I ran up against the same question you have when contracting work to be done in a sawmill. I was the sawmill owners rep so on the other side of the fence from what you are doing but the idea is the same.
What I ended up doing that seemed to work the best was to sit down and write what is called a "scope of work" where I described the work and what was the contractor's responsibility and what was the owners responsibility. It was usually pretty simple but the contractors liked it because they could see who was responsible for providing first aid, firewatch, cutting gas, who was to clean up, who supplied the dumpsters, how much insurance was required, when the job was to be deemed complete, etc, etc. Oh, and the dollar amount and when advances would be paid, etc.
It could be as detailed as you like. I usually did it in point form. The contractor signed it, I signed it, and we both worked off of it. You could have a witness sign it if you like.
Might not be like a contract you are used to but as long as you sign it and the owner signs it I think you would have something in paper to go from if a dispute ever arose.
Your mileage may vary....but hope this helps!
Jon.
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