contract terms and liability [RE-wrenches]

[Barbra Kerr]

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Wrenches -

For us we have seen no complaints on output estimates, but have been
surpirsed by a few clients that claim damage was done to property in areas
we were never near.(i.e. Landscape lighting, vegetation).  In response to
the client complaint we investiagte the problem and 2-4 hours later find the
problem and confirm not done by our personnel (an animal had chewed through
it and it was an old break! - this is common.)  The wording in our current
contract indicates all change orders must be in WRITING.  Other instances
include neighbors of the client (tracking housing) that indicated damage had
been done,
once again in areas we never neared, and in the spirit of keeping the
environment neighborly, and our rep excellent we take care of it at no cost
to the client.  What we have decided to do in the future, is when instances
like these do occur we will have the client sign a conditional work order
that basically states that if through further investigation of the complaint
it becomes obvious that damage was not caused by our personnel payment in
full will be made by the homeowner.  It is our experience, that if the
client is willing to sign this statement, then the complaint is sincere -
and not a maneuver to get additional work for free.  Please know that these
clients are few and far between, yet they do remind me of potential losses
and areas of exposure.  This is especially true of roofs.  We had one
project where we placed uni=rac stanchions, indicated to the client the roof
revealed poor installation, especially at the valleys, such that water was
backing up under the flat concrete tiles and saturating the plywood.  By the
way the felt was not overlapped properly either.  This was pointed out to
them as well. They understood, said it had never leaked and asked us to
continue.  We documented with pictures at the time.  Well, it rained hard
and they had leaks at the valleys.  They called ranting and raving.  We
explained again, took up that area of roof and valley and repaired it,
called out an expert witness, who also verified to the client what were
telling them was true.  We have kept and stored the plywood that was removed
in the event of future problems.  The plywood revealed years of leaking -
not just now.  Had we gotten a signed waiver from the client upon first site
of improper installation - this would not have been an issue to be
revisited.  Also, we are changing the contract terms to inlcude verbage to
the same affect.  Sometimes you can't see hidden damage and/or there is NO
attic access. 

Another thing we are very seriuosly considering is video taping the entire
site at the intial site visit, upon arrival to install, and upon completion
of the project.  This somethng I am used to doing in my Federal Contracting
days - not on residential/commercial sites.  But, with the delcine is costs
for video cameras it is really starting to make sense.  Also, we can use the
footage for promotional and marketing campaigns with the clients approval.

Just some thoughts to share...

Barbra K. Kerr
President
Kerr Enterprises, Inc
858.503.0158 x 107
858.503.0137 (fax)
858.337.5097 cell


-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Yago [mailto:jryago at wwjv.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 8:52 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: RE: contract terms and liability [RE-wrenches]


 

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As a growing industry, we all are starting to see more contract issues
with product liability, clients un-happy with system performance,
projects stalled due to inspector delays, problems with code
interpretations, costly product delivery delays, and battles with
utilities for grid connection permits.

It would be interesting to "compare notes" on some of the terms or
conditions we are now writing into sales contracts (or should be!) and
hopefully let everyone benefit from hard lessons learned.

For us, initially our system proposals included detailed item by item
component lists and item pricing for everything in a system sale.  We
thought this would avoid potential mis-understandings on what we were
and were not including.  Now we no longer provide detail component
information in our "system" proposals, as some clients were internet
shopping for better pricing after we sized everything  and indicated
each component needed.

We now charge "up-front" for an initial site visit and system layout,
and deduct this from the final system purchase price.  This solved our
lost sales problem, and this early client financial commitment now
allows us to provide all the detail product information they request
without fear.  Most clients realize some initial field and sizing
effort is required before we can even give them a really firm price
proposal.

What has blind-sided you in your solar business or sales agreements,
and what did you do or add to your contracts so it would not bite you
next time?


What say yea?

Jeff Yago



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