Terms and conditions for a marine engineer and boat repairer

A marine engineer needs terms that deal with the matters that cause disputes: engines that cannot be priced until opened up, vessels left ashore long after the invoice fell due, owners who dispute the condition on arrival, and charter operators claiming a lost season. I draft those terms around your yard and your customers for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Marine engineers, boatyards, mobile engine and electrical technicians, shipwrights and refit businesses in England and Wales. Most of you work for private owners, who are consumers with rights they cannot sign away, and also for charter fleets, sailing schools, workboat operators, brokers and marinas, who are business customers. One set of terms can serve both, but only if it is written knowing the difference.

What matters in a marine engineer's terms

Diagnosis, estimates and work you cannot price from the pontoon

A firm price cannot be given for an engine fault or a soft bulkhead before it is opened up. Your terms should separate an authorised diagnostic or investigation charge from the repair itself, require written approval of the repair price before you go further, and say what happens if the owner declines once the unit is in pieces: reassembly is chargeable, or the vessel is returned as it stands. The same clause should cover the extra defects you find on the way in, which on an older boat can be extensive.

The vessel in your care, insurance and lifting

A boat on your hardstanding, on your berth, in the slings or out on sea trials is your biggest exposure. The terms should require the owner to keep the vessel insured while it is with you, to tell their insurer that it is ashore or under repair, and to confirm that the craning, trailering or delivery passage you are asked to arrange is covered. Say what you are responsible for and what you are not, including pre-existing defects and the condition of gear you did not supply. Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 you cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by your negligence, and no clause should try.

Parts, lead times and manufacturer warranties

Marine parts are slow, specific and frequently non-returnable. Your terms should make specially ordered items payable up front and non-cancellable once ordered, and should make clear that delivery dates from suppliers are estimates. Distinguish your labour warranty from the engine or equipment maker's warranty, which you pass on rather than give. For private owners the parts you supply must be of satisfactory quality and as described under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Retention of title over a new engine is largely theoretical once it has been installed and become part of the vessel, so rely on payment timing instead. A major refit or conversion can also bring the vessel within the Recreational Craft Regulations 2017, and the terms should say who is responsible for any post-construction assessment.

Private owners, cancellation and urgent repairs

Work agreed alongside the boat, or by phone and email, is an off-premises or distance contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and a private owner has fourteen days to cancel. If you start inside that window without their express request you may not be paid for what you have done, and if you never gave the cancellation information the period can extend by up to 12 months. There is an exception for urgent repairs the owner asked for, but it covers that work only, which matters when a call-out to a flooding bilge turns into a full engine rebuild.

Payment, storage and the boat nobody collects

Most yards have a boat whose owner has stopped responding, occupying a cradle without payment. Your terms should set payment before launch or collection, a contractual right to retain the vessel and its gear until the bill is paid, and lay-up or storage charges that begin a stated number of days after the work is finished. Add a written notice procedure and a route to disposal for an abandoned vessel, following section 12 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. For charter operators, marinas and other business customers, interest and fixed compensation are available under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Liability caps, subcontractors and waste

A commercial customer whose vessel misses a charter week or a season will claim the income, not just the repair. Against business customers your terms should cap liability at a figure your insurance supports and exclude loss of profit, loss of hire and wasted berthing costs, subject to the reasonableness test in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Against consumers you cannot limit liability for a service to less than the price under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Allow yourself to use riggers, sprayers and crane operators, and remember that taking waste oil, coolant or antifouling residues away requires registration with the Environment Agency under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989, and those residues are hazardous waste under the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005.

What it costs

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

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want them checked and brought up to date. 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 bespoke terms drafted for your business, reflecting the legal requirements that apply to your business and sector
• A note in plain English explaining the terms I have drafted for you
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions that protect your position and are drafted to withstand scrutiny from the other side
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly
• Your questions and comments answered by email or phone
• One round of amendments to finalise the terms ready for use

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers (I am happy to quote for this as an additional service if required)
• 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
• Tax advice

Questions I am often asked

Can I keep hold of a boat until the invoice is paid?

Much depends on what your terms say, which is why they should say it plainly: a right to retain the vessel and the gear aboard it until payment, with storage charged while you do. Set out how you notify the owner and how long you will wait. A right asserted for the first time in correspondence is far weaker than one the owner accepted when the job was booked.

Who insures the boat while it is in my yard?

The owner's policy normally does, and your terms should require it, require notification that the vessel is ashore or under repair, and allow you to ask for evidence. Your own liability cover answers for your negligence, not for a hull policy the owner allowed to lapse over the winter. The two should be described separately so nobody assumes the other is covering it.

Can I charge for investigation work if the owner then walks away?

You can, provided the terms authorise a diagnostic charge before you start and the owner agreed to it. Record the hours, the findings and the recommendation in writing. Where the customer is a private owner, the charge and the basis for it must be put clearly in front of them at the outset rather than appearing on the final invoice.

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 gas engineer
• Terms and conditions for an electrician

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.