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What are general terms and conditions for landscapers? They are the standard rules that a landscaping company declares applicable to every quotation and assignment regarding payment, additional work, plant growth guarantees, weather and seasonal influences, and liability. They do not belong in the quotation itself but form a separate document that you provide before or at the time of concluding the agreement. The goal: to get the “fine print” right once, so that you do not have to renegotiate it for every garden.
The short answer
- Definition: standard terms that apply to all your assignments (design, construction, maintenance).
- Function: allocating risks — payment, overtime, growth guarantee, downtime due to bad weather, liability.
- Status: only valid if the customer could reasonably have known them (handing over).
- Industry terms and conditions: many landscapers use VHG terms and conditions; own terms and conditions are also permitted.
- Limit: for consumers, the “grey and black lists” apply — clauses that are too one-sided are voidable.
What are they for?
A landscaping assignment often consists of multiple phases: design, groundwork and installation, followed by maintenance. Risks exist in every phase: plants that fail to take root, a client requesting additional work without accepting the extra cost, or frost that halts work for weeks. General terms and conditions establish in advance who bears which risk, so that you can fall back on them in the event of a dispute.
Without conditions, you fall back on the law. This is often less favorable than what you could have arranged yourself — for example, regarding liability and payment terms.
What exactly are they arranging?
- Payment: payment terms, down payment, installment invoices for large projects, interest and collection costs for late payment.
- Additional work: when something constitutes additional work and how to charge for it (for example, extra earthwork due to unexpected debris or pipes).
- Plant growth guarantee: whether, and under what conditions, you guarantee the establishment of plants — usually linked to proper maintenance by the customer.
- Weather and season: postponement during frost, prolonged rain, or heat without default or incurring a penalty.
- Liability: limitation to, for example, the invoice amount or the insured amount, and exclusion of consequential damage.
The legal status: delivery
General terms and conditions bind the customer only if he could reasonably have been aware of them before or at the time of concluding the agreement. In practice, this means: sending them along with the quotation, or offering them digitally in a way that the customer can save and print.
If you do not do this, the customer can invalidate the terms and conditions. You will then lose them and fall back on the statutory regulations. Merely referring to “our terms and conditions are on the website” is usually insufficient for a delivered document.
Growth guarantee: why it has to be separate
Plants are living material. Whether a plant takes root depends partly on factors beyond your control: watering, exceptional drought, disease, or damage caused by the customer. A growth guarantee is fine, but define the boundaries: which plants are covered, how long the guarantee lasts, and what maintenance the customer must perform to be eligible.
Example: A landscaper plants a hedge and guarantees survival for one season, provided the customer waters in accordance with the supplied instructions. If the hedge dies due to a dry summer in which no watering took place, the guarantee becomes void — because this was stipulated in advance.
Consumer or business customer?
If you work for private individuals, additional protection rules apply. The “grey” and “black lists” in the law designate certain clauses as (presumably) unreasonably burdensome — for example, a complete exclusion of liability. The consumer can annul these.
With business clients, you have more freedom, but there too, the requirement of delivery and the limits of reasonableness and fairness apply.
Honest recommendation
If you work with standard gardens and clear assignments, you can handle a well-substantiated standard document perfectly well yourself — you do not need a lawyer for every assignment. As long as you provide it consistently and the key points (payment, additional work, growth guarantee, weather, liability) are clearly stated, you are in a strong position. Consider the VHG terms and conditions or have a set of your own terms drawn up if you work with large projects, consumers, and business clients — in that case, a correct, up-to-date set is worth the money.
Read more: general terms and conditions for landscapers, drafting general terms and conditions for landscapers and having general terms and conditions for landscapers drafted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard rules that a landscaping company applies to all its assignments (design, construction, maintenance). They regulate payment, additional work, plant growth guarantees, weather and seasonal influences, and liability, so that you do not have to renegotiate these points for each assignment.
No. They only bind the customer if he could reasonably have known them before or at the time of concluding the agreement — that is, by sending them along with the quotation or offering them in a digitally storable format. In the event of default, the customer can destroy them, and you fall back on the law.
Yes. Many landscapers use the VHG terms and conditions (the industry terms and conditions for the green sector). You may also use your own set. The advantage of your own terms and conditions is that you tailor them to your type of assignments and guarantees.
A commitment that delivered plants will take root, usually for one season and provided that the customer waters and maintains them correctly. Specify which plants are covered, how long the guarantee is valid, and what maintenance is required; otherwise, they will be unusable in practice.
Include a clause that allows for postponement in the event of frost, prolonged rain, or heat without incurring default or incurring a penalty. This prevents a customer from holding you liable for delays beyond your control.
Yes. For consumers, the grey and black lists from the law apply: clauses that are too one-sided (such as a complete exclusion of liability) are voidable. With business clients, you have more freedom, but delivery and reasonableness remain required.
That is possible, but then you negotiate the same points again for every garden, and your quote becomes cluttered. You arrange the general terms and conditions properly once and declare them applicable to every assignment; the quote then only covers price, schedule, and the specific garden.
