What Should I Look For In A Snow Removal Contract?

Snow removal contracts are agreements between homeowners or business owners and snow removal companies. These contracts ensure that the snow removal company has year-round business and that its customers are guaranteed snow removal when snowfall hits.

This article is primarily focused on commercial snow removal contracts in Winnipeg, though most of its contents apply to residential snow removal and are not location-specific. Whether you’re looking at a commercial snow removal contract or a residential one, this article should help.  

What's in Your Contract?

There are some basics that should be found in any snow removal contract. These include:

• Your information, including your name, address, and phone number

• The information of the company you’re doing business with, including name, address, and phone number

• The address of the property being cleared

• A description of the property being cleared (sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, entranceways, and other hardscaping).

• A payment schedule (how much snow removal will cost and how often you’ll have to pay)

• The period of time that the service will be offered (for example, from the 15th of October 2023 to the 15th of April 2024)

Beyond this, the contract should describe exactly when the snow will be cleared. Most contracts have what’s known as a “trigger depth”—the minimum amount of snow that needs to fall before snow and ice removal services are initiated. 

Broadly, there are two types of snow removal contracts:

• Per-event snow removal contracts, in which you agree to pay for snow removal services every time a trigger depth is reached

• Seasonal snow removal contracts, in which a flat fee is paid for snow removal all season long—that fee remains the same no matter how much (or how little) snow falls. 

Your contract should detail which services will be provided. Snow removal services may include ice removal, salting, sanding, snow blowing, snow plowing, and other services. 

Finally, there will be various terms and conditions in any snow removal contract. We’re going to cover many of these terms, like service level agreements (SLAs) and insurance, below:

Service Level Agreements

Your contract should include details about how quickly snow will be cleared once the trigger depth is reached. Typically, snow removal contractors will guarantee snow removal within 24 hours of the trigger depth being reached. They may also offer priority services for customers willing to pay extra.

The contract should detail the consequences for not clearing snow within the expected response time; this might include financial penalties for the service provider.

Most snow removal contracts include exceptions in their service level agreements (SLAs) for heavy snowstorms; excessive snowfall can block roads and create an overwhelming amount of work for the contractor, making maintaining SLAs impossible. Your contract should clearly state whether or not such exceptions are in place and how those exceptions modify both the service and the SLA. 

Liability, Insurance, and Safety

Liability in snow removal contracts is complicated. Your snow removal contractor should be considered liable for damage to your property as a result of their snow-clearing activities; the contract should explicitly state any exceptions to this rule.

Ideally, your contract will also include clauses explaining who is liable in the case of a slip and fall accident. This includes slips and falls that occur when your contractor is working, as well as slips and falls that happen on your property after snow and ice removal.

The contract should also give details about the snow removal contractor’s insurance. They should have commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, as well as Worker’s Compensation—at a minimum. They may also have umbrella coverage, automobile liability insurance, and other coverages. 

Choosing a Provider

There are many different techniques you can use to narrow down which snow removal service provider you choose. You can look at reviews, read customer testimonials, and ask friends, family members, and business owners for their recommendations.

Once you’ve established a list of a handful of companies that interest you, consider asking them for sample contracts or even to send you a contract to sign. This will give you the opportunity to comb through the fine print and ensure the contractor meets your needs. You can always ask for changes to the contract, and you’re never obligated to sign. 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

While legal and regulatory frameworks are unlikely to appear in your contract, it’s still important to understand legislation around snow removal in your area. Here in Winnipeg, for example, the City of Winnipeg stipulates exactly which roads and sidewalks it will clear; your snow removal contract should, then, not include any of the areas that will be cleared by the City anyway. 

Communication and Customer Service

Contracts will rarely stipulate exactly how you and the snow removal company will communicate—often, it will be as simple as telling you that communication will be “oral or in writing”, which is about as vague as it gets.

With that said, you can always ask your snow removal company to include information about how communication will occur in the contract, though, for the most part, informal agreements will do.

Various customer service elements will be detailed within the contract, including SLAs, trigger depths, and more. There’s no simple way to quantify “great customer service”, so look to reviews, not your snow removal contract, for assurances that your snow removal company goes above and beyond. 

Contract Flexibility

Your contract should contain stipulations allowing you to cancel or modify it under certain conditions. You may need to pay a fee in order to cancel your contract. Conversely, you may be able to use payments you’ve made for snow removal services toward upgrading to a seasonal (instead of a per-event) contract. 

Summary

Your snow removal contract should include: 

• How often snow will be removed

• Payment terms (per-event contracts or seasonal contracts)

• How injury claims will be handled

• What services will be offered

• What will trigger services

• Stipulations about service levels, liability, communication, and more

Now that you understand these contracts, you can hire the right company to remove snow and ice for you this season. Looking for commercial snow removal in Winnipeg? Call Bulger Brothers today.