Ask any trade about their worst job and you’ll get the same shape of story. The price was agreed, the work started, and somewhere in the middle a gap appeared between what you thought you’d sold and what the customer thought they’d bought. Who was moving the old suite. Whether making good included painting. When the money was due.

Terms and conditions close that gap before it opens. Not a ten-page contract nobody reads — a short block at the end of your quote, written like a person, covering the handful of things that actually cause arguments. It takes one afternoon to write, then it goes on every quote you ever send.

General guidance, not legal advice. For anything large, unusual or high-value, get terms drafted or checked properly.

Why small jobs need them too

There’s a belief that terms are for big contracts and a day’s work doesn’t warrant them. It’s backwards. On a large job there’s usually a spec, drawings and a paper trail. On a two-day job there’s a text message and a handshake — precisely where memories diverge.

Terms do three things for you:

They set expectations. Most customers aren’t trying it on. They genuinely didn’t know skip hire wasn’t included, because nobody told them.
They give you something to point at. “It’s in the terms on the quote you accepted” ends a conversation that otherwise runs on feelings.
They make you look like a business. A quote with clear terms reads as someone who’s done this a hundred times, and it costs nothing.

And when a customer accepts a quote with terms attached, they’re accepting the terms with it. That’s why they belong on the quote itself — not sent afterwards, not “we’ll sort the paperwork later.”

The clauses that earn their place

You don’t need many — these are the ones that prevent the disputes that actually happen.

1. Price validity

State how long the price stands — 30 days is common. Material prices move, your diary fills, and a quote accepted eight months later shouldn’t bind you to last year’s costs.

2. What’s included — and what isn’t

The single most valuable clause you’ll write. Exclusions are where the money leaks: waste removal, skip hire, scaffolding, decoration and making good, builder’s work, parking and permits, appliance connection, specialist reports.

Don’t list every conceivable exclusion — list the ones that come up in your trade, on your jobs, and be specific. “Excludes decoration” is worth more than a paragraph of generalities.

3. Deposit and payment terms

Say what’s due and when: the deposit and when it’s payable, any stage payments and what triggers them, when the final balance is due, and what you accept. Getting this on the quote rather than raising it at the end is most of the battle. The mechanics of chasing what’s owed are covered in how to get paid on time, but the terms are where it starts.

4. Variations and extras

The clause that saves the most money. Any change to the scope — customer requests, or something you uncover once you’re in — gets priced and agreed in writing before it’s carried out.

It protects the customer as much as you, and it gives you a natural, non-awkward moment to say “that’s outside the quote, want me to price it?” rather than swallowing it or arguing later.

5. Assumptions and site conditions

Every price rests on assumptions: the existing pipework is sound, the floor is level, access is clear on the day. Write down the ones the price depends on. If one turns out to be wrong, you’ve got a fair basis for re-pricing rather than a fight about who should have known.

Where there’s real uncertainty, an estimate or a provisional sum may be more honest than a fixed price — the difference between a quote and an estimate is worth being precise about.

6. Materials and standards

Cover who supplies what, that materials are subject to availability and a close equivalent may be substituted, and where the risk sits on customer-supplied goods — if a customer insists on buying their own tiles, you’re not carrying the warranty on them. State the standard you work to as well: relevant regulations, manufacturer instructions, the industry standards for your trade.

7. Access and site conditions

Short but useful: when you need access, that the area should be reasonably clear, where you’ll park and unload, and that delays caused by lack of access may affect the timescale or the price.

8. Cancellation

What happens if they pull out after accepting — particularly where you’ve ordered materials, booked plant or turned other work away. Note too that domestic customers who sign up away from your business premises usually have a statutory cancellation period. Those rights are set nationally, so check the current position on gov.uk rather than guessing.

9. Guarantees and workmanship

Say what you guarantee, for how long, and what falls outside it — fair wear and tear, misuse, third-party alterations, and manufacturer warranties on goods, which pass through to the customer. A modest guarantee you’ll honour beats a generous one you won’t.

10. Liability, insurance and disputes

Confirm you carry public liability insurance, note reasonable limits on what you’re responsible for, and finish with how problems get handled: the customer tells you first, in writing, and gives you a fair chance to put it right. That last line stops a snag becoming a review before you’ve had a chance to fix it.

A short template you can adapt

Keep it to a block at the end of the quote:

Terms & conditions

1. Validity. This quotation is valid for 30 days from the date above.

2. Scope. The price covers the items listed. Anything not listed is excluded — including [your usual exclusions].

3. Payment. [Deposit] payable on acceptance to cover materials. [Stage payments, if any.] Balance due within [x] days of completion, by bank transfer to the details on the invoice.

4. Variations. Any change to the scope, or work arising that could not reasonably have been foreseen, will be priced and agreed in writing before it is carried out.

5. Assumptions. This price assumes [your key assumptions]. If conditions differ materially, we’ll discuss and re-price before continuing.

6. Materials. Materials remain our property until paid for in full. Where an item is unavailable we may substitute a close equivalent, with your agreement. We cannot guarantee materials supplied by the customer.

7. Access. Please ensure the working area is clear and accessible on the agreed dates. Delays caused by access may affect the timescale and cost.

8. Cancellation. If you cancel after acceptance, we’ll charge for materials already ordered and work already carried out. Your statutory cancellation rights are unaffected.

9. Guarantee. Our workmanship is guaranteed for [period] from completion. Manufacturer warranties apply to supplied goods. Excludes fair wear and tear, misuse or alteration by others.

10. Insurance. We hold public liability insurance. If anything isn’t right, tell us in writing and give us a reasonable opportunity to put it right.

Change the wording so it sounds like you. Terms written in someone else’s voice look borrowed, and a customer can tell.

Keep it human, and get it agreed

The temptation is to reach for legalese because it feels more binding. It isn’t. Clear English a customer actually reads is worth more than “notwithstanding the foregoing” that they skip. Four rules keep terms working:

One page maximum. If it runs longer than the quote itself, nobody reads it.
Numbered clauses. So you can say “clause 4” instead of “somewhere in that block”.
No threats. Terms should read as clarity, not suspicion. Firm and friendly.
The same terms every time. Consistency makes them a policy rather than a reaction to your last bad customer.

Then make sure they’re agreed, not just attached: the terms sit on the same document as the price, and acceptance comes back in writing. “Yes please, go ahead” in a text is a perfectly good record; a phone call isn’t, unless you follow it with a short confirming email. It’s the same principle as itemising the work line by line rather than sending a lump sum — the more specific the document they said yes to, the less there is to argue about later.

The takeaway

Terms and conditions aren’t there to win a court case. They’re there to make sure you and the customer are picturing the same job before anyone lifts a tool.

Write the block once — validity, scope and exclusions, payment, variations, assumptions, materials, access, cancellation, guarantee, liability — in your own words, on one page, and put it on every quote without exception. Most of the disputes you’d otherwise have never start, and the handful that do get settled by pointing at a line you both agreed to.

Queezy turns an on-site walkthrough into a branded, itemised A4 PDF quote — a clear record of exactly what was agreed, which is half of what terms are for. Join the waiting list for early access.

What to Put in Your Quote's Terms & Conditions