What are the general terms and conditions for a handyman business?
General terms and conditions for a handyman business are the standard clauses that a handyman, installation, or maintenance company declares applicable to all assignments it performs. They regulate the legal relationship between the handyman business and its clients regarding all matters not agreed upon separately for each assignment: liability for damage to the client's property, complaint and warranty periods, the rules regarding additional and reduced work, payment arrangements, the consequences of force majeure and bad weather, the client's obligations, and the cancellation policy. For handyman businesses, a unique aspect of their activities is that they typically work in or on their clients' properties — homes, commercial buildings, or technical installations. Accidents happen easily: damaged floors, leaks following plumbing work, or damage to electrical installations. Without proper general terms and conditions, you, as a handyman business, are unlimitedly liable for all such damage.
Our lawyers draft custom-made general terms and conditions for your handyman business that are tailored to your activities — whether it involves painting, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, tiling, installation, or a combination of trades — and that limit your liability risk to the maximum extent.
When does a situation constitute a contract for work and when a consumer purchase — and why does that make a difference for your terms and conditions?
This is the most underestimated legal nuance for handyman businesses that supply both labor and materials. In the case of pure contracting work —you perform work without supplying materials, or you process materials supplied by the client—the contract for services or contracting applies. When performing work where you also supply and install the materials, the agreement may qualify as a consumer purchase if the materials constitute the predominant part of the performance. This distinction is of great importance for the warranty scheme: in a consumer purchase, the consumer is entitled to a statutory non-conformity warranty of two years pursuant to Article 7:17 of the Dutch Civil Code, from which no deviation to the detriment of the consumer is permitted. Different rules apply to contracts for work. A handyman business that supplies and installs solar panels, bathrooms, or kitchens falls under the consumer purchase law regime for the material component—even though the installation is considered a service. Your general terms and conditions must be aligned with this distinction. Our lawyers assess which regime applies to your specific activities.
As a handyman business, how do you limit your liability for damage to the client's property?
The limitation of liability is the most critical clause for contracting companies. If you work in or on the client's home or business premises, the risk of property damage is real: damaged floors or furniture during renovation work, water leakage after plumbing work, or fire resulting from electrical work. Without a contractual liability limit, you are liable for the full consequential damages — in the event of a house fire or large-scale flooding, this can easily amount to hundreds of thousands of euros. Your general terms and conditions must limit liability to the amount covered by your liability insurance and expressly exclude consequential damages, business interruption losses, and indirect damages. Please note: for consumer clients, certain limitations of liability are not permitted under the blacklist of Article 6:236 of the Dutch Civil Code — the exclusion of liability for intent or willful recklessness is always void towards consumers. Our lawyers will formulate a limitation of liability for you that is legally sound, even for consumer assignments.
What complaint and warranty periods apply to handyman businesses?
Complaint and warranty periods are of great practical importance to contracting companies. Without a contractual complaint period, a client may still complain about defects in your work years later. Your general terms and conditions must stipulate that the client must report defects in writing within a reasonable period after discovery — typically two to four weeks for business clients, and a more reasonable period for consumers given the statutory protection. Furthermore, for consumers, the statutory complaint period of two months after discovery of the defect applies pursuant to Article 7:23 of the Dutch Civil Code, from which no deviation to the detriment of the consumer is permitted. A warranty period regulates how long you stand by the quality of your work after completion. For consumers to whom you have supplied and installed materials, the statutory non-conformity warranty of two years applies. For the labor component, you may agree on a shorter contractual warranty period, but this must be reasonable. Our lawyers advise you on the warranty structure that suits your activities.
What are your obligations as a handyman business upon completion, and how do you arrange this in the general terms and conditions?
The handover is the most legally decisive moment in home improvement work. At the moment of handover, the risk of the work transfers from the contracting company to the client, and the warranty and complaint periods begin to run. Your general terms and conditions must clearly define the handover procedure: when the work is considered handed over, how the inspection takes place, which defects must be reported upon handover, and what repair period applies. In consumer residential construction, the statutory 5% rule: the consumer has the right to withhold five percent of the contract sum until defects are repaired upon handover — this is mandatory law that cannot be deviated from to the detriment of the consumer. Your general terms and conditions must point out this right if you perform work for consumers. A clear handover procedure with a written handover report prevents disputes regarding which defects were already present at the time of handover and which arose afterwards. Our lawyers will draft a comprehensive handover clause for you.
How do you handle additional work, weather conditions, and force majeure in the general terms and conditions?
For contracting companies, three specific situations are of great practical importance. Additional work arises when the client requests extra work during execution or when unforeseen circumstances—such as the discovery of asbestos, hidden pipes, or structural defects—require additional work. Your general terms and conditions must stipulate that additional work is only carried out on the basis of a written order with a quotation, and that the contractor must warn the client in a timely manner of the consequences in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Weather conditions can lead to unavoidable delays during exterior work—painting, roofing, paving. Your terms and conditions must stipulate that adverse weather conditions qualify as force majeure and that the agreed completion deadline is extended accordingly in that case. Force majeure in a broader sense—illness of employees, material shortages, power outages—must also be addressed, with a clear notification obligation and provisions for the financial consequences. Our lawyers will draft a force majeure clause for you that protects your schedule.
What are the occupational health and safety obligations for work performed at the client's location?
Handyman companies, by definition, work at their client's location. This entails specific health and safety obligations that must be incorporated into the general terms and conditions. The client is obliged to provide a safe work location — unobstructed access, a stable surface, no hazardous substances in the work environment, and information regarding the presence of asbestos or other hazardous materials. If the client fails to provide this information or provides it incorrectly, and the handyman company suffers damage or an employee is injured as a result, the client may be held liable. Your general terms and conditions must explicitly set out the client's obligations in this regard and stipulate that the handyman company may suspend or refuse work if the work location does not meet health and safety requirements, without this constituting a breach of contract. Our lawyers ensure that your terms and conditions clearly define the division of responsibilities at the work location.
When do you, as a contracting company, have to deal with the Construction Quality Assurance Act?
The Building Quality Assurance Act (Wkb) has entered into force in phases and applies initially to structures in consequence class 1 — simple structures such as ground-based dwellings and simple commercial buildings. If your contracting company works on the construction, extension, or major renovation of such structures for which an environmental permit is required, the Wkb may apply. The Wkb introduces a mandatory quality assurance system and tightens the contractor's liability after completion by reversing the burden of proof. If you work exclusively on small jobs and maintenance work for which no environmental permit is required, the Wkb generally does not apply. Our lawyers will assess for you whether the Wkb applies to your activities and whether your general terms and conditions are aligned with it.
What are the most common mistakes in the terms and conditions of handyman businesses?
In practice, our lawyers consistently observe the same shortcomings at handyman companies. The first is the lack of distinction between contracts for work and consumer purchases for assignments involving the supply and installation of materials. The second is a limitation of liability clause that is void for consumers because it excludes intent or gross negligence. The third is the absence of a completion clause containing the statutory 5% rule for consumer residential construction. The fourth is an additional work clause lacking a written requirement, resulting in verbally agreed-upon extra work remaining unpaid. The fifth is the absence of a force majeure clause regarding weather conditions, rendering the handyman company liable for delays caused by rain or frost. And the sixth is the use of the same terms and conditions for business and private clients, whereas much stricter statutory rules apply to consumers.
How does it work at MKBjuristen?
After a brief intake, our lawyers map out your activities, your client base—business, private, or both—and your specific liability risks. Based on this, we draft general terms and conditions for your contracting business that are tailored to your situation—with the proper distinction between contracts for work and consumer purchases, a legally sound limitation of liability, a comprehensive provision for additional work and force majeure, a correct completion clause, and—if relevant—a structure compliant with the Dutch Construction Decree (Wkb). Do you work with both business and private clients? In that case, we will draft two separate sets for you, or a single set with clear differentiation per client category. Do you have existing general terms and conditions that you would like to have reviewed? We will then assess them for legal validity, completeness, and currency.
