Pre-Job Customer Agreement Reference

Why this matters

Before significant work starts, customer should agree to scope + pricing in writing. Verbal agreements lead to disputes; written agreements protect both parties. The tech who insists on written agreement before work avoids significant problems later. This is the field card.

What an agreement covers

Scope of work:

• Specific tasks to be performed
• Materials supplied
• Excluded items
• Conditions / assumptions

Pricing:

• Total cost
• Itemization
• Payment schedule
• Additional cost triggers

Timing:

• Start date
• Expected duration
• Completion date

Warranty:

• What's covered
• For how long

Cancellation:

• Customer's right to cancel
• Tech's right to cancel
• Refund policy

Written vs verbal

Verbal:

• Quick informal
• No protection
• Customer + tech may remember differently
• Disputes hard to resolve

Written:

• Email, text, signed paper
• Clear record
• Dispute resolution easier
• Standard for any significant work

Best practice: written for anything beyond small repair.

Agreement forms

Estimate (signed):

• Customer's signature on estimate document
• Confirms scope + price
• Common for service businesses

Work order:

• Lists scope, materials, labor
• Customer signs at start OR finish
• Common for repair work

Contract:

• More detailed
• Larger projects
• Specific terms + conditions

Email confirmation:

• Customer responds confirming
• Less formal but works
• Date-stamped

When to use written agreement

Always:

• Total over small threshold (set per business)
• Any work beyond standard service call
• Materials customer pays for
• Multi-day projects
• Anything customer may dispute

Sometimes:

• Quick small repairs (sometimes verbal OK)
• Diagnostic-only (sometimes verbal)
• Established repeat customer (judgment)

Always for:

• New customers
• Larger work
• Anything you want documented

Key elements to include

Customer info:

• Name
• Service address
• Phone + email
• Billing address (if different)

Date:

• When agreement made

Scope:

• Detailed list of work
• Specific materials
• What's NOT included

Pricing:

• Subtotal
• Tax (if applicable)
• Total
• Payment method
• Schedule (deposit, milestones, completion)

Time:

• Start date
• Expected completion

Warranty:

• Workmanship period
• Manufacturer warranty (if applicable)

Conditions:

• Customer's responsibilities
• Access requirements
• Pet considerations

Cancellation:

• Customer cancellation policy
• Tech cancellation policy

Signatures:

• Customer signature
• Date
• Tech signature

Common scope ambiguities

Cleanup:

• "Clean up after work" - what level?
• Specify: trash removal, vacuum, etc.

Disposal:

• Old equipment
• Customer's OR tech's responsibility

Materials:

• Brand specified
• Equivalent OK?

Permit + inspection:

• Cost separate OR included
• Who pulls

Code upgrades:

• Cost of bringing to current code
• Customer's responsibility usually

Each can become dispute; specify upfront.

When customer hesitates to sign

Sometimes:

• Customer reading carefully (good)
• Customer concerned about specific term
• Customer not ready to commit

Response:

• Patience
• Answer questions
• Adjust scope OR pricing if reasonable
• Don't push to sign if uncomfortable

If customer can't sign: work doesn't proceed.

When customer signs without reading

Sometimes:

• Customer trusts you
• Customer in hurry
• Quick repair situation

Even then:

• Brief verbal walkthrough
• Customer aware of key terms
• Don't take advantage of customer's trust

Change orders

Scope changes:

• Customer adds something
• Tech finds additional issue
• Conditions discovered

Process:

• Stop work
• Document new scope
• New pricing
• Customer signature on change order
• Resume work

Without change order: dispute likely.

Sample agreement (simple repair)

Customer: [Name]
Address: [Service Address]
Date: [Date]

SCOPE OF WORK:
- Replace water heater (50 gallon gas)
- Remove old unit + haul away
- Connect to existing gas line, water lines, vent
- Install new T+P relief discharge

MATERIALS:
- [Brand] 50-gallon gas water heater
- Standard connections

LABOR: $X
MATERIALS: $X
PERMIT: $X
TAX: $X
TOTAL: $X

PAYMENT: Due upon completion. [Method].

WARRANTY: 1 year workmanship. Manufacturer warranty separate.

TIMING: Work to begin [date]; complete same day.

CANCELLATION: Customer may cancel before work begins.

Customer Signature: ____________ Date: ____
Tech Signature: ____________ Date: ____

Larger projects (multiple pages)

For multi-day OR complex:

• More comprehensive contract
• Engineer / architect involvement
• Insurance + bonding requirements
• More detailed payment schedule

Customer + business protection.

Customer's right to cancel

Federal law:

• Door-to-door sales: 3-day cancellation
• Some states: similar protection

Customer's choice:

• Within cancellation window
• Full refund if work hasn't started
• Pro-rated if started

Tech's right to cancel

Reasons:

• Customer's site conditions different than represented
• Customer's payment insufficient
• Customer unsafe conditions
• Tech unable to perform

Process:

• Communicate to customer
• Refund deposit if appropriate
• Document reason

When customer disputes after work

If customer says "I didn't agree to that":

Written agreement saves you:

• Signed scope
• Signed pricing
• Customer can't credibly claim otherwise

Without written:

• He-said / she-said
• Customer often wins disputes
• Cost to business

Documentation throughout job

Start:

• Signed agreement / work order
• Photos of pre-existing conditions

During:

• Photos of work in progress
• Changes documented (change orders)

End:

• Photos of completed work
• Customer signature on completion
• Receipt provided

Comprehensive paper trail.

Specific scenarios

Customer signs estimate, then wants discount:

• "We agreed to this price"
• Honor agreement
• Don't negotiate after signed

Customer's work different than estimate:

• Show signed estimate
• "Here's what we agreed to do"
• Address discrepancy

Customer requests more work than agreed:

• Change order
• New pricing
• New signature

Customer disputes amount on invoice:

• Reference signed agreement
• Detailed breakdown
• Resolve based on written terms

When customer can't be present

For agreement:

• Email + electronic signature
• Family member with authorization
• Verbal phone (recorded sometimes)
• Document email exchange

Customer's authority

Verify:

• Customer is decision-maker
• For renters: landlord approval (sometimes)
• For commercial: authorized agent
• Don't take agreement from unauthorized

Insurance + bonding consideration

For larger work:

• Customer's review of insurance certificate
• Customer's bond holders
• Customer's lien rights
• Important for major projects

Lien waivers

A mechanic's lien is the claim a contractor, sub, or supplier can record against the property when they have furnished labor or materials and have not been paid. A lien waiver is the document giving that claim up. On residential service work you may never see one. On anything involving a general contractor, a property manager, a lender, or an insurance carrier, they show up at every payment, and signing the wrong one hands away your only real leverage.

Four standard flavors. Two questions define them: is it conditional, and is it partial or final.

• Conditional progress waiver. Gives up your claim for work through a stated date, but only once the payment actually clears. This is the one you sign to receive a progress payment.
• Unconditional progress waiver. Gives up the claim outright for that period, paid or not. Sign only after the funds have cleared your account.
• Conditional final waiver. Full release, effective on receipt of the final payment.
• Unconditional final waiver. Full release, no strings. This is the last document you sign on a job, after the last check has cleared.

The rule that prevents most losses: conditional before the money, unconditional after the money has cleared. A deposited check that later bounces after you signed unconditionally leaves you with no claim and no payment.

Read what period and what amount it covers. Waivers are written by the party paying you, and it is routine to see a "final" waiver presented mid-job, or a progress waiver whose through-date includes work you have not been paid for. Correct the date and the amount before signing, and never sign a blank one.

Carve out what is not settled. Approved change orders, retainage still held, stored materials, and any disputed extras belong in the exceptions section. Once released, they are gone, and "we'll take care of that later" is not a term of the document.

Some states prescribe the form. California, Texas, and others have statutory waiver language, and a waiver that does not follow the required form can be invalid or, worse, broader than you intended. Use your state's form when one exists rather than whatever the GC's office puts in front of you.

Waivers are not the only deadline. Lien rights in most states depend on preliminary notice given early in the job and on filing within a set window after your last day of work. Those deadlines are strict and vary widely by state and by whether you contracted directly with the owner. Learn the ones for the states you work in, and calendar them at the start of a job, not when the payment goes late.

Get the waiver you are owed too. If you use subs or a supplier who could lien your customer's property, collect their waivers as you pay them. Otherwise your customer can be liened for money you already paid out, and that becomes your problem.

Anything large, contested, or involving a bond or a lender goes to an attorney before signature. A construction attorney reviewing a waiver package once costs a fraction of one unpaid progress payment.

References

• State contractor licensing laws
• Federal Trade Commission consumer protection
• Manuall internal: Estimate vs Quote vs Bid, Customer Communication Standards