let some things go. In otherwords, you really shouldn't try to protect yourself from everything. If the contract is overly restrictive or protective you might lose any favor gained with your wording.

Here are things to be specific about:

Scope of work
Payment schedule
work schedule
delays
freebies
what is not included
indemnity
who owns the trees

We usually put together our contract, then give a commentary of what we are trying to accomplish whith each section and have our atty review it in light of that commentary in order to make corrections or improvements.

At $150 per hour it gets expensive really quick if you have the write it for you. As it is, our annual contract review still runs close to $450 by the time we are done.

But it is worth it especially now that we are dealing with property-line and encroaching trees on a regular basis.

If you want I can share some of our contract with you...email me and I can send a sample.

Keep in mind that this works for us, but you REALLY NEED TO HAVE YOUR OWN ATTY REVIEW IT. as it may not protect you where you live, and it may even open you up for liability you don't want.

 

[ponderosatree]

Thanks for your help! I jut emailed you at the email address on your website. Let me know if you don't get it.

 

[Sand Dollar]

rfwoodvt is correct

I also add that payment is due within 7 days of completion of work
Not responsible for acts of God ie. storms, winds, etc.
And most of all I write down on a work sheet exactly what your customer wants done word for word. This helps when they look at the end results and want to make changes. Changes means more money.

 

[computeruser]

We've been working with an atty over the years to get our wording down. Best advise they have given us yet is to

Keep it simple, Be specific and use plain english.

The courts will love you, the judges inclined to support you and your customers cannot plead ignorance to what you were trying to say.

Also, you must be specific, but you have to let some things go. In otherwords, you really shouldn't try to protect yourself from everything. If the contract is overly restrictive or protective you might lose any favor gained with your wording.

Here are things to be specific about:

Scope of work
Payment schedule
work schedule
delays
freebies
what is not included
indemnity
who owns the trees

We usually put together our contract, then give a commentary of what we are trying to accomplish whith each section and have our atty review it in light of that commentary in order to make corrections or improvements.

At $150 per hour it gets expensive really quick if you have the write it for you. As it is, our annual contract review still runs close to $450 by the time we are done.

But it is worth it especially now that we are dealing with property-line and encroaching trees on a regular basis.

If you want I can share some of our contract with you...email me and I can send a sample.

Keep in mind that this works for us, but you REALLY NEED TO HAVE YOUR OWN ATTY REVIEW IT. as it may not protect you where you live, and it may even open you up for liability you don't want.

Very good advice!

Even apart from the prospect of litigation, it is good for everyone to fully understand what they're agreeing to, where each party's obligations start and end, etc. A clearly drafted contract should include these sorts of issues, and should express them in commonly understood language. Ambiguity, where present, is generally going to be held against the party that drafted the document, after all.

And remember, it is ALWAYS cheaper to prevent a problem than to deal with one after it comes along! That $500/year contract review is still cheaper than responding to a single suit, even one without merit that gets dismissed almost immediately.

If you feel like sending me a copy of the language y'all use, I'd be interested to see it - michiganpowerequipment [at] gmail [dot] com

 

[Michael Savage]

I too would be interested to cast my eye over that if you are prepared to share ?

 

[rfwoodvt]

Sampel Work order Terms

Here is a link to an early draft of our work order terms.

http://www.rfwood.com/ForumPics/WorkOrderTerms20090309DRAFT.pdf

Keep in mind that there are certain things that may not be allowable in your jurisdiction.

Also keep in mind that we tried very hard to keep it in plain vernacular so that it made sense to the average person.

As you read it see if you can decipher our intent behind each part and then adapt your own language to it.

Some words are legaleze and are the best words for the intent. Indemnification is one of those words.

Remember, we wrote these so everyone understood what they were responsible for.

Our biggest concern here in my neck of the woods are new DEC regulations that dictate when a septic system fails it needs to be brought up to code. Unfortunately code requires those ultra-fancy, equipment intensive new systems that cost upwards of $75k!

We ran into a lot of folks just hoping we'd ding their system...even the slightest failure, like a crushed section of leach pipe, requires a complete upgrade. We had to address that to make sure we knew where the system was.

We also dumped a truck into a drywell after the home owner swore there was nothing in the back yard. It was a $150 job and it cost us $400+ in time and repairs to get the truck out of the hole. The homeowner refused to compensate us for our loss and refused to pay for the job since we broke his drywell..

Anyhow, now you see why we spend so much time on underground structures.

We are also very clear that only the trees listed were intended to be reviewed and that all other trees were intended to be excluded. This is to prevent customers from coming back later about a tree they told us to ignore causes problems. And yes, even if we mentioned the tree was a problem, they will still try to hang you for it.

So, read it for what it is, A DRAFT, and use it to spark your own ideas. Then have your local legal-beagle take a look at it in light of your desires/intentions and let them make suggestions.

 

[Kaptain_K]

Very very helpful. Thanks for sharing. It did give me ideas, and brought up lots of things I hadn't even considered.
Kap't