THE ESSENTIALS OF WRITTEN CONTRACTS

The other day I was at a color consult with a client of mine. We were pouring over paint colors when out of the blue, the client told me that we were the first contracting company to deliver a written contract. She proceeded to tell me that she had a ton of work completed over the years and all without contracts! This included a remodel, roofing, landscaping, deck rebuilds, electrical, tile, plumbing and so on. I was shocked to hear that we were the only ones working with a contract.

The State of Oregon has a consumer protection agency known as the CCB, or Construction Contractor’s Board. All contractors, whether general, specialty, residential or commercial must be licensed by the CCB in order to perform work. The CCB governs contractors and makes sure that we abide by certain laws and regulations. For example, we are required to carry general liability insurance and if we have employees, we are required to carry worker’s comp insurance. The CCB keeps certificates of liability insurance on record and will cancel a license if the insurances lapses.

Another requirement of the CCB is that all jobs that total $2,000 or more must have a legal written contract. Remember that the CCB is a consumer protection agency. They are not interested in protecting contractors; in fact, they are the policing agency for contractors. The CCB’s interest in requiring a written contract is for the best interest of the homeowner.

I contacted Nathan Sosa, Esq. at Corbridge Law Offices, P.C. in Hillsboro, OR to ask the simple question of why a contract between a home owner and contractor is important and he responded:

A written contract is important because it spells out the terms of your agreement with the contractor. If there is ever a dispute over the scope of work, the timeframe for completion, the cost, etc., either party can refer back to the written document. In fact, Oregon Construction Contractors Board states that one of the ways people can protect themselves from scams is to, “Always get a written contract that includes a detailed description of the work, materials, costs, start and end dates.”

If you are looking at companies to do contract work on your home, insist that they provide a legal contract. The contract needs to provide start date, length of service, cost, materials, detailed scope of work to be performed and terms of payment. A bid, whether scratched out on a piece of paper or delivered electronically in a comprehensive form is still just a bid and not a legal contract. Both parties must sign the contract for it be legal and binding.

At Sisu Painting, Inc., you can count on us to not only deliver on our promises, but to follow the letter of the law.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today!

Nancy