Terms and conditions for a damp proofing contractor

A damp proofing business gets into difficulty in two places: the diagnosis and the guarantee. A survey that calls condensation rising damp, or a thirty year guarantee whose conditions were never written down, turns into a claim years after the invoice was paid. I draft customer terms around how your business actually surveys, treats, replasters and guarantees, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Damp proofing and timber treatment contractors in England and Wales, whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company, including chemical damp proof courses, tanking, basement waterproofing and woodworm treatment. Most of you sell to homeowners, and also to landlords, letting agents, surveyors and main contractors. Consumers and business customers are treated very differently by the law, so one set of terms has to address both.

What matters in damp proofing terms

The survey, the diagnosis and who may rely on it

Most damp claims start with the report. If your surveyor records rising damp and the real cause is a leaking downpipe, a bridged cavity or condensation, you have treated the wrong problem and the customer has paid for it. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 information a consumer relies on is binding, so what your surveyor writes becomes part of the contract. The terms should set out what the inspection covers, that it is not invasive and excludes concealed floors, voids and areas behind fitted units, and that the report is for your customer alone, not for a purchaser, lender or agent unless you agree otherwise in writing.

What your guarantee actually promises

A long guarantee wins work, and it is also the document most likely to be produced against you a decade later. The terms need to state what it covers, normally the recurrence of rising damp in the treated walls, and what it does not: condensation, penetrating damp, defective gutters and downpipes, raised external ground levels bridging the course, and later building work by others. The conditions matter as much as the exclusions, in particular heating, ventilation and the customer keeping the property maintained. How the guarantee is signed matters too, because the Limitation Act 1980 allows six years on an ordinary contract and twelve on a deed.

Transfers, retentions and the sale of the house

A great deal of this work is driven by a lender's retention or a buyer's survey, which means a conveyancer is waiting on your certificate. The terms should say when the certificate is issued, which is on payment in full and not before, and on what basis the guarantee passes to a later owner: free of charge, on written notice within a stated period, or not at all. If you offer an insurance backed guarantee, the terms must make clear that it is a separate policy issued by an insurer on the insurer's own conditions, and not a promise given by you.

Homeowners, cancellation and starting the treatment

Damp work is usually agreed at the customer's home or by email and telephone, so the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give the customer fourteen days to cancel. If you begin injection or tanking inside that period without the customer's express request, you may find you cannot charge for the work done, and where the cancellation information was never given the period can extend by up to twelve months. Urgent repairs the customer has asked for are treated differently, but only that work. Your order paperwork and your terms have to say the same thing.

Replastering, making good and what is behind the wall

Hacking plaster off is when the surprises arrive: no damp proof course at all, a solid floor with no membrane, rotten joist ends, or material that has to be tested before it is disturbed. The terms should treat these as variations, priced and agreed in writing before the work continues. They should also set out what the customer must do first, which is clearing rooms, lifting floor coverings and removing skirtings and fittings, and what you do not do: redecoration, drying time before decorating, salt staining as the wall dries out, and reinstating anything that could not be removed without damage.

Landlords, agents and working as a subcontractor

Invoicing a landlord, letting agent or main contractor is a different exercise from invoicing a homeowner. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you interest at eight per cent over the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation on each unpaid debt. Where you work as a subcontractor, the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 implies a right to adjudication, payment notice rules and staged payments on longer jobs, and bans pay-when-paid, so a main contractor cannot lawfully make your money depend on the employer paying. Business terms should also cap liability, which the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 tests for reasonableness.

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 exclude condensation from my guarantee?

You can, and you should, because condensation depends on how the property is heated, ventilated and occupied, none of which you control. The exclusion has to be written plainly and brought to the customer's attention before they sign, not tucked into a certificate handed over at the end. A term a consumer had no real chance to see will not bind them.

A buyer's solicitor has asked me to confirm the guarantee passes to their client. What now?

Read the terms you gave the original customer before you answer. Many contractors promise a transferable guarantee without recording any conditions, and then face a claim from someone they have never met. I draft the transfer mechanism into the terms: written notice, any fee you charge, and the guarantee passing subject to the same exclusions and conditions as before.

Should the survey fee be refundable if the customer does not proceed?

That is a commercial choice, and many contractors credit the fee against the works if the customer goes ahead. Whatever you decide must be stated before the survey rather than on the invoice afterwards. Where a consumer cancels within the statutory period, a fee retained without any matching obligation on your side is open to challenge.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for a builder doing domestic work
• Terms and conditions for a pest control 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.