New 2006 Sample Home Improvement Contracts

The state legislature has made changes to various California Codes that affect home improvement construction contracts.

Some of the requirements are so strict that if you don't include the requirement in your contract then technically your contract is no good, unenforceable, which means your customer could legally get away with not paying you!

I've created a sample construction contract, three different ones actually, as follows:

• Home Improvement projects with one lump-sum payment at the end of the project
• Home Improvement projects with a down payment and one final lump-sum payment at the end of the project
• Home Improvement projects with a down payment and with progress payments

All three versions are included in your purchase, as are the various notices that are required to be included with the contract.

To read more and download your contract package please follow this link:

http://store.construction-business-forms.com/contracts.html
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Save Hundreds of Dollars on Construction Contract Reviews

California law requires certain terms to be included within various types of construction contracts.

Whether you're a home improvement contractor or a commercial contractor, do you know if your contract form has everything that's required?

Is your contract form specifically customized to the specific needs of your business?

What "Ask Dave" says...

Diane, as you know, different types of contractors must include various terms within their contracts under California law.

These terms may include mechanic's lien warnings, CSLB disclosures, and specific terms related to progress payments, change orders, scope of work, etc.

From litigating construction disputes, I've found that every contractor will benefit from including certain additional terms.

Examples of these additional terms include:

• Disclaimers regarding responsibility for circumstances outside the control of the contractor
• Payment terms
• Start and finish date terms
• Warnings/disclaimers, and authorizations regarding extra work beyond the contracted scope of work
• Fine-tuned attorneys' fees provisions
• Indemnity terms that will protect the contractor (as best as possible) in the event that litigation is started by a property owner or otherwise becomes necessary

These terms are especially valuable in allowing a contractor to avoid litigation -- a strong contract will often lead to the other party being advised by their attorney to compromise with you rather than go to court against you.

The contract forms that I have reviewed have ranged from strong to wholly insufficient, and every contract form that I've reviewed could be improved by adding general terms that are helpful to any contractor, the addition of terms customized to that particular contractor's business, or both.

There is no one contract form that is perfect for all contractors. Even two contractors in the same trade will have different needs depending on the size of their typical jobs and the sophistication of their typical customer.

Believe it or not, in some circumstances I will recommend that a client simplify their contract rather than add 100+ boilerplate terms (while many attorneys pride themselves on their ability to maximize the length of a form contract, it's been proven time and again that "contract length does not always equate to contract strength").

I encourage you to advise your readers that I'd be happy to review their current contract form and to identify some potential improvements with no strings attached.

While I've found that the improvements I recommend sell themselves, there will be some cases where a contractor may have an adequate (if not perfect) contract form and he'll make a calculated decision not to incur the time and monetary cost (and inconvenience) of modifying their contract form.

I understand this and I'd like your clients to know that they can rest assured that they will not be given a hard sell.

To contact Dave please call him at 619.682.4842 and tell him that we sent you. :)
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Save THOUSANDS on your 2006 Taxes

YES! THOUSANDS!

The Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) through the IRS is an outstanding way for sole-proprietors to pay for health insurance and ALL of their health-related expenses.

We'll be writing off about $5000 in health expenses that we normally otherwise wouldn't have been able to write off at all! Truly, without the HRA we wouldn't even have health insurance!

This isn't the same as that ridiculous deduction that only allows you to write off that which comes to over 7.5% or whatever the percentage is now, over your income.

With the HRA, you pay your medical expenses out of your personal account, then you write a check out of your company account to reimburse those health expenses and then you include those reimbursements, that your company made to you, on your Schedule C when you file your taxes!

It's so incredibly easy, and TASC does all the math for you:
http://www.download-construction-forms.com/health-expense-tax-savings.html
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Save Both Time And Money on Your Health Insurance Plan

We've been using this very same service for several years now. Need I say more? :)

http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/ehealthinsurance
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Factoring Your Receivables Puts $$ In Your Hands Faster

Factoring is a process of converting your accounts receivable into cash on hand. It's quickly becoming one of the most preferred ways of providing immediate cash to your business.

You invoice your customer and then you 'sell' that invoice to an investment company called a 'Factor'.

The Factor immediately pays you cash and then collects payment from your customer when the invoice(s) you sold to the Factor comes due. 

With factoring you ALWAYS retain complete control and ownership of your business and you get the cash you need.

Commercial contractors follow this link to read more:
Receivables Factoring

Ask Dave

Below is a great question about when a contractor should prelim a homeowner vs. when he shouldn't.

Remember, you can call Dave at 619-682-4842 and chat with him for about 20 minutes about any business matter, at no charge! Just be sure to mention us. :)

And now for that "Ask Dave" question:

Q: When a contractor contracts with a
homeowner to do work on the homeowner's property, and the homeowner has a lender, does the contractor need to
prelim the lender even though he's contracted directly with the
homeowner?

A: It depends on whether the contractor is contracting to do the ENTIRE job or not. If the contractor is a true general contractor and doing the entire job, then no prelim need be sent to the lender. If the contractor is a trade contractor or supplier who is working directly with the owner but there are other trades involved on the project, then a prelim must be sent to the lender. Likewise, a general contractor who is working on only a portion of the total project (even if it's 99% of the project) must serve a prelim on the lender. This specific rule is covered by Civil Code section 3097(b).
The safe thing to do is to ALWAYS send a prelim to EVERYONE.
-----

Dave is a practicing litigation attorney (he's our attorney too :) in San Diego California and he invites our readers to contact him at any time with any questions about any business matter.

Tell him we sent you and he'll chat with you for about 20 minutes at no charge!

To reach Dave and get answers to your questions:

David J. Barnier, Esq.
BARKER LAW GROUP
San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 682-4842

ps: As attorneys go, Dave is a pretty good guy. lol ;) We've known him for about 7 years now, on both a professional and personal basis, and you know I wouldn't recommend him to you if I didn't believe in him. :)

He also does outstanding seminars on lien law. Give him a call if you'd like to attend. :)

Southern California Insurance Brkrg.

For insurance and bonds, call SCIB or visit their website and request quotes and insurance certificates online!
(800) 900-9372

Levy von • Beck & Associates P.S.

Levy • von Beck & Associates P.S. provides Credit & Collection services to clients through-out the U.S.
(206) 626-5444

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