I often travel the country speaking on various topics snow and ice related to groups of snow-and-ice management companies. Certainly a core topic is risk and risk management. I know many of you are aware of this, so this column is just rehashing some old information. However, there are plenty of snow and ice professionals out there who do not. And as you know, they are taking lopsided contracts that fail to protect their interests, many times at very discounted price.
I’m surprised how many industry professionals still do not understand, or even worse, don’t even know the amount of risk they are taking on when they are signing a professional services contract.
Now, before I go on I have to make it clear that I’m not an attorney, and I highly recommend snow professionals have their attorneys review all client-provided contracts and pertinent legal documents before signing them.
In general, this is how the practice works when your customer wants you to sign their contract. There is a “scope of work” section that details how you are contracted to do the job. It may outline pretreating prior to the storm, your crews working through out the storm, and working until the job is done and the snow has stopped. It may specify they want you to begin plowing operations once 2 inches has accumulated (a “2-inch trigger”), and then provide salt at that time. There are as many scenarios as there are property types.
A common one that I have heard often is the client gives you a 2-inch trigger to plow, but they will tell you when to salt. All of this is fine…it is up to you and the customer to determine how the job gets done.
However, there is another area of this type of contract that is of the utmost importance. It is titled “Indemnification.” You and your attorney need to read this closely. Again, there are a wide variety of scenarios at play here, and I cannot cover them all in this column. In fact, we have a number of entire courses on this in the ASCA Learning Center, and I encourage you to visit the Learning center at www.learning.ascaonline.org/Account and take these course for $15 each.
In the “Indemnification Clause,” the property owner or management company defines who has what responsibility in the event something happens. They often use language such as “Any and All” in defining liability. For example, a clause may read:
“To the fullest extent of the law, Contractor hereby agrees to indemnify, Hold Harmless, protect and defend Property Owner, from and against any and all liabilities losses, and damages including, but not limited to and claims, damages, bodily injuries, property damage, or personal injury arising out of slip and fall claims made by any party against an indemnified party alleging a condition resulting from snow or ice.”
Here is the problem with this example: You agree to a 2-inch trigger and they are going to tell you when to salt. Yet, the Indemnification clause states you are going to be responsible for any and all claims relating to snow and ice.
Unbeknownst to many snow and ice management professionals, signing a contract of this type makes you liable for any and all incidents, even if there is one inch of snow on the ground and they told you not to salt. You signed the contract.
An important Golden Rule for snow and ice management is to know what you are signing and always have your attorney review it.
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