Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/574585
www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation October 2015 19 Contractors must explain all services to their clients and then have them sign off on what they accept, what they reject, and any further special instructions. For example, a client may refuse to spend extra money to deice a property with magnesium chloride at 10 degrees Fahrenheit, an appropriate temperature for this deicer. The client may only approve the use of sodium chloride, which is cheaper but loses its effectiveness below 20 degrees. In this case, the contractor's agreement should state that the client refused the use of magnesium chloride. Otherwise, he appears negligent for not using an appropriate product for the conditions. Contracts must also clearly identify the party responsible for deicing, because some clients may request to deice their own sidewalks and entranceways. If this isn't noted, the client may try to blame his own negligence on the contractor in the case of a slip-and-fall incident. Another deicing issue that is often left out of contracts is freeze- thaw cycles. As snow piles begin to melt at the end of winter, the runoff freezes when night temperatures dip below freezing. The freeze-thaw cycles create icy spots that need to be managed. The agreement should state whether the client is responsible for notifying the contractor of these hazards or if the contractor must keep watch. Verbiage also plays a vital role in contractors' agreements, both in their own and the ones they sign. A legal advisor should review them, as this can help identify language — even a single word — in a contract that can cause trouble. For example, contracts should use the word "serviced" instead of "cleared" because, in an ongoing event, one may not be able to keep all properties completely cleared. Also, the word "insured" works better than "fully insured" since nobody can say how much insurance is really enough, and attorneys will jump at the chance to find out in a lawsuit. When signing clients' contracts, one must use caution. Many contractors, desperate for new business, sign them without considering the consequences. This may expose them to excess liability since outside contracts are often generated by large national clients and contain generic language. For example, a contract may state that the contractor is responsible for slip- and-fall occurrences on the client's property. However, a better contract would be more specific so the contractor could not be held responsible for areas on the property that he or she is not instructed to service, such as entranceways. Additionally, outside contracts often put the client in charge of service frequencies. This takes control away from the contractor, who may be on a busy schedule when the client calls for service. When he or she arrives at the client's property, the snow may be packed down, making it harder to plow and requiring more material to melt the ice. PUT EVERYTHING IN WRITING Other than service agreements, more paperwork is needed. For every job contractors should document the time they arrived at the site, how many square feet were treated, the services provided, the products used, and the weather conditions at the time the property was serviced. All of these factors are important because these are the questions an attorney asks in a slip-and-fall case. If the contractor can prove that the property was serviced in a timely manner, the appropriate volume and type of ice melt was used, and the service agreement was fulfilled, a court of law is likely to find that he or she exercised due diligence, and is free of liability. Furthermore, a contractor should take photos of all clients' properties before snow starts to fall. Photos help identify obstacles on the lot and act as documentation of prior property damage. For example, a client may have a damaged curb that he did not notice before winter began. However, he may notice the damage after the snow melts and assume that it was caused by a snowplow. If a date-stamped photo was taken of the property, the client can see that the curb was damaged before service began. SPECIAL SECTION