Examples of a General Contractor Agreement

Before getting any construction work done on your home, make sure you’ve got a general contractor agreement on hand. Sure, you may have a verbal agreement with your contractor, but delineating everything on a paper contract helps keep things clear and minimizes the chances for misunderstandings. A general contractor agreement will also keep you legally protected should any problems arise. For your sake and your contractor’s, always have a handwritten contract drafted for each of your home improvement projects.

Drafting a well-written contractor agreement can be tough work. Thankfully, there are a bunch of websites where you can find some examples to follow. You can find free samples like this one, or you can purchase a set of ready-made templates for almost all of your contractor needs, such as the one found here. You can find many more samples with a quick Google search. However, before you write up a general contractor agreement based on the examples you can find online, make sure that the example you’re following has the following essentials:

Specific Dates

Every good contractor agreement specifies every date involved in the project. It should be clear when the project starts, when your contractor can work on it, and when the project is supposed to be finished. Don’t hesitate to be as specific as possible; if, for example, you can allow the workers on your site at certain hours of the day, make sure that it’s stipulated in the contract.

When outline the schedule of the project, state the consequences should the dates not be followed. Clarify whose liabilities are whose, and what should be done to rectify the situation. If your contractor can’t meet the date of completion, you should automatically know the next course of action based on your agreement, regardless of whose fault it is. It may seem a bit harsh at first, but doing things this way guarantees a smooth process.

Scope of the Project

You should be even more specific with the scope of the work. After all, this is the actual meat of the project, and the contractor will be working on your property. List down as many details as you can, from the different jobs that need to be done to the materials that will be used during construction. It’ll also help to list down the no-no’s of the agreement and the penalties they incur.

Terms and Mode of Payment

Instead of just naming the final price for your contractor’s services, break the costs down. Enumerate the costs for everything – labor, materials, transportation, and whatever else you can think of. This’ll help you keep track of everything that’s going on with the project. It’ll also help you keep as close to your budget as possible.

List the payment schedule down as well. Determine when the payments will be made, and how they’ll be made. If you can, work out an agreement as to what happens to the pay should one party be late with his or her commitments.

Insurance Information

Lastly, clarify the insurance policies in place. Construction sites are accidents waiting to happen, and knowing all the applicable liabilities will be for the best of everyone involved.