| Author: | Alasdair Taylor |
| Updated: | 25 January 2021 |
| Length: | 17 pages |
| Notes: | 18 pages |
| Format: | MS Word (.DOCX) |
This template has been created to cover the provision of plumbing services to businesses and/or consumers. It has been designed for use by a plumbing services business as its "standard terms" for such contracts. The template includes a range of optional provisions, and can be adapted to suit particular businesses with relative ease.
Contracts made under the terms and conditions may be ongoing, or may relate to a particular set of services. In either case, the particulars of the contract should be set out in a statement of work, which should be signed or otherwise agreed by or on behalf of each of the parties.
The standard to which the plumbing service must be provided can be set out in the document. This could, for instance, be "with reasonable skill and care" or "in accordance with the standards of a leading service provider". If the plumbing services do not meet the defined standard, then the service provider should be given an opportunity to re-perform the services.
The terms and conditions take account of the fact that there may be pre-existing faults in a plumbing system. These may be identified during testing, and their remediation will be subject to additional charges (unless agreed otherwise).
Plumbers often require the assistance of other trades to complete work. The terms and conditions provide that these shall not be the responsibility of the plumber, unless agreed otherwise or unless the requirement arises out of the negligence or default of the plumber.
A set of provisions dealing with services appointments - their timing, delays, rescheduling and cancellation - is included.
Plumbing services very often involve the supply of parts and materials to customers. Strictly speaking, this involves a supply of goods rather than services, and a special section is included in the contract to help deal with this. This section helps identify what will be supplied (although this can be as vague as what is "reasonably necessary to enable the provision of the services"). It also clarifies the legal issues surrounding the supply, such as the point at which risk and title in the parts and materials pass to the customer.
The terms and conditions allow for charges to be payable on a time-and-materials basis, or to be agreed in advance (for example, by being set out in a statement of work or being agreed by the parties in writing).
An optional confidentiality clause is included, which may be useful where work is being performed on behalf of large, security-conscious organisations (eg governmental bodies).
