Disclaimers

[cwarrior 14]

Anyone have a disclaimer they would be willing to share? I would like to protect myself from liability from poor construction, painting, etc. I had a situation with paint turning color. It was a beach house, and the paint seemed to be oxidizing. Do any of you guarantee that no plants/greenery will be harmed from the solutions? I have a lady who is angry about 1 fern dying. Would a disclaimer cover plants? Anything would be helpful.

Thanks,

Mark

Shoreline Window Cleaning & Pressure Washing

Freeport, Fl.

[big mike 14]

Mark,

A disclaimer, or "waiver" is useful to cover yourself from frivolous damage claims. We usually don't use one for residential work though. When doing commercial work, the liabilities are higher for the contractor, and proof of liability insurance is usually required. In the residential side of PWing, it will have the reverse effect of what you're looking for. What I mean, is that if I have Joe Homeowner sign off on a laundry list of disclaimers, he will really be looking for damage closely after I am done. Plant damage can be avoided easily, and plants are replaceable at a low cost if damaged. Any other issues that appear need to be brought to the attention of the property owner ASAP. If claims of damage are frequent for you, maybe you need to look at changing techniques or the chemicals you are using.

As for a disclaimer to use, PM me and I'll e-mail you a copy of ours that you can use if you like. We got it from a member of this BBS a few years back.

[MudDuck 20]

1 fern? How to get around that is tell them in the bid that as an option you can move the furn and plants but charge 75.00 per hr to do it....They'll have them moved when you get there LOL...But yea it's good to network with landscapers so they can shoot you dirty house jobs if they see one and you can return the favor plus replace any plants on the cheap...A land scaper might throw a free fern in just for the lead and an excuse to knock on the door and try to get biz...Plus makes you look good that you send pro's over to fix any issues,,,,,When they tell that story they'll say "Man I figured that guy would have just gone to HD and got a cheap fern to get me off his back but he sent over a land scaper to fix it!! WOW"...A story worth repeating and promoting your professionalizim while doing it...