Managing properties in a real estate agency requires ensuring they are kept in outstanding condition – otherwise you could find yourself facing dissatisfied and disgruntled clients, and in worst case scenarios legal trouble.

Engaging trusted maintenance tradespeople is one of the most effective ways to avoid this. This may often require you to work with tradespeople in different industries or with varying expertise (eg. plumbers, electricians). Contracting with tradespeople will allow you to keep on top of your property maintenance the right way, without the need for employing a plethora of staff directly.  

However, like most other business relationships, engaging with maintenance tradespeople requires careful consideration of several factors – including how you will work with them, what their work will entail, such as their services and costs, and what is to happen if things go wrong.

To avoid headaches later, it is best to sort out your contractor relationships at the beginning – and this is best done through your contractor agreement. 

 We’ve designed a contractor agreement specific to the engagement of tradespeople in the real estate industry. This contract has been set up so your Agency will be engaging service providers on behalf of your owners. It will ultimately be the owners responsibility to pay the tradesperson for work done on their property – therefore limiting your liability as the managing agent.

With our template you can easily contract maintenance and repair tradespeople without having to worry about the nitty gritty of your agreements. This agreement covers/includes clauses about:

• The price for the services and details regarding GST
• Details about payment
• Description of services
• Term and engagement
• General obligations of the service provider/tradesperson
• General obligations of the Agency
• Warranties
• Damages caused by the service provider/tradesperson
• Defective work
• Indemnity
• Circumstances for termination – for convenience or default
• Payments after termination or reduction
• Dispute resolution
• Assignment and subcontracting
• Ensuring an employment relationship is not created
• Intellectual property
• Confidentiality
• Privacy

If you’re looking to engage a contractor to help maintain the properties under your management, then you have come to the right place. 

Our Contractor Agreements are tailored for real estate as we understated why your agency is different to any other business out there. Make sure you are protected today and download now!

 Your Contractor Agreement for Trades and Maintenance People in Real Estate (short form) includes:

• Contractor Agreement for Trades and Maintenance People in Real Estate (short form) template 
• Instructional video on how to complete your template

OPTIONAL EXTRA – Want to ensure you are set up right from the start to protect you - why not have it customised by a real estate agency lawyer, includes any extras and legal advice to help keep you compliant. Book a FREE 10 minute chat with us today to find out more!.

Boring legal stuff: Whilst this O*NO Legal product has been designed and prepared by lawyers, this is general advice only and cannot be relied upon as legal advice as it does not take into consideration your exact agency circumstances (unless you book in for a 1-on-1 session with us). This information is for guidance only as there are many variables in running your agency. Contact us to find out if any of these variables apply to you.
PS - congratulations if you have read this far, you must love legal disclaimers or are a sucker for punishment.