Hi, I am about to contract with a carpenter/painter to do a big job on the outside of my frame house. Can you all suggest any provisions that I should make sure are included in the contract, i.e., (1) stated costs; (2) time for completion; (3) techniques; (4) materials – and any other things I may not be aware of that will protect me as a homeowner? Any provisions that are meaningless and should be avoided?
Thanks.
10D
Replies
He shall be insured for worker injury and property damage and shall provide proof of such insurance prior to beginning.
Thanks, Dan!
he will lower the toilet seat after use
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I put that in every contract!
Huge topic. I suggest you buy yourself a copy of David Gerstel's 'Running a Successful Construction Company" and read the section on contracts. It's written for builders but will be equally applicable to you. You would need about 50 responses to your question, with one relevant point each, to have it reasonably covered.
Thank you so much! Great suggestion!
10D
Tenacious D, At the risk of sounding and coming off as facetious I think that if a "contract" is important to you really should have hired a Contractor. Without knowing all the facts surrounding your project and this carpenter/painter it's sounds to me like you are hiring a carpenter/painter as a temporary employee to perform carpentry and paint your house. I just feel that if this carpenter/painter was a real professional business person he/she would have had a contract/proposal the he/she would have presented to you.
"...and any other things I may not be aware of that will protect me as a homeowner?"
Yes, Insurance. If this carpenter/painter is a real business operation they will (or should have) at the very least a General Liability policy (and if they have any co-worker/employees Workers Comp too) and they should be able to provide you with a copy of it. As I mentioned above it sounds from the arrangement in the way you're describing it that you are really hiring a "temporary employee" in which case you would need to carry WC on the individual and you'll need to deal with the other employee burden stuff too such as FICA so that you are in the clear with the IRS.
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"he/she would have had a contract/proposal the he/she would have presented to you."
He is dropping off a proposal and contract tomorrow. From past experience, however, I have learned that every contractor/professional has their own "version" of a contract and I just wanted advice/suggestions from you all on things that must be included that perhaps may be missed. This forum is providing a lot of added insight.
I appreciate your input, especially the part about employee and liability ins. which I am in no position whatsoever to provide.
10D
Tenacious D your project sounds a good bit better than I initially envisioned it business wise
You may still howver want to se if you can run down one of these books regarding working with contractors
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On Time and On Budget : A Home Renovation Survival Guide
by John Rusk
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Renovating With a Contractor
by Kevin Brenner, Kate Kelly
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The Unofficial Guide to Hiring Contractors
by Duncan Calder Stephens
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Tenacious D I was googling around this afternoon looking for articles containing "markup" and "remodeler" and this article appeared on the list Contractual Matters: A written document will help you and your contractor avoid mistakes, delays and a budget that grows out of control.- DannyLipford.com. I have no idea of who Danny Lipford is but there was some good stuff in it I thought might be apropos to what you were asking about.
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Thanks so much! I'll take a look.
10D
Court is a place you do not want to go. Everyone but the Lawyers lose. Make sure there is an arbitration clause in case you can't settle things.
Very good suggestion. Do you have a sample by any chance?
10D
Try this link for info on arbitration.
http://www.adr.org/index2.1.jsp?JSPssid=15727&JSPsrc=uploadLIVESITERules_ProceduresADR_GuidesCurrent%20clausebook.html
What you ask for from the contractor is called a "Certificate of Insurance." It is standard for contractors to call their agent and ask them to fax one to a perspective customer.
Some states will no longer cover you as a home owner if you hire a non-licensed contractor, he gets hurt and his lawyer sues you thru your homeowner insurance company. Call you agent and have him show or tell you the specifics in your policy that covers you in the effect of this or that.
Email me with the painting to be done and I'll email you back with the specifications I would include in my own contract, which is not necessarily the cheapest pay to paint, but the right way.
I'll also email you with my contract. I use different oness depeanding on the dollar amount of the work and the scope of work. Incidentally contractors use "scope of work" to delineate the details of the project.
Tenacious D,
If you want to get serious about the General Liability and Workers Comp issue, do not accept a copy of his policy that he hands you. Insist that the in force policy be sent to you by his insurance companies, either by mail or fax. It's easy to buy a policy, and then cancel it because the monthly payments are difficult in slow months.
Also, you should have him name you as (temporary, for the duration of the job)additional insured on his liability policy, which will cost him a paperwork fee of $20 or so. Many contractors don't know how to do this, or simply don't want to take the time. It seems to depend on the state you live in.
Legal question:
Your guy has an off the books worker who uses your ladder to work on your house. The worker falls off the ladder, grabs your rain gutter to break his fall and rips it off the house, sending it through the windshield of your 'contractors' uninsured truck, which actually belongs to his father-in-law. The worker breaks his back, which prevents him from working to make his child support payments, which are collected by the State. The rain gutter pierces the windshield and your contractor, who is sitting in the truck, in your driveway, with the transmission in reverse, but with his foot on the brake, which slips off as he passes out. His truck hits the ambulance from your municipality which is attempting to race your neighbors child to the hospital.
How many people are suing you now?
skipj
Gotcha. Thank you for your invaluable suggestion.
10D