Terms and conditions for a driveway and paving contractor

A driveway job is an excavation with a nice finish on top. The disputes are about what was under the old surface, whether the front garden needed permission, who arranges the dropped kerb, and whether the white bloom on the new blocks is a defect. Terms that answer those questions before the digger arrives are what I draft, for a fixed fee of £995 in five working days.

Who this is for

Driveway, patio and paving contractors in England and Wales laying block paving, resin, tarmac, gravel and natural stone for homeowners, and the same work for landlords, agents and businesses. The terms are written for consumers and business customers together.

What matters in driveway and paving terms

Permissions and drainage

Paving a front garden with a surface that does not drain can need planning permission, and drainage of surface water is the customer's responsibility to get right in law even if it is your responsibility to build. The terms should make the customer responsible for any permission the work needs, require them to confirm they have it, and say that drainage is designed to the specification agreed rather than guaranteed against every rainfall.

Ground conditions, services and tree roots

You cannot see the sub-base, the services or the roots until the old surface is up. The terms should treat unforeseen ground conditions, buried services, old foundations and tree roots as extras, agreed in writing before you continue, and should require the customer to tell you where pipes, cables and drains run. Damage to a service nobody disclosed, where you took reasonable care, should be allocated to the customer.

Dropped kerbs and the highway

A dropped kerb needs the highway authority's approval and is usually done by an approved contractor. The terms should say whether you arrange it, that the authority's timescales and fees are outside your control, and that the driveway is priced on the kerb being in place or not, as the case may be. A customer who thinks the kerb is included is a dispute with the council in the middle of it.

Materials, weather and natural variation

Natural stone varies, blocks come from batches, resin cures with the weather and new paving can show white deposits that weather away. The terms should say that variation from a sample is not a defect, that settlement within a stated tolerance is normal, that weed growth is not a defect, and that completion dates are estimates dependent on weather. Your workmanship guarantee should be defined and separated from any manufacturer's product warranty.

Waste, payment and the right to cancel

Spoil, old paving and tarmac are waste, and if you take them away you must be registered as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency. Payment should be by a proportionate deposit, a stage payment on excavation or on materials arriving, and the balance on completion, with business customers liable for interest and compensation on late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. A job agreed at the customer's home or by phone gives a consumer 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and starting inside that period needs their express request.

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

The customer wants a resin drive laid over the old tarmac to save money. Whose risk is that?

The terms should say that where the customer chooses a method or base against your advice, the finish is at their risk and your guarantee does not apply to it, with the advice recorded in writing.

Can I leave the job if the customer will not pay the stage payment?

The terms should give you the right to suspend work on notice if a payment is overdue, to make the site safe, and to recover the cost of returning.

Do I have to guarantee against weeds and moss?

You do not have to, and the terms should say that vegetation, moss and staining are maintenance matters rather than defects.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495, if a main contractor or business customer has sent you their terms to sign
• Terms and conditions for a landscaping business, which deals with the same site and ground-condition issues

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.