Terms and conditions for a stonemason

A stonemason's terms have to deal with material that is cut once, lettering that cannot be undone, quarry lead times you do not control and a building whose condition nobody can see until the scaffold is up. I draft customer terms around how your yard and your site work actually run, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Memorial masons, banker and fixer masons, stone restoration and repointing contractors, and businesses making fireplaces, worktops, cills and architectural stone in England and Wales. Most sell to homeowners and bereaved families, who are consumers, and also to churches, architects, developers and main contractors, who are not. One set of terms can serve both if it is drafted with that split in mind.

What matters in a stonemason's terms

Templates, drawings and stone cut for one customer

Once you have templated a worktop, a fireplace or a memorial and placed the order, that stone is cut for one customer and nobody else. The terms should tie the price to the approved template and drawings, charge for changes made after cutting has begun, and make the deposit cover the material ordered. For homeowners, contracts agreed at their home or by email fall under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, with fourteen days to cancel, although goods made to the consumer's specification are an exception the terms and your order form should be written to fit.

Natural variation, weathering and what you promise

Stone varies in colour, veining, fossil content and bed markings within a single block, let alone between deliveries, and a sample or a photograph is indicative only. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, so your description is what you will be judged against. Say that variation is inherent, that stone from a later batch will not match work already fixed, and that lime bloom, efflorescence, seasonal movement and weathering are characteristics of the material rather than defects.

Memorials, lettering and the burial authority

Lettering is permanent and a misspelt name is not a snag, it is a replacement. The terms should require written approval of a proof showing wording, spelling, dates, lettering style and layout, and treat the approved proof as the specification. Permission from the cemetery authority or the parochial church council, and their rules on size, material and fixing, should be dealt with expressly, including who applies and who pays the fees. Because ground settles after a burial, fixing dates should be estimates tied to the grave being ready, not fixed commitments.

Restoration, repointing and buildings of some age

Indent repairs, repointing, cleaning and replacing decayed stone are priced on what can be seen from the ground or from a survey. The terms should allow the price and programme to be revisited in writing when the fabric behind the mortar, render or an earlier repair turns out to be worse, and should state that new stone is matched as closely as the quarry allows and will not weather to match for years. Consents for listed buildings and conservation areas should sit with the customer, with your start date conditional on them being in place.

Deposits, stage payments and stone already in the wall

Stone is bought before it earns anything, so a deposit on order and stage payments on cutting, delivery and fixing are normal, with the balance due on completion rather than on the customer's satisfaction with the weather. For business customers, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you interest and fixed compensation on late payment; for homeowners the rate must be modest and clearly stated. Retention of title helps little once stone is bedded into a wall or fixed to a monument, because under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 it is of little use once goods have become part of the land.

Main contractor work and limits on liability

Where you work as a subcontractor on a commercial job, the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 applies to construction contracts between businesses, implying a right to adjudication, payment notice rules and staged payments on longer contracts, and banning pay-when-paid. Your terms should sit alongside that rather than fight it. For business customers I cap liability at a stated figure and exclude consequential loss, which the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 tests for reasonableness. No cap can remove liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and none can cut down a consumer's statutory rights.

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

Do I need different terms for homeowners and for main contractors?

One document can cover both, provided it carries a section that applies only to consumers and a section for business customers dealing with payment terms, caps and subcontract issues. What fails is handing a family a set of terms written for a contractor, because the provisions you most want to rely on are the ones a court will not enforce against a consumer.

The stone specified by the architect is no longer available. Where does that leave me?

That should be a substitution clause. It lets you offer the closest available stone with the price adjusted, and requires written approval before cutting. Quarry lead times and bed availability change, so the terms should also make delivery dates estimates and exclude liability for delays caused by the quarry rather than by you.

Can I charge for storage if the site is not ready for fixing?

You can, if the terms say so before the job starts. I include a clause allowing storage charges after an agreed period, dealing with who bears the risk of damage while the finished stone sits in your yard, and making clear that a delay caused by the customer does not push your payment stages back.

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 driveway and paving contractor
• Terms and conditions for a builder doing domestic work

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.