Company Policies

START AND COMPLETION DATES OF WORK

a) The starting date of the home improvement work (hereinafter the “Project”) and the  completion date listed is to be considered "approximate" only, dependent upon numerous factors, some of the largest being weather, material availability, and other factors listed below in this agreement. The Contractor and Owner hereby acknowledge that the approximate starting and completion dates may differ due to any of the items listed below in (b) of this section.

 

b) Owner acknowledges that Contractor will not be responsible to Owner for delays in starting or completion due to factors including, but not limited to:

 

1. changes by the Owner in the work to be performed, specifications or materials to be used;

2. changes in the main point-of-contact between the Contractor and Owner

3. delays in receiving the materials to be used under the Contract or any Written Change Order;

4. changes in the planned scheduling or re-prioritization of the project details by Owner or Contractor

5. delays resulting from acts of God or other adverse weather conditions relating to project;

6. delays caused by shortages of labor, availability of materials or equipment;

7. delays caused by the failure of Owner to perform any of Owner’s obligations under this Contract;

8. delays caused by the permitting process and/or administrative requirements, approvals, denials, filings, etc.

9. delays caused by concealed conditions or discovery of unknown or unexpected repairs, hazardous materials/conditions; and

10. inability to access the work areas via possessions or obstacles (i.e., constantly working around and/or moving furniture, new furniture being added, general possessions of Owner at job site, additional possessions of Owner being brought to job site, etc.)

11. other outside contractors’ scheduling or other interference with the timeline of the project

12. other causes reasonably beyond Contractor’s control.

 

c) For every one (1) business day that the project is delayed, the approximate completion date will be extended by one (1) business day, at a ratio of 1:1 with every one (1) day lost allowing one (1) day to be added to the extension. This includes numerous factors, with the largest of them being the weather. Weather is assessed both by utilizing the anticipated weather conditions for that day on the job site location (via the Weather Channel application for cellular devices), as well as physical assessment of the job-site in-person by Contractor if present at the time of inclemental weather. If the weather conditions present an issue to safety, or make the working conditions unworkable, or provides conditions in which the materials for the job can not retain integrity (i.e., materials getting wet, humidity or temperature preventing the ability to use or install the materials properly, etc.) then the safety of the Contractor, Subcontractor(s) and/or the integrity of the materials will not be compromised. 

 

FORCE MAJEURE

Neither party shall be liable for any failure to perform under this Agreement when such failure is due to causes beyond that party’s reasonable control, including, but not limited to, acts of State or governmental authorities, acts of terrorism, natural catastrophe, fire, storm, flood, earthquakes, accident, and / or prolonged shortage of energy or power. In the event of such delay, any date stated herein shall be extended by a period of time necessary by both Contractor and Owner. If the offending delay remains in effect for a period more than ten (10) days, Contractor has the right to terminate this Agreement upon written notice or via electronic notice using electronic mail and/or SMS text messages to numbers known to be connected or affiliated to/with Owner. Contractor will retain the right to withhold any outstanding deposit payment(s) in order to satisfy outstanding debts due to Subcontractor(s) in regards to work that was booked and / or remains incomplete at the time of termination, recovery of overhead, and/or damage(s) incurred by Contractor due to said offending delay. In the event that Owner and Contractor agree to extend the timeframe to a period after the offending delay has passed, then the only changes to the project and this agreement will be reflected in the extended timeframes of approximate completion.

 

OCCUPATION OF THE JOB SITE

It shall be known that during the project’s duration during the active dates in which labor is being performed at, on or in the jobsite, the owner will be notified ahead of time to ensure that the property is vacant and not in use during these periods in which Contractor will be performing work at the jobsite. This not only extends to the owners themselves, but also to any guests as well including but not limited to renters, guests and/or relatives. If the property must be occupied during the timeframes that work is to be performed then the approximate completion date will be modified and extended past the approximate completion date previously listed in this contract.

 

DELAYS DUE TO OTHER WORK

If other work is being performed on the property by other outside contractors or subcontractor’s entirely independent of Contractor, VIKING Innovations LLC, then Contractor will do their best to work around the outside contractors and their schedules, but this will directly affect the timeframe in which work will be completed. The approximate completion date will be modified and extended to accommodate the other work being performed on the property.

 

DEPOSITS, QUANTITY-OF-WORK CONSIDERATIONS, REFUNDS, AND CANCELLATIONS

Contractor often includes reduced pricing on other smaller or additional work being added on to larger projects as a consideration for the quantity-of-work to be done. These prices are quoted assuming that all of the work to be done is factored in to the final price given and agreed upon. In the event that Owner cancels work and requests it to be partially removed from the project, the prices of all other remaining work items included in the original estimates / contract may be modified to reflect new pricing based upon this factor. Example: A contract is signed for pressure washing, deck staining, deck repair and correction at a certain quoted price for a “package deal”. The work begins and Owner decides to cancel the deck staining, but continue with all other, smaller aspects. The pricing originally given was including the larger deck staining work to be done, and all other smaller jobs will revert to standard pricing without the benefit of those original considerations, and other considerations such as overhead costs being added, and fuel / travel time / acquisition / loading / transport and unloading of materials will no longer be included and will be billed separately, as an example. Any and all deposits, in part or in full, are non-refundable. In the event that a refund or a partial refund is requested from Contractor, said refund will be reviewed and if found eligible, paid in installments over a period of “net” forty-five (45) days from the time of the refund request review approval. All refunds will be examined on a case-by-case basis for either approval or denial. Any materials that have been purchased which must be returned due to work being cancelled by Owner will be billed with a fifteen per cent (15%) restocking fee, and all charges for fuel / travel time / loading / transport / unloading of materials to the return location will also be added. Cancellations of work for the project can not be made after fifty per cent (50%) of the entire project has been completed. If cancellations are still elected to be made by Owner in disregard of this limitation, then all remaining payments previously due to Contractor will become due in full, regardless of the percentage of completion.

 

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS OF HONOR AND INTEGRITY DURING DISPUTES

In the event of a dispute, all parties involved are expected to conduct themselves with honor and integrity until the dispute has been resolved. This means that all parties will refrain from engaging in any type of activity that involves defaming and / or slandering the other party during the dispute process. If mediation, arbitration or litigation is involved, all parties will maintain this honor-and-integrity clause until the final decision / outcome of all mediation, arbitration and / or litigation has been decreed. This includes any activity on social media in which one party defames or slanders the other, or both, either by directly naming the other party or indirectly insinuating and / or hinting at the identity of the other party. This shall also apply to agents acting on behalf of either party during this period. In the event of such defamation or slanderous activity, the other party willingly acknowledges and understands that they have violated this clause and open themselves up for further litigation and damages incurred by such activity.

 

WEATHER CLARIFICATION AND/OR SAFETY CONCERNS

Contractor states clearly and openly that the time it takes to complete many aspects of some project(s) are often dependent 100% on the weather of the State of Pennsylvania. Contractor will not put themselves or anyone doing work with / for them in any position in which is unsafe, and that includes weather-related hazards. Many projects depend upon weather conditions as well, such as the humidity content, heat index, etc. This will be explained beforehand and discussed. Examples may include dock-work during periods of weather in which the water temperature of bodies of water may be hazardous to the point of causing hypothermia, or doing roofing work during periods of weather which involve rain, sleet, hail or snow. Other examples may be the staining of a deck in which relies upon a humidity index of fifty percent (50%) or higher for a period of three (3) consecutive days with no rain, or temperatures of which may rise above eighty-five (85) degrees and may cause potential heatstroke depending upon the amount of labor required for that job. Examples presented above include a small portion of circumstances in which the weather may cause delays, but the examples presented above do not encompass all possible scenarios and are to be used as a basic reference. The weather dictates much of the work, especially in cases of exterior projects.

 

DELAYS AND TIMEFRAMES

Any and all dates listed in any agreement are to be considered as “approximate”, and depend on a plethora of factors. For every one (1) business day lost to the weather conditions, an extra one (1) business day will be added to the approximate completion date timeline. For every one (1) business day lost to delays caused by the owner, then one (1) business day will be added to the approximate completion date timeline. For every one (1) business day lost to improper or interfering scheduling by Owner and / or outside contractors, then one (1) business day will be added to the approximate completion date timeline. For every one (1) business day lost to the discovery of work previously unknown to Contractor or Owner, then one (1) business day will be added to the approximate completion date timeline. For every one (1) business day lost to unexpected or unannounced arrival of Owners on the property and/or their guests, then one (1) business day will be added to the approximate completion date timeline. Contractor will not work on the property if the owner is present in a manner that is intrusive to the project, and this includes the occupation of small spaces that require work to be done, tools to be used, debris to be handled and / or materials to be moved around. In certain circumstances such as the Owner being present but not an obstruction to the Contractor completing work, then Owner being present is a non-issue and will not be counted as a delay. The above outline covers numerous examples only but not all possible scenarios which may induce delay and serves a purpose of stating and imposing that the ratio of delay to extension of the approximate completion date is 1:1.

 

OWNER MAY NOT INITIATE CONTACT WITH SUBCONTRACTORS INDEPENDENTLY

In the event that the Owner or any of the Owner’s agents make attempt to circumvent the Contractor, and / or attempts to initiate any type of relationship with the Subcontractor independently of Contractor or outside the scope of this contract agreement, then this contract becomes null and voided effective immediately. At this time, any and all remaining payments to Contractor shall become due in full whether the work has been completed or not. This is done to protect the integrity of the project and to maintain a level of trust between Owner and Contractor. This is also done to prevent any incentive for the Owner to make attempts at getting the work done in a manner that would put this agreement or the integrity of this project at risk.  An example of this type of activity would be the Owner reaching out to the Subcontractor and finding out what Subcontractor would charge, or if Subcontractor would be willing to do the job “on the side”, or otherwise “outside of contract”. The Subcontractors being used by Contractor already have predetermined prices, fees and rates that they have previously negotiated with Contractor that are not applicable to this agreement, and the Owner even simply discussing money, financing, funding or pricing with Subcontractor is absolute grounds for the termination of any contract in it’s entirety. All discussion of financing, funding, monetary values, labor costs, material costs, job estimates, etc. will be conducted between the Owner and the Contractor, and will involve no other party at any time. This policy comes with a zero-tolerance designation, and will be enforced in it’s entirety.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

All likenesses, facsimiles or digital representation of any and all work performed under the Contractor’s name, including work completed by Subcontractors for Contractor, shall become property of Contractor, and shall be used at Contractor’s discretion. This includes any and all physical and/or digital photographs, digital videos, digital drone footage, “before and after” comparison photos or videos, and/or any other means of depiction, which may be used for but not limited to the purposes of advertisement for the Contractor, via print and/or social media display.

 

ADMINITRATIVE FEES

In certain cases, usually involving the cancellation of work or the modification of projects and / or scheduling, administration fees may be charged in order to compensate Contractor for the additional time spent in preparation to accommodate these changes, including but not limited to the preparation and filing of additional or modified paperwork, additional accounting, additional scheduling, etc. Often times these fees are built into the contract / estimates, however other factors may require their additional and individual inclusion under special circumstances.