PROJECT TOOLS

A clear agreement between client and contractors means everyone knows where they stand, and what’s expected. Tim Doherty sets out a robust model you can use to appoint your chosen trades

Small builders and trades are not best known for their paperwork, and frequently appointments are made on quite a casual basis; perhaps verbally or off the back of a single-paragraph quote. This runs the risk that both sides to the appointment might interpret the agreement slightly differently. Standardised contracts are available from online providers like ContractStore and the Law Depot, amongst others, or institutions like the Federation of Master Builders and the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT). The question is what to use and when – and how to tailor these contracts to your individual project.

Appointing trades

If you’re going to project manage your own build alongside a single main contractor, then putting a formal contract in place is a sensible move. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, you may decide to appoint a third party to complete this for you so that any misunderstandings can be identified right at the outset and not midway through the works.

But if you’re going to appoint individual trades, then you could have anywhere between 10 and 20 contracts to be drawn up, ranging in value from a few thousand pounds to thirty, forty or fifty thousand-plus. Using standardised paperwork from the sources mentioned above would, no doubt, protect your investment. But the reality is that most of us will end up reaching agreement with many of our tradespeople on a fast and furious basis, under stressful and time-poor circumstances. Any negotiations might have taken place and agreed over multiple meetings, based on you sending them drawings and specifications, their initial quote, several text and WhatsApp messages and a good number of phone calls.

So, it’s a good idea to pull all of these elements together in your own letter of instruction. This will mean your interpretation of the agreement and contract between you is properly recorded. You could set this out in a simple templated email, with all key referenced documents attached, so that both you and your recipient only have to look in one place when, and if, anything needs to be checked. This is a practical and useable summary, but it is not as formal as a written contract. Many of the clarifications and protections included within standard contracts are completely omitted; instead, it focuses on the core ingredients of your agreement.