I love these kind of posts.
They give me something to chew on.
Here is my view. Business is business.
What is needed is to be upfront on both sides of the equation. Problem is some people have difficulty being that way with strangers never mind friends.
My approach is this is what agreements are for or rather contracts.
Yeah people hate paper work but i found that it prevents the fading memory that says "I thought you said this or that" or I understood that was included.
So i give you my 5 cents to a contract. It aint difficult at all. Does not need to be written by lawyers because you would probably not go there.
1) An agreement/contract is only as good as the intent between the two parties so it records the intent.
Simply put i will make x and you will pay Y.
2)What needs to be covered are.
a)Specification of the deliverable
Defining what will be made and to what degree of quality as best as one can. The less vauge and clearer the more understanding. This is where i think Sketchup is a great tool to be able to show a design and finish before one starts. Then attach the drawing and you have a basis of specification
aspects that should be covered are materials (ie particle board or ply or solid wood,) and finishes (spray, hand brush, wipe etc) hardware to be used and who chooses the hardware and who purchases it/supplies it.
b) Payment terms.
Simply state the amount and the way in which it will be paid. So say 20% on signature of the contract, then work your way through on the deliverable stages (say visual inspection of cabinets before install, installation and then final completion.
c) Define a method for costing and catering for changes/extras. If a person changes there mind after the job has been started it should be understood that even if it is possible to accomodate the change that a change incurs a cost.
Lets remember there is always a overhead cost to the aspect of dealing with a change even between friends.
d) Define risks and who carries them. This is not that difficult to do.
Example I had a guy do my deck when we first arrived here. He wished to leave his tools in my garage. I said fine no problem but in the contract i stated that he agree that i am not liable for any of his tools should they go missing on my property.
Same for material he left it on the driveway and then moved it to the back of the lot. At one point it was in two places and all around us was still open areas. This was cedar i felt it was attractive enough to steal. So i made sure to enclose a clause about loss of material on site.
Same went for accidents. Say one of his guys fell off the deck before they had railings on. I made clear in the agreement that he was responsible for safety of himself and his personnel.
Same for damage to property. I made him agree that were he to put a 4x4 post through one of my windows he was going to have to remedy it and agree to that fact.
e) Define any regulations to which the job should comply. IN my decks case being a new comer i obtained the required permit. Town planner checked over the plans and required an extra couple of posts.
Now in my deal and contract the contractor had assured me the plan he provided from the structural point of view was according to code. So i said fine any extra the town requires is going to be at his expense. (Why did i do this. Sounds mean right. But it would be easy for us not to have had that in the agreement and the guy could have designed and secured my contract on the basis of a plan that would not meet code and then all the extras would be real extras to the price. I wanted to know what i was in for upfront and thus be able to be in control of my own budget.
This way his error cost him not me. But there was no bitterness because it had been made clear up front and he felt he was correct. So he ate the extra cost.
f)Define delivery .
When should x stage be reach and when should y stage be reached and what is the latest date for completion. Define a penalty. Yes this sounds mean to but it prevents the abuse either way. One can always wave a term after it is in the contract. One cannot get into the contract something that was not there to begin with unless one renegotiates the contract.
My deck guy was a very happy chap and so was i. He never hesitated to sign the contract because both of us understood what each other had to do.
I supplied plenty of barley hops at the end of each day for him and all his crew and he provided an extra or two that had not been in the price at his own doing.
Same worked for my workshop and also happy contractors. Paperwork put every one at ease and made it clear neither party was out to take advantage of the other party.
Best way to function ask Holmes.
BTW in the case of both my contractors to date i gave them unsolicited letters of recomendation and offered in the letter for any prospective customer to be able to call me and view the work if they like.