Arbitration Clause in a contract

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has an arbitration clause in their contract? I was told that this is important to have if a job goes sour. The homeowner and contractor would go through the arbitration process before a lawsuit could be files. Any help would be great!

Bahah, that's awesome Tim. When I worked in the computer business, I got mixed in with a lawsuit. An email I wrote to boss & coworkers saying 'If you have anything important to tell me, let me know because apparently I've been missing a few emails lately' That made me look very innocent(which I was) in court years later.

Like Lefty, I think contracts are highly over rated. I think my biggest job without a contract last year was 400K. Getting ready to start one that's 1.5M next month. Nothing more than an email notice that the job was ours, get things moving. The actual system spec is all verbal.

If they chose not to pay, i'd be a duster. I just don't see it happening. Never been wrong about the people I needed I get a contract from,.... knock on wood.

But when I do use one, it does have an arb clause

I had to go to court ONE time to defend my company. This crazy lady tried to sue me over her rotten gutters and facia which we had nothing to do with. They were that way when we roofed the house and she didn't want to pay to have them replaced. She got one of my competitors to be her "STAR" witness in court. Of course he was to get the work if she was able to win and have me pay for it.

I represented myself without an attorney and I cross examined this guy. He went to bragging about how he does 10 estimates a day and blah blah blah. I said that's a high number but it leaves me concerned about the quality. That got him riled up and he went to stuttering around. I then asked "Did you see anything wrong with the roof to cause any damage to the facia"? He said I can't remember and then said well if I did, then I would have wrote it down but I didn't write anything down.

At the end of the trial the judge said I find the defendant not liable in this case "Based on the testimony of the plantiff's STAR WITNESS! :laugh:

Thanks for the responses - the arbitration clause in the contract is essential, because if there is a dispute, it will go to arbitration before going to court....this will and would help all of us, at least in MI I'm trying to cover all the basses.

My son puts everything in a contract. It is the law.

I just did 2 siding jobs without a contract. One for $26,000 and one for $20,000. A handshake is fine with me. I just tell them when I can start. Only take money down if they insist.

The state made a law about 3 years ago that anything over $500 needs to be done with a contract. These people could just refuse to pay and that would be the end of it.

I am more leery of other contractors then homeowners.[size=4][/size]

I'm with tinner for the most part. I only get a signed contract if I'm doing a full replacement which is rarely ever. I gave a guy a price on a repair today and he said ok let me write you a check and oh by the way when can you get started? I never asked for a check and he never asked for a contract, I just told him how much it would cost.

Repair jobs being lower amounts is one reason a contract is not needed but the biggest reason by far is that I do my own work, they trust me to do it right and do what I say and that's what I do!

Hah Tinner, that's funny. I do quite a bit of jobs w/out a signed contract but not that many. Not a good idea, but this is small town roofin. Somebody screws me and I can get the public shamefinger goin.

What contract I do have states very little as far as specifications and warranty details. It's more of a "balance due on date of completion" and that's the main point. BUT today I decided that over this iced out weekend I'm going to try to make a standard contract page, and then have a personalized quote page for each customer. The reason is because I hit an A/C line this past year and it cost me $640. The homeowner wouldn't let me charge her insurance for it(we had an existing claim, but I didn't know it until the end of the job.)

Not me. I don't think I've even seen a signed contract in 5 years or more.

I just told wife about this and she said one came in today with a check. :woohoo: So, other than this one, it's been about five years or more since the last one.