With all the uncertainty in the world at the moment and given the rise in inflation as a tradesman or woman it’s important to make sure you are as protected as possible. Working as a tradesman comes with a lot of challenges and risks. This includes the risk of not getting paid on time, or not getting paid at all, safety hazards, and a bunch of legal risks.
In order to mitigate these risks, the first step is to have a well-drafted set of terms and conditions. Do you have terms/contract/disclaimers on the paperwork that you send to customers? You should.
If you can’t do it yourself, it is best to ask for professional advice and have one drafted for you that will best suit your needs. Once you have a template document that outlines your terms & conditions, you can present it to each customer before you start doing business with them. If they disagree with your terms & conditions, you don’t have a deal or you can negotiate on those terms to suit both parties.
Keep reading to find out why it is important to be prepared and make sure you are protected as a tradesperson.
Why it’s important to provide clarity when providing trade services to customers?
Every document or agreement should be made as clear as possible. With clearly defined key terms and clearly set out responsibilities. This is very important and prevents you from disputes and costly claims that may ruin your finance and reputation.
Set out the boundaries from the outset around payment terms, timelines, material costs (and ensure you have the ability to increase these costs with inflation).
Here are some tips that will save you time and money:
- Never do business on a handshake, even if it is doing business with family and friends
- Have your contracts/agreements/documents drafted or reviewed with the help of professionals
- Don’t fall for easy template documents, and most certainly don’t use template terms and conditions that you find on the Internet.
- Use clear language, define key terms and be precise.
- Once you have your terms set, make sure to review and update them regularly as your business evolves.
- Protect yourself and your business with insurances like ill health, death, legal expenses insurance and more.
How do you deal with disputes when they arise as a tradesman?
As a tradesman, if you’ve never had a dispute with a customer you’re extremely lucky and sadly in the minority. Disputes are inevitable and the bigger the job the higher chance there is of a dispute. Having a tailored set of terms & conditions or a contract can help you not only consider the terms under which you want to work, but also clarify your terms to all your customers from the outset so everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
However, consumers do have certain rights. As a tradesman, it’s important to know what those rights are. So you can be confident when dealing with a dispute that you are on the right side of the law. Having a contract/terms & conditions gives you that edge over your competitors who don’t use one. It provides customers with confidence and ensures you look professional.
Also, make sure you have that all-important insurance to cover you if things do go wrong. Again, this builds confidence with customers. It can be the deciding factor when a customer chooses the contractor they want to use.
Final thoughts
At K&K Legal Consulting we help tradesmen and women get the protection they deserve by creating bespoke terms & conditions and contracts that work for your business. Downloading a template from the internet may be tempting. But it will not cover your specific business and the way in which you want to work. The world is changing and relying on verbal agreements to provide work and materials which can sometimes be costing you tens of thousands upfront to a customer is extremely risky without a signed agreement in place.
We also have a number of business policies that you can download and use for your business. Have a look at our shop here.