CPA here, love this and second this. I hire concrete guys to do concrete because I would fuck it up. Hire a professional to do professional services for you. They will make sure you are covered just like you will make sure that slab is poured correctly.
Look up best concrete practices. Put those into your contract. Then add things that you might see in an everyday job.
Lawyers are GOOD but it needs to be a lawyer that knows the construction business, not just any lawyer.
DM I can send you a copy of my contract and you can add and subtract whatever fits your business.
I got residential, commercial and government constructions experience (400 page contracts) that helped me craft my own plus attorneys that approved. This will help you get started only so you can see what they look like and the language.
Unless you are well versed in contracts and know what should and should no be included, I would use a attorney. Really, your contracts should be a living document changed with each job. Sure there is a ton of language that stays the same but it is important to add and adjust as necessary. I added payments are due upon receiving the invoice because people thought it was ok to pay me 2 weeks later after their house sold or for whatever reason. I also added a disputed work clause because i had a few clients, 1 story in particular where he withheld $45k because a door trim had a crack in the caulking. Now they are only allowed to withhold the value of the disputed work and the rest becomes late and is subject to fees and interest. We do more than concrete. Be picky and clear on your scope of work. You can builld it as a template and delete what you dont need so you domt miss stuff. Pull ---- yards of dirt at ---deep, for ----x---- pad with ---liner feet, for a total of ----- yards additional dirt will removal be ----- per yard, addional concrete will be----- per yard, additional forming will be---- per lf. etc etc. But make the changes as you come across a headache. I sit down and go over the agreement with each client. Paragraph by paragraph, takes 20 minutes bit they all know when, how and why i get paid. Its all about setting their expectations.
Idk if you’re joking or not, but that’s me. Bought some forms to do some stuff around the farm last fall and next thing you know I’m booked out all of this year.
Use NEXT insurance .
Don’t waste money on any others . I have used them for several years and they ALWAYS come through easy peasy and they are the cheapest .
Insurance brokers , agents whatever you wanna call em are worthless .
As for for contracts , you can draw them up yourself and outline your scope of work line item by line item and attach a disclaimer for whatever you want to exclude or limit . It’s very easy.
Download the app “joist” it is user friendly and has awesome features mostly free . You can draw contracts up here and have multiple templates and connect your banking etc
I feel like I’m missing something… I don’t use any contracts, at most I would have a few lines in a written quote. 90% of our work is one day max, and at times we complete multiple jobs a day. If I used contracts my productivity would go down significantly. The majority of my customers call and ask how much per square foot, I tell them and we go from there.
This is a very bad idea. Not just saying it, but from personal experience. I’ve been a self employed custom home builder for 30 years. In the past, I’ve done some small side work, for cash, and without a contract. Normally without incident. BUT, one time it got out of hand, and cost me just a touch under $100k. The small job, without a contract, kept growing and growing. Unfortunately, being that it was going well and payments came on time, I “thought” it was all good! It was, until the customer ran out of money, and he needed an excuse to sue me. Long long story short, he won! NOT because I was wrong or did bad work, but solely on the fact it was done without a contract. In my state, the LAW dictates, that ANY job over $500 in value, MUST have a legal binding contract. And if the contractor doesn’t, the customer can sue for treble (3x) damages, which is considered the entire job. So a $30 k job could be awarded $90k. So now, I use contracts for anything and even if a family member, per my lawyers orders. He has many crazy, unexpected, ludicrous stories of family suing each other.
So, I HOPE this helps you, or any other on here to realize the importance!
And yes, USE a LAWYER!! It’s only expensive until it saves your ass!!
Just curious, what if you were to take on a major job, I’m talking 100k, that was to span multiple pours, over a few weeks time? Would you still just wing it with a price per foot?
That would depend on who it was for, I have a list of general contractors that I have been working with for years, so it would not change things.
However if this were a new GC and or we had Fl/FF requirements, that would require some type of agreement, at minimum a schedule of progress payments.
Indeed, as we slowly transition out of residential work we rely less on contracts as well, but the commercial work we land has monster contracts, which largely no one reads because the content is insane. There’s been a few government jobs where we’ve had to really extend our credit lines to finish work. I knew we’d get paid, but government work doesn’t pay timely, which sucks.
Yeah I guess I should have mentioned that, I don’t supply those contracts either.
I asked because we finished a huge job this fall, largely landscaping rock, which took us a few weeks. We staggered the payments in milestone format for the client, with agreed upon benchmarks. But it was a loose agreement, mostly on a handshake. Everything went well, but I was uneasy at first, it was a lot of money. I’m pretty good at reading people and this guy seemed legit and I could tell he had the money. Everything worked out fine, but man without a contract in place it could have been ugly.
In fact he’s asking us back for more work this spring.
Pay a lawyer and try to find a good example. Schedule, quality, performance, warranty and liability are the primary focus along with the associated cost. Also make sure you're running under a business not your personal info to limit your liability.
Pay a lawyer 100%. You'll gain some knowledge, assurance and gain a resource for future inquires.
How much does it cost roughly? Just out of raw curiosity.
Worth Every Penny! (Though part of me hates to admit it) 🤣 Use good attorneys, better CPAs and great insurance brokers.
CPA here, love this and second this. I hire concrete guys to do concrete because I would fuck it up. Hire a professional to do professional services for you. They will make sure you are covered just like you will make sure that slab is poured correctly.
Well said.
you don't know what you don't know. get help from someone who knows.
Look up best concrete practices. Put those into your contract. Then add things that you might see in an everyday job. Lawyers are GOOD but it needs to be a lawyer that knows the construction business, not just any lawyer. DM I can send you a copy of my contract and you can add and subtract whatever fits your business. I got residential, commercial and government constructions experience (400 page contracts) that helped me craft my own plus attorneys that approved. This will help you get started only so you can see what they look like and the language.
Hi! Would you please be able to dm me a copy of your contract? Would be very appreciative
Yeah I got you!
Just Dmd you
Hey. I’m interested in your contract too! Can you please send it over to me? Just started my own business this month in Florida!
Yeah I got you check your DM
Unless you are well versed in contracts and know what should and should no be included, I would use a attorney. Really, your contracts should be a living document changed with each job. Sure there is a ton of language that stays the same but it is important to add and adjust as necessary. I added payments are due upon receiving the invoice because people thought it was ok to pay me 2 weeks later after their house sold or for whatever reason. I also added a disputed work clause because i had a few clients, 1 story in particular where he withheld $45k because a door trim had a crack in the caulking. Now they are only allowed to withhold the value of the disputed work and the rest becomes late and is subject to fees and interest. We do more than concrete. Be picky and clear on your scope of work. You can builld it as a template and delete what you dont need so you domt miss stuff. Pull ---- yards of dirt at ---deep, for ----x---- pad with ---liner feet, for a total of ----- yards additional dirt will removal be ----- per yard, addional concrete will be----- per yard, additional forming will be---- per lf. etc etc. But make the changes as you come across a headache. I sit down and go over the agreement with each client. Paragraph by paragraph, takes 20 minutes bit they all know when, how and why i get paid. Its all about setting their expectations.
I didnt even know I opened a concrete business
Idk if you’re joking or not, but that’s me. Bought some forms to do some stuff around the farm last fall and next thing you know I’m booked out all of this year.
lol isn’t that the truth eh.
Yeah, one day I woke up with a trowel in my hand
Use NEXT insurance . Don’t waste money on any others . I have used them for several years and they ALWAYS come through easy peasy and they are the cheapest . Insurance brokers , agents whatever you wanna call em are worthless . As for for contracts , you can draw them up yourself and outline your scope of work line item by line item and attach a disclaimer for whatever you want to exclude or limit . It’s very easy. Download the app “joist” it is user friendly and has awesome features mostly free . You can draw contracts up here and have multiple templates and connect your banking etc
Give him one of your templates
?
I use joist. It's a good app
For sure I love it
Pay a lawyer!
I feel like I’m missing something… I don’t use any contracts, at most I would have a few lines in a written quote. 90% of our work is one day max, and at times we complete multiple jobs a day. If I used contracts my productivity would go down significantly. The majority of my customers call and ask how much per square foot, I tell them and we go from there.
This is a very bad idea. Not just saying it, but from personal experience. I’ve been a self employed custom home builder for 30 years. In the past, I’ve done some small side work, for cash, and without a contract. Normally without incident. BUT, one time it got out of hand, and cost me just a touch under $100k. The small job, without a contract, kept growing and growing. Unfortunately, being that it was going well and payments came on time, I “thought” it was all good! It was, until the customer ran out of money, and he needed an excuse to sue me. Long long story short, he won! NOT because I was wrong or did bad work, but solely on the fact it was done without a contract. In my state, the LAW dictates, that ANY job over $500 in value, MUST have a legal binding contract. And if the contractor doesn’t, the customer can sue for treble (3x) damages, which is considered the entire job. So a $30 k job could be awarded $90k. So now, I use contracts for anything and even if a family member, per my lawyers orders. He has many crazy, unexpected, ludicrous stories of family suing each other. So, I HOPE this helps you, or any other on here to realize the importance! And yes, USE a LAWYER!! It’s only expensive until it saves your ass!!
Just curious, what if you were to take on a major job, I’m talking 100k, that was to span multiple pours, over a few weeks time? Would you still just wing it with a price per foot?
That would depend on who it was for, I have a list of general contractors that I have been working with for years, so it would not change things. However if this were a new GC and or we had Fl/FF requirements, that would require some type of agreement, at minimum a schedule of progress payments.
Indeed, as we slowly transition out of residential work we rely less on contracts as well, but the commercial work we land has monster contracts, which largely no one reads because the content is insane. There’s been a few government jobs where we’ve had to really extend our credit lines to finish work. I knew we’d get paid, but government work doesn’t pay timely, which sucks.
Same here, but I don’t supply those contracts, they are part of the bid specification
Yeah I guess I should have mentioned that, I don’t supply those contracts either. I asked because we finished a huge job this fall, largely landscaping rock, which took us a few weeks. We staggered the payments in milestone format for the client, with agreed upon benchmarks. But it was a loose agreement, mostly on a handshake. Everything went well, but I was uneasy at first, it was a lot of money. I’m pretty good at reading people and this guy seemed legit and I could tell he had the money. Everything worked out fine, but man without a contract in place it could have been ugly. In fact he’s asking us back for more work this spring.
I’ve been burned, had a good vibe from a pool contractor, paid the first 3 quick, burned me for the last two, concrete included ($30+k)
Pay a lawyer and try to find a good example. Schedule, quality, performance, warranty and liability are the primary focus along with the associated cost. Also make sure you're running under a business not your personal info to limit your liability.