Terms and conditions for an aerial and satellite installer

An aerial and satellite business gets into arguments about things it does not control: the signal, the weather, the neighbour's trees and the state of the customer's chimney. Your terms need to say what you are promising and what you are not, before the engineer goes up the ladder. I draft a full set of customer terms around your business for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Aerial riggers, satellite installers, communal TV and IRS contractors and TV wall-mounting businesses in England and Wales, whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company. Most of you work for homeowners, which brings consumer law into play, and also for landlords, letting agents, pubs, hotels, care homes and holiday parks, which does not. One set of terms can serve both if it is written for both.

What matters in an aerial and satellite installer's terms

What you can promise about reception

Reception depends on the transmitter, the terrain, the trees next door and the weather, none of which belong to you. The most valuable clause in these terms says that you will install to a good standard using reasonable care and skill, but that you do not guarantee a particular picture quality, channel count or uninterrupted service, and that transmitter changes, satellite footprint changes and new building work nearby are not your responsibility. Against a homeowner that wording has to be fair and transparent under the Consumer Rights Act 2015: you cannot cut down the duty to work with reasonable care and skill, but you can be clear about what the job does not include.

Surveys, roofs and fixing points

You are drilling into other people's walls and bolting lashings to chimney stacks that were never built to carry a mast. The terms should make the customer responsible for disclosing the condition of the roof, the chimney and anything buried in the walls, give you the right to stop and re-quote if the structure will not take a fixing safely, and say who pays when a brittle tile cracks under a ladder. Record the agreed cable route and fixing positions in writing. Most complaints from domestic customers are about a hole in the wrong place, not about the aerial.

Permissions, freeholders and listed buildings

Dish size and position can be restricted in a conservation area or on a listed building, a flat usually needs the freeholder's or the landlord's consent, and a tenant who books a dish may have no authority to agree to it. Put the obligation to obtain consents and permissions on the customer, take a warranty that they own the property or are entitled to instruct the work, and allow yourself a charge for an aborted visit when the answer turns out to be no. Say expressly that later removal, if a freeholder insists, is at the customer's cost.

Homeowners, call-outs and cancellation rights

Domestic work is normally agreed at the door or over the phone, which brings it within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The customer has fourteen days to cancel, off-premises jobs of £42 or less fall outside the rules, and an urgent repair the customer has asked for is treated differently from a planned installation. If you fit a system inside that period without the customer's express request you may end up doing it for nothing, and missing cancellation information can extend the period by up to twelve months. The booking paperwork has to match the terms.

Equipment, subscriptions and other people's boxes

You supply goods as well as labour: dishes, amplifiers, brackets, recorders and cable. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 those goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, with a short-term right to reject within thirty days, and you cannot contract out of that. What you can do is keep your workmanship guarantee separate from the manufacturer's, and make clear that viewing cards, subscriptions, broadband and anything bought from a broadcaster are the customer's contract and not yours. Deal separately with customer-supplied equipment, so a second-hand box you did not choose does not become your problem.

Commercial venues and communal systems

Pubs, hotels, care homes, holiday parks and blocks of flats are business customers and should be treated differently. Cap your liability and exclude loss of profit and business interruption, remembering that under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 limits in standard terms must be reasonable. Use the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 for interest and compensation on unpaid invoices. Where you install communal distribution as a subcontractor in a building, the contract may be caught by the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, with adjudication, payment notice rules and no pay-when-paid. Any licence needed to show broadcasts in a venue is the customer's obligation, in writing.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I charge for a call-out when the fault turns out to be the broadcaster's?

Charging is fine if the terms set it out before the visit and the figure is clear and prominent. Transmitter works, a broadcaster outage or a neighbour's new extension are not defects in your installation. The trouble comes when a call-out fee appears on the invoice for the first time and the customer says they never agreed to it.

Should I give a guarantee on my installations?

Most installers offer a workmanship guarantee for a stated period, which sells well and stays within your control. Keep it strictly separate from anything about signal, exclude storm damage, aerial movement caused by other trades and equipment you did not supply, and say what the customer has to do to make a claim.

A tenant booked the work and the landlord has now objected. Where do I stand?

Your terms should take a warranty from whoever books the job that they are entitled to authorise it, backed by an indemnity if they were not. That will not stop a freeholder demanding the dish comes down, but it puts the cost of removal and making good on the person who told you to fit it.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Terms and conditions for an electrician
• Terms and conditions for a roofing business

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.