Howdy, guys. I've been reading here for a while, but haven't posted anything. Just been learning from you pros. I've been doing ADC work here in Va for a couple years now with another company, but have recently gone out on my own. I've got all the licensing and insurance in order and I'm not exactly a rank beginner, though I've got a loooooong way to go in comparison to the skills of the professionals here!

My question: I have a service agreement document that I use for regular trapping work, but not for bat work. I've recently sold several bat jobs and wonder if I need a separate service agreement for them? If so, what should be included in it?

Thanks for your help. I value the opinions and advice from this great group of wildlife pros!

Benny

I keep both on a single contract....because sometimes people have multiple critter issues. There is no harm in using two separate....or starting with one...and evolving into two.

A business is like a piece of clay.

For me, it depends on what I'm doing and who I'm working for. In other words, the determining factor is how much do you need to protect yourself.

I have different bat contracts and work orders based on residential or commercial properties and the amount of work/risk being performed.

If the job is simple and my liability small, I'll go with a QuickBooks estimate/work order for residential work. If the job is more complex requiring longer travel times, additional workers, issues with access, etc., I'll go with a simple contract that spells out my liabilities, expectations and responsibilities as well as the clients. If the job involves bat exclusion, clean-out, and pesticide application it gets the commercial contract.

For commercial/church property jobs, they always get a 4 page + contract that covers a lot of different items regardless of what I do for them.

And WCT is exactly right about commercial/church or complex projects....if you decide to service commercial.

Thanks guys!

WCT, im sure you've spent a lot of time building your document, and i wont ask you to share too much. But i wonder if there's a template or specific points you would advise me to definitely include? One of my jobs is a church and, while they certainly seem like great people, i do want to make sure i'm protected.

This is a unique business we're all in here & there arent the resources widely available that there are for most trades, etc. This is a valuable forum and i really appreciate your help!

The best thing you can do is find a contract lawyer and work with them on most of it. You can purchase several books with sample contracts and piece one together to have them review to keep costs lower.

As for a tip, make sure you break up your services and apply a rate to each of them instead of lumping everything together. For instance, instead of saying bat proofing for $10,000 you'd want to break it into multiple items like initial inspection of the project - $500, 3 bat watches - $500, equipment rental - $1,500, materials - $500, initial seal of structure - $3,500, installation of exclusion material - $1,000, removal of exclusion material - $500, final inspection and seal of structure - $2,000.

This way, if there is a problem the client needs to say specifically what actions you proposed that they have an issue with. So instead of having the client claim $10,000 for non successful work, if the problem the client has is the final seal then their claim is limited to $2,000.

very good info Eric thanks

Thanks so much, WCT! That helps a lot . . .

Benny