Terms and conditions for a fencing contractor

A fencing contractor needs terms that deal with the things that actually go wrong: the boundary the customer got wrong, the post hole that hits an old concrete base, the neighbour who objects once the panels are up, and the timber that moves in its first summer. I draft customer terms around your business for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Fencing contractors in England and Wales, whether you fit garden fencing and gates for homeowners, stock and deer fencing for farms and estates, or panel and mesh fencing for developers, schools and commercial sites. Most fencers sell to both consumers and businesses, and the law treats those two customers very differently, so one set of terms has to be written with both in mind.

What matters in a fencing contractor's terms

The boundary line and the neighbour

Fencing is one of the few trades where the job itself can start a neighbour dispute. The terms should put the boundary on the customer: they confirm the line, they confirm they own or have the right to replace the fence, and they obtain any consent needed from the neighbour, the freeholder or the management company. The same clause should make planning permission, height restrictions and restrictive covenants their responsibility to check. Then say what happens when the neighbour objects after the posts are concreted in: work stops, you are paid for what you have done, and moving the fence is a chargeable variation rather than a defect.

Ground conditions and what is underground

A price given from a walk along the line assumes the post holes will dig. Old concrete bases, buried rubble, tree roots, rock and a hole that fills with water are all reasons the job takes longer, and the terms should price them as an extra agreed in writing before you carry on. The customer should also be made responsible for telling you where cables, drains and water pipes run, including anything they or a previous owner put in: garden lighting, a pond supply, a soakaway. A spade through an unmarked armoured cable is a dispute about whose risk it was.

Deposits, payment and site work

Take a deposit that covers materials and holds the slot, with the balance due on completion. Retention of title over timber and posts is worth little once they are concreted into the ground, so the terms should lean on payment timing instead. For business customers you can claim interest and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Where you fence for a developer or main contractor, the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 is likely to apply, bringing adjudication, payment notice rules, staged payments on longer jobs and a ban on pay-when-paid. It does not apply to work for a residential occupier.

Homeowners and cancellation rights

Fencing work for a homeowner is usually agreed at the property or by phone and email, which brings it within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The customer has fourteen days to cancel, and if you start inside that period without their express request you may not be paid for what you have done. Where the cancellation information was never given, the period can extend by up to twelve months. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 also requires the work to be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and stops you cutting a consumer's statutory rights down by a term.

Timber, weather and what you guarantee

Timber moves. Feather-edge boards shrink and gap, treated posts weather and fade, knots and shakes open up, and a customer who compared the finished fence to a photograph will tell you it was not as described. The terms should explain that timber is a natural material, that colour and grain vary between batches, and that movement after installation is normal rather than a defect. Any guarantee should be written down and bounded: what it covers, how long it runs, and what it excludes, including storm damage, ground movement, vehicle impact, fixings added by the customer, and reused posts or gravel boards you were asked to keep.

Old fencing, subcontractors and liability

If you take old panels, posts and concrete spoil away, you must be registered as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency, and commercial customers will ask to see it. The terms should allow you to subcontract, state your public liability cover, and cap liability to business customers with indirect loss excluded. Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 a cap in written standard terms has to be reasonable, and nothing can exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Gates deserve their own line: a gate that drops or catches on a sloping drive is the most common callback in this trade.

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 neighbour says the fence is on their land. Where does that leave me?

The customer instructed you, so the customer pays you. Whether the fence sits on the right side of the line is a matter between them and the neighbour, provided your terms made confirming the boundary their responsibility and you built where you were shown. Without that clause you are dragged into an argument about a title plan you have never seen.

Do I have to give cancellation information on a small repair?

Off-premises contracts of £42 or less sit outside the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which covers very little fencing work. For anything above that, give the cancellation information in writing before you start, even on a two-panel repair. The cost of skipping it is a cancellation right that can run on long after the job.

I also hire out temporary site fencing. Does that need different wording?

Hire needs its own provisions: the hire period and how it is ended, who insures the panels and blocks while they are on site, charges for damage and loss, and access for collection. If you do both hire and installation, the terms should carry a separate hire section rather than stretch the installation clauses over equipment you still own.

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 landscaping business
• Terms and conditions for a driveway and paving contractor

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.