Commercial Landscaping Contract

The three things that actually go wrong

Grounds maintenance disputes are rarely about mowing. They are about scope creep, about pruning nobody agreed the height of, and about a contract that quietly renewed for another year. This agreement deals with all three in writing rather than leaving them to a phone call in July.

• Extra work has a price ceiling. Above the figure you set, it needs written approval first — and the contractor is not entitled to payment for unapproved work above it.
• Pruning is scoped by reach. "Shrub pruning" on its own is unbounded. The agreement states the height, and everything above it is tree work, which is excluded and quoted.
• Nothing renews itself. A fixed term that expires, then month to month only if both sides carry on, endable by either on notice.

You answer questions about grass, not about law

What is included, how often, which season, what needs approving. The indemnity, the mutual limitation of liability, the insurance requirements, the site-damage allocation and the term structure are written the same way every time, from both sides. Selecting fertilization or weed control inserts the applicator licensing representation on its own — you are not asked whether you are licensed, because a contract is the wrong place to interrogate somebody about their own compliance.

Add snow and it becomes one agreement

A property that buys mowing in July usually buys plowing in January, and two separate contracts with two sets of terms is two things to argue about. Add the snow module and the output is a single Grounds Maintenance Agreement: one core, one signature page, and a separate exhibit for each service with its own scope, season and pricing.

Related

• Snow removal contract — the same engine for snow and ice.
• COI tracker — the certificate the agreement requires, and when it lapses.
• Bid comparison — level the scopes before you sign one.
• Estimate maker — for one-off work rather than a season.