How to Write Terms and Conditions for Your Trade Business

What Terms and Conditions Actually Do

Terms and conditions (also called a client agreement or service agreement) are a contract between you and your client. They define:

• ✓What you're agreeing to do
• ✓What the client is agreeing to
• ✓How payment works
• ✓What happens when things go wrong
• ✓How disputes are resolved

When you send a quote and the client accepts it, they're ideally also accepting your terms. The terms travel with every job.

What to Include

1. Scope of Work

Your terms should make clear that the scope of work is defined by the quote, and that anything outside the quote is a variation that requires separate approval and pricing.

This one clause prevents the majority of scope disputes. Without it, clients can argue that "fixing that extra thing while you were there" should have been included.

What to cover: - Work is carried out as per the accepted quote - Any variations to scope must be agreed in writing before work proceeds - Verbal instructions to add or change scope are not binding on price until confirmed

2. Pricing and Payment Terms

Spell out:

• ✓How you charge (fixed price, hourly, materials-plus-margin)
• ✓When payment is due (on completion, within 7 days of invoice, etc.)
• ✓Whether you require a deposit and what percentage
• ✓What happens to materials ordered if the client cancels after ordering has commenced
• ✓Late payment: interest on overdue invoices (the Penalty Interest Rates Act in Victoria, or equivalent legislation in your state, sets the applicable rate)

3. Variations

A variation clause is one of the most important things in your terms. It should state:

• ✓All variations must be agreed in writing (email or your job management software is fine)
• ✓Verbal approval is not sufficient
• ✓Variations are priced separately and added to the final invoice
• ✓You reserve the right to pause work if a variation is disputed until it's resolved

4. Unforeseen Work

This is separate from variations. Unforeseen work is work that becomes necessary once you've started — asbestos found in a wall, structural issues discovered during a renovation, concealed pipe damage.

Your terms should state that you'll notify the client immediately if unforeseen work is identified, provide a revised quote, and require approval before proceeding. You are not responsible for costs caused by unforeseen conditions that could not have been identified at quoting stage.

5. Access and Client Responsibilities

Define what the client needs to provide:

• ✓Site access at agreed times
• ✓A safe working environment
• ✓Existing services marked or disclosed
• ✓Decisions made in a timely manner to avoid delays

If the client causes a delay — access not available, materials not selected, approvals not in place — you should not be penalised for it in terms of time or price.

6. Completion and Handover

What constitutes completion? For construction work, practical completion is the industry standard — the work is substantially complete even if minor defects exist. Those minor defects don't entitle the client to withhold payment.

Include: - How completion is defined - The process for a defects list (if relevant to your trade) - That payment is due on practical completion, not after every last minor item is finished

7. Warranty

What warranty do you provide on your work? The typical industry standard for trade work is 6–12 months on workmanship. Materials are typically covered by the manufacturer's warranty, not yours.

Be specific about: - What your warranty covers (workmanship defects) - What it doesn't cover (damage by others, fair wear and tear, incorrect use) - How warranty claims are made - Your right to inspect before deciding on a remedy

8. Limitation of Liability

In a commercial context, it's common to limit your liability to the value of the contract. For residential consumers, Australian Consumer Law provides guarantees that can't be excluded — but you can still limit your exposure for consequential losses.

Get legal advice on this clause specifically.

9. Dispute Resolution

Before legal action, what's the process? A typical escalation:

1. 1Written notice of dispute to the other party
2. 2Good-faith negotiation period (14–28 days)
3. 3Mediation if negotiation fails
4. 4Legal proceedings as a last resort

This clause signals professionalism and protects you from being dragged into immediate legal action over a manageable dispute.

How to Get Clients to Accept Your Terms

Terms only protect you if they're accepted. Best practice:

• ✓Include a link to your terms with every quote
• ✓State on the quote: "Acceptance of this quote constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions"
• ✓For larger jobs, have the client sign a separate agreement

If your terms are buried in fine print the client has never seen, they're harder to enforce.

Getting Them Written

Options for creating your terms:

1. 1Legal template services — Several Australian platforms offer trade-specific T&C templates for $100–$300. A good starting point, but review carefully.
2. 2Industry associations — Many trade associations (HIA, MBA, Master Electricians, etc.) provide contract templates for members.
3. 3Solicitor — For a trade business doing significant contract work, having a solicitor draft or review your terms is worth the cost ($500–$1,500 typically).

Key Takeaways

• ✓Written terms and conditions set expectations before disputes arise — not just after
• ✓The most important clauses are scope of work, payment terms, variations, and unforeseen work
• ✓Terms only protect you if they're actually presented to and accepted by the client with every quote
• ✓Use industry association templates or legal template services as a starting point
• ✓Get a solicitor to review your terms if you're doing significant commercial or construction work