[Nebraska]

I have a new snow removal contract from a management company sitting here on my desk for review. A portion of the contract has me reading and re-reading:

"Contractor shall be responsible form commencement of service for all injury or damage of any kind resulting from said service, to persons or property regardless of who is owner. In addition to the liability imposed upon Contractor for personal injury or property damage, suffered through Contractor's negligence, Contractor will hold harmless and indemnify Manager for expense, liability, or payment arising out of or through injury to any person or person, or damage to property on which work listed above is located, arising out of or suffering through any act or omission of the Contractor, it's managers or representatives, or anyone directly or indirectly employed by or under supervision of the Contractor in the fulfillment of the operations included in this Agreement."

"It is expressly understood and agreed that Contractor will act as an independent contractor in performance of this Agreement; and Contractor hereby assumes all liability, risk of loss and responsibility concerning snow and ice removal hereunder. No provision hereunder shall be inteded to create a partnership or joint venture with respect to Owner or otherwise"

Question is....I am interpreting this that we (Contractor) are not assuming liability unless we are actually negligent in our duties as per the agreement.

[mark allen]

Have your attorney review it too!!
what is negligence..????? If one of your guys forgets to shovel a step, and someone slips..... is that ? if you plow after 3" and it snows 1" more and a car slides into another...is it your negligence.....?

You would be better off giving them your contract to sign, they are after all your customer....right?
good luck

[PSUscaper]

It sounds like a typical hold harmless agreement. Just like I have to have all my subs sign a hold harmless agreement against me and my client, they are asking you to do the same. This is becoming a big deal to insurance companies. I just got new insurance and they wouldn't write the policy until I proved I have a hold harmless in place and that all my subs sign it.

Basically, it is eliminating the management's insurance company from liabilty, and placing it all on you. You should make sure you have the proper coverage in place. Maybe even it show it to your insurance agent first and see what they say, as they may have a problem with it.

[HRLand]

This is typical today. I give a contract to a client they say "our insurance co. says you have to sign our contract". Every insurance co. wants their client to get a hold harmless agreement from anyone they hire or work for.

[Pelican]

Be very careful in dealing with management companies if you haven't allready in the past. Many of them have horrific reputations for not paying their contractors for services rendered. Check out the company you are dealing with carefully.

[Mark Oomkes]

You think that one's bad, I've had them where I am responsible even if I'm not negligent. I don't sign those without adding "If contractor found negligent".

have your attorney read over it as well.

[Nebraska]

Had my attorney look at it and it was explained that we are liable only if we are negligent in our duties as per the contract. Of course negligence would be subjective as to the jury involved. My insurance agent sent it to the underwriter and they said it was ok.

I would have to agree with not assuming the liability in all cases. Problem is there are a lot of contractors out there that would sign it and not think otherwise. Hence the reason they are able to get away with it.

We're a little behind here in Nebraska. Most companies are still very honest. This one is the oldest real estate company in the area; over 100 years. We've done work with them in the past and they pay rather quick. Within the last few months they hired a new VP who wants their contract used because in most cases the contractor does not have a contract. In our case they used our contract as "Exhibit 'x'" and referred to it multiple times including the specifications of the work to be done.

This summer I had one contract that was presented to us for maintenance that was 28 pages long! We ended up going through it line by line agreeing and disagreeing. A lot was changed. I'm finding that many these property managers simply regurgitate the information that they are fed.

Thanks for the input guys!

[cutntrim]

My internet was down thurs-mon, so I didn't get a chance to respond. Sounds like you've got it figured out.

The first few lines read as though you are responsible for all injuries/claims regardless of cause, but the follow-up clarifies it to be only those claims that are brought forward as a result of your negligence. So, it's fine as far as I can see.

Just make sure that the scope of the contract (trigger depth, boundaries, sidewalk maintenance, etc...) is clearly communicated and you'll be ok.

I'm sure you do that anyway...

[jamesn162]

what do you mean by trigger depth?

[Lanelle]

Trigger depth refers to the minimum amount of snow, usually measured in inches, that has to be on the pavement for you to begin plowing operations for that particular contract. Often it is 2" but can be as little as 1". Usually, the greater the liability exposure to the client, the lower the trigger depth is set. Example: Hospital vs. Golf store. The hospital has to have clear traffic lanes for ambulances to arrive and walkways that are safe for the elderly and infirm. The golf store won't be busy during a snow storm.

[Nebraska]

On a side note regarding trigger depth and the type of property.....we have a self storage facility with a trigger depth of 2" and no one is ever there except for the onsite manager! She calls to let us know when there is 1", 1.25", 1.5", 1.75" and panics when there is 1.9"...