Terms and conditions for a cabinet maker and fitted furniture business

A fitted furniture business commits money to timber, hardware and machine time long before the balance is paid, and the finished piece only fits one house. Your terms need to deal with deposits, cancellation of bespoke work, site measurements that turn out to be wrong, and natural variation in wood. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Cabinet makers, bespoke joiners, fitted wardrobe and kitchen furniture businesses, and workshop makers who also install, anywhere in England and Wales. Most of you sell to homeowners and also supply trade customers: builders, kitchen retailers, interior designers and developers. Those two relationships are governed differently, so one set of terms has to be drafted with both in mind.

What matters in a cabinet maker's terms

Bespoke work and the consumer's cancellation right

Most orders are agreed in the customer's home or by email, which brings them within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and a fourteen day cancellation right. Goods made to the consumer's specification or clearly personalised are excepted, which covers genuinely bespoke furniture but will not cover a standard carcass range in stock sizes and finishes. If the cancellation information is missing, the period can extend by up to twelve months. Your terms and your order form need to identify which orders are bespoke and record when the customer asked you to start.

Deposits, stage payments and the balance

A deposit at order, a further payment when the cabinets are made and the balance on installation is a sensible structure for work you cannot resell. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats keeping a prepayment on cancellation, with no matching obligation on you, as a term that may be unfair, so the terms should tie the deposit to real cost: timber and hardware ordered, machine time booked, design work done. For trade customers, interest and fixed compensation are available under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. The balance should not wait for snagging.

Survey, templating and whose measurements they are

Walls are not square, floors are not level and plaster depth varies. Your terms should distinguish between a set of dimensions the customer or their builder supplies and a survey you carry out yourself, and say plainly that you price on the second and take no responsibility for the first. They should also fix the point at which the site must be ready for templating, deal with appliance and sink specifications the customer provides, and give you an extra for scribing, packing out or remaking where the property does not match what was surveyed.

Timber, veneer and finish variation

Wood moves, grain does not repeat, and a stained oak door will not match a sample under a different light. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods must be as described, and information the customer relies on becomes binding, so what your showroom and drawings promise matters. The terms should state that natural variation in colour, grain and figure is a feature rather than a defect, that a later addition may not match the original batch, and that the customer is responsible for humidity and heating conditions after handover within a range you set out.

Delivery, storage and risk before it is fitted

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods stay at your risk until the consumer has them, so the terms need to say what happens when the property is not ready, when another trade is still in the room, or when a wardrobe will not go up the stairs. Charging for storage and a failed delivery is reasonable if it is stated in advance. Retention of title is worth having over cabinets sitting in a hallway, but it is of little use once the units are screwed to the wall and have become part of the building.

Designs, drawings and installation defects

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 a freelance designer or CAD draughtsman owns what they draw unless it is assigned in writing, which matters if you use one and a customer later takes your drawings to a cheaper maker. Your terms should license the drawings for that project only. On handover, set a short window for the customer to list snagging items, describe what your guarantee covers on doors, hinges and finish, and exclude damage from misuse, water and other trades. Against trade customers you can cap liability at a reasonable level and exclude consequential loss.

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 keep the deposit if a customer pulls out of a bespoke order?

You can retain what you have genuinely committed, provided the terms explain it and the figure reflects timber ordered, design time and workshop slots held. A flat forfeiture of everything, whatever stage the order has reached, is the sort of term a consumer can challenge as unfair. I draft it as a sliding position tied to the stage the order has reached.

The customer supplied the appliance sizes and they were wrong. Who pays?

The remake is chargeable if your terms put responsibility for customer-supplied dimensions and appliance specifications squarely on the customer, and if you recorded what you were given. Without that, you are arguing about what was said at a kitchen table. The terms should require specifications in writing before cutting begins, and price the alteration as a variation.

Do I need different terms for the builders and retailers who buy from me?

One set can cover both if it is drafted with a section that applies only to consumers and another for trade supply, covering credit terms, retention of title, delivery to site and liability caps. What fails is handing a homeowner a trade document: the parts you most rely on are the ones that will not stand up against a consumer.

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 a kitchen and bathroom fitter
• Terms and conditions for a window and door installer

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.