Snow Removal Contract Template

Snow work is the one service where the paper matters as much as the plow. The contract decides when you must show up, what done means, who pays for the mailbox, and what happens when a storm outruns everyone, and every clause below exists because somebody needed it in February. Copy this into a doc, keep one master, and fill in the brackets per property. For the pricing behind the brackets (per push versus seasonal, trigger depths, and the break-even math), see our guide to snow removal contract pricing.

The contract template

Parties, property, and term

• Contractor: [Your Company Name] · [phone] · [email] · [address]
• Customer: [Name / company] · [billing address or email]
• Service property: [Street address of the serviced site]
• Term: [October 15, 20XX] through [April 15, 20XX]

Write the term in winters, never calendar years. A contract that expires December 31 splits one winter across two agreements and invites a January re-bid in the middle of your busiest month.

Scope of surfaces

Surface	Service	Included
Parking lot and drive lanes ([approx. sq ft])	Plowing	[Yes/No]
Sidewalks and entry walks ([approx. sq ft])	Shoveling / snow blower	[Yes/No]
Walks and entries	De-icing ([material])	[Yes/No]
Lot and drive lanes	De-icing ([material])	[Yes/No]
[Loading dock / dumpster corral / fire lane]	[Service]	[Yes/No]
Snow storage location	[Where piles go, marked on the attached site map]

List what is explicitly out as well as what is in. A site map with the snow storage area drawn on it settles more arguments than any paragraph.

Trigger depth and dispatch

• Service begins automatically when accumulation at the property reaches [2] inches per event.
• Accumulation is measured [at the site / at the nearest official reporting station].
• Snowfall below the trigger: [no service / de-icing only upon request at the per-application rate].
• [Optional, for on-call accounts: service is dispatched only on customer request to [phone/email].]

Response and completion

• Plowing begins [during accumulation once the trigger is met / within X hours of snowfall ending].
• Drive lanes and entries are passable by [time], with full completion within [X] hours of snowfall ending.
• During prolonged storms, the contractor will [maintain lanes with repeat pushes / return at intervals of X hours].

De-icing terms

• De-icing of [walks / lot / both] is [included with each push / billed per application at the rate in the pricing schedule].
• Material: [rock salt / treated salt / calcium chloride on walks], applied at the contractor’s discretion when conditions warrant.
• Ice-only events (freezing rain, refreeze) are [billed per application / included], including when no plowable snow falls.

Exclusions and extra work

The following are not included and are performed only on request at the rates below:

• Hauling snow off site: [$XXX per loader hour plus trucking]
• Relocating stacked snow on site: [$XXX per hour]
• Ice dam or roof snow work: [not offered / rate]
• Gravel or unpaved surfaces: [excluded / serviced at customer risk of surface disturbance]
• Service outside the term dates: [rate]

Property condition and damage

• Contractor and customer will [walk the property / exchange dated photos] before the season and mark curbs, islands, and hazards with stakes.
• Damage to turf, curbs, or pavement markings from routine plowing is [repaired by the contractor each spring / repaired at cost / customer responsibility], documented against the pre-season record.
• Damage to unmarked obstacles is the customer’s responsibility.

Insurance and liability

• Contractor carries general liability insurance of [$X,XXX,XXX] and will provide a certificate of insurance on request [naming the customer as additional insured, if required].
• The contractor is responsible for surfaces only within the service windows above; the customer remains responsible for site conditions between services and after the term.
• [Any state-specific language your attorney adds lives here.]

Payment

• Prices per the attached pricing schedule, Version [A/B].
• Invoices are due [on receipt / net 15 / net 30], with the due date printed on each invoice.
• Balances more than [30] days past due accrue a [X]% monthly late fee.

Cancellation and renewal

• Either party may cancel with [30] days written notice; seasonal-price accounts are reconciled to services rendered at per-push rates upon early cancellation.
• [Optional multi-year: this agreement renews annually through [year] with an annual price increase of [X]%, unless either party gives notice by [date].]

Signatures

• Contractor: ______________________ Date: ________
• Customer: ______________________ Date: ________

The pricing schedule: two versions

Attach one of the following as the pricing schedule and reference it in the payment clause.

Version A: per push

Service	Rate
Push, [2] to [4] inches	[$XXX]
Push, [4] to [8] inches	[$XXX]
Push, over [8] inches	[$XXX]
De-icing, walks, per application	[$XX]
De-icing, lot, per application	[$XXX]

Depth tiers protect you on the storms that take twice the time; a single flat push rate quietly averages the blizzard into the dusting. Our pricing guide shows how to build these rates from crew cost rather than from a competitor’s flyer.

Version B: seasonal flat

• Season price: [$X,XXX], covering all plowing and [included de-icing] from [date] to [date].
• Billed in [5] equal payments of [$XXX] on the first of [November through March].
• Cap: the season price covers up to [10] pushes; pushes beyond that bill at [$XXX] each, invoiced monthly.
• Floor: if the season produces fewer than [3] plowable events, the customer receives [a credit of $XXX toward next season / a X% reduction on renewal].

The cap and the floor are what make a flat price survivable for both sides: the cap protects you from the winter in the record books, the floor keeps a brown December from turning into a refund argument. Price the season from a multi-year average of plowable events in your metro, not from last winter; the 10-winter table in the pricing guide is built for exactly that.

The small print that earns its keep

• The trigger depth in writing ends every February argument about whether a storm counted.
• Dated service records (arrival, completion, depth, material) are the document that answers a slip and fall claim. Keep them for every visit, every storm.
• The damage clause plus a pre-season walk turns spring repairs from a dispute into a checklist.

How to use this template

Copy this into a doc, delete the rows and clauses that do not apply, and have your attorney read the liability and insurance language before it meets a commercial lot; snow carries more legal weight than any other service you sell, and that hour of review is the cheapest line item of the winter. Pair it with the lawn care and landscape proposal template for the bid that comes before the signature. And when the winter book outgrows the whiteboard, this same structure is what contracts and renewals in the software manages on its own: multi-year winter terms that span calendar years, per-visit or seasonal billing, and renewals with the annual increase built in.