terms and conditions for tradesmen
The Essential Clauses Every Tradie Needs in Their T&Cs
You finished the job, the customer is delighted, then they vanish when the invoice lands. Or they argue the price doubled because they kept adding bits. Sound familiar? Nine times out of ten the problem isn't the customer, it's that nothing was written down.
Terms and conditions are the boring bit of paper that wins every argument before it starts. Get the right clauses in place and you stop chasing money, dodge scope creep, and look like a proper business. Here's exactly what yours need.
What your T&Cs actually do
Think of T&Cs as the rulebook for the job. They set out who does what, who pays what, and what happens when something goes sideways. No drama, no he-said-she-said. The paper does the talking.
The clauses that earn their keep
- Payment terms - say exactly when you get paid (e.g. 7 days from invoice) and what late payment costs them.
- Deposits and stage payments - protect your cashflow on bigger jobs so you're never funding materials out of your own pocket.
- Variations - anything not in the original quote is charged extra, in writing, before you start it.
- Materials and price changes - covers you when the merchant hikes prices mid-job.
- Access and delays - if they can't give you access or hold you up, that's on them, not your bill.
- Guarantees and snagging - what you stand behind, for how long, and what counts as wear and tear.
Your must-have clause checklist
Run through this before you send your next quote. If a clause is missing, you've got a hole someone can climb through. This is a starting point, not legal advice - get a solicitor to review the final wording for your trade and situation.
- ✓ Clear payment terms (days to pay + late payment interest you're entitled to)
- ✓ Deposit and/or stage payment schedule for jobs over a set value
- ✓ Variations clause: extras only in writing, signed off before work
- ✓ Materials price-change clause covering merchant increases
- ✓ Access and delay clause shifting cost of customer-caused holdups
- ✓ Workmanship guarantee period stated clearly (e.g. 12 months)
- ✓ Snagging and defects process - how and when they report issues
- ✓ Cancellation terms, including the 14-day right to cancel for consumers
- ✓ Ownership of materials until paid for in full (retention of title)
- ✓ Limitation of liability so one job can't sink your whole business
- ✓ Insurance and your registered details (trade body, VAT if applicable)
- ✓ Reviewed by a solicitor for your specific trade
Where new tradies get this wrong
T&Cs only protect you if they're done right. Here's where good lads still trip up.
- Having them but never sending them. Terms sat in a folder on your laptop are worthless. They have to be given to the customer before the job, ideally attached to the quote they accept.
- Copying a random template off Google. A plumber's terms aren't a sparky's terms. Generic copy-paste often misses the clauses your trade actually needs - and can include ones that don't apply to you.
- Forgetting the consumer cancellation rights. Sell to a homeowner away from your business premises and they get a 14-day cooling-off period by law. Miss this and you can't legally charge for cancelled work.
Make your T&Cs travel with every quote
The hard part isn't writing terms once - it's remembering to attach them every single time, on every quote, when you're knackered and just want the job booked in. That's exactly where it slips.
Quotato auto-attaches your standard T&Cs to every quote you send. Set them up once, and they ride along automatically - so the customer always accepts the work *and* the terms in one go. No forgotten clauses, no awkward conversations later. The paper does the talking, every time.
Sort it once, sleep easy
Strong T&Cs aren't about being difficult - they're about being clear so everyone knows where they stand. Build your clause list, get it checked, and let it work for you on every job.
Set up your T&Cs once and attach them to every quote automatically.
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