Written for landscapers and lawn care routes, grounds maintenance contractors, tree services and arborists, irrigation, hardscape and fencing installers, and landscape firms that sell snow and ice work, in any US state.
The short version
- Set the trigger and cap the season.Put the snow depth that calls you out in writing. A seasonal fee puts the weather risk on you, so cap pushes or price extras.
- Tie indemnity to your own negligence.Before relying on a statute to void a bad clause, have an attorney licensed in that state check whether it covers this contract.
- Log every visit; make install terms conditional.Times, depth, materials and time-stamped photos win the case. Make plant warranties conditional on care, and lien waivers on payment.
Slip-and-fall suits name both the property owner and the contractor. What protects you is not how fast you plow but what the contract says you will do, and whether your records prove you did it.
Choose the pricing basis with your eyes open
Snow is priced per push at the trigger depth, per storm regardless of visits, as a capped or uncapped seasonal fee, or by the equipment hour. Price de-icer per application or per ton. A seasonal fee shifts the weather risk to you, so cap the events or inches, or price pushes beyond a stated number.
| Seasonal fee, whatever the winter | $12,000 |
| Per push at $850, light winter of 8 pushes | $6,800 |
| Per push at $850, heavy winter of 18 pushes | $15,300 |
| Given away on an uncapped seasonal fee in the 18-push winter | $3,300 |
18 x $850 = $15,300, less the $12,000 seasonal feeBreak-even is 14.1 pushes ($12,000 / $850). In the 8-push winter the seasonal fee wins. Cap the seasonal fee at 14 pushes, or price the extra pushes.
Scope it in writing
- A priority and pile map.
- The trigger depth, for example 2 inches, and a separate salting trigger.
- The opening deadline and the re-service interval.
- Who monitors the forecast and calls you out.
- Checks for refreezing and melt-back.
- The client's duties on hazards, lighting and areas you are not to enter, and termination for non-payment.
Indemnity: what you can accept
Many snow contracts ask you to indemnify the owner for all claims arising from snow and ice, including the owner's own negligence. Negotiate indemnity tied to your negligence, and exclude conditions you were not called out for or that arose after you left. Some states limit these clauses, but only within their conditions.
Snow indemnity and duty rules in three states
Illinois generally voids covered snow and ice contract terms that make either party indemnify, hold harmless or defend the other for that other's acts or omissions. Colorado's snow indemnity rule applies when the provider is expressly prohibited, by contract or in writing, from mitigating the specific precipitation risk. Both exclude public roads, public bodies, public utilities, insurance, surety bonds and workers' compensation. In New York a snow contractor generally owes injured third parties no duty unless it launched the harm, the plaintiff relied on its continued performance, or it entirely displaced the owner's duty, and the storm-in-progress doctrine limits duties until a reasonable time after the storm. As of Oct 2026.
815 ILCS 675/10 and 675/15; CRS 13-21-129(3) and (4); Espinal v. Melville Snow Contractors, 98 N.Y.2d 136 (2002)
The statutes have conditions and exclusions, so a clause you assumed was void may not be.
The log wins the case
Keep a snow log for every visit: arrival and departure times, depth on arrival, services and material used, time-stamped photos and a third-party weather record, with GPS on the trucks. Keep logs for at least the state's personal injury limitation period plus a year. That period is 2 years in Texas and California, 3 years in New York, and 2 years in Florida for negligence since March 24, 2023. As of Oct 2026.
Check your general liability for snow exclusions or sublimits before the first storm, and get the snow endorsement and the additional insured coverage the client asks for. When a suit arrives, give your insurer the log, the contract and the weather record that day, and do not respond yourself.
On installs: four clauses to fix before you sign
- Plant warranty: one year on installed trees and shrubs is common. Make it conditional on the client's care, exclude drought, freeze, pests, animal damage and watering restrictions, and limit the remedy to replacing the plant and the labor.
- Private utilities: the client marks private lines, such as irrigation, lighting or gas to a grill, or pays for a private locate.
- Pay-if-paid in an install subcontract: limit it to pay-when-paid with a fixed long-stop date, or check your state's rule.
- Lien waivers: sign only conditional waivers until the funds clear.
Asked in Greymill
1. The indemnity (who pays when someone slips). Illinois does generally void snow and ice terms that make one side cover the other's own acts or omissions (As of Oct 2026).
But the statute has conditions and exclusions, so don't count on it.
Ask for indemnity tied to your negligence only, and have an attorney licensed in Illinois check it.
2. The cap. $12,000 / $850 = about 14.1 pushes to break even.
Light winter, 8 pushes: $6,800, so the seasonal fee wins
Heavy winter, 18 pushes: $15,300, so you give away $3,300
Cap the fee at 14 pushes, or price the extra ones.
Your best defense if someone sues: a log of every visit. Times in and out, depth on arrival, material used, time-stamped photos.
I can redraft the indemnity clause for your attorney to review.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Contracts & Disputes works it through for your business.
I run a landscaping or gardening business in [state], in the US. A [property type] client has sent me a snow contract for [number] sites: [paste the pricing, trigger, indemnity and insurance clauses]. Check the indemnity against my state's rules, suggest a pricing cap, rewrite the trigger and service level, and give me a snow log my crews will actually fill in. Then check my install terms: [paste the plant warranty, payment and lien waiver clauses].
More for landscaping and gardening in the US
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- Do I charge sales tax on mowing, and who needs a 1099 from me this year?Whether landscaping is taxable depends on the state and on whether the job is maintenance or an improvement, and the 1099 threshold changed for 2026.Read the lesson
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- Paying crews a day rate and bringing in H-2B workers without owing back wagesLandscaping is not agriculture, so crews are owed overtime even on a day rate, and H-2B adds wage, hours and travel duties of its own.Read the lesson
- Winning HOA and commercial maintenance bids, and keeping the account at renewalCommercial and HOA work is won on the paperwork that comes with the price: certificates, endorsements, a site plan, and terms that survive renewal.Read the lesson
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Open the interactive lesson · Every landscaping and gardening lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- 815 ILCS 675/10 and 675/15, including public roads/bodies/utilities and insurance, surety and workers' compensation exclusions (Snow and ice contracts)
- CRS 13-21-129(3) to (4); SB18-062 enacted bill summary, scope and exclusions (Snow and ice contracts)
- 98 N.Y.2d 136 (2002) (Snow and ice contracts)
- www.flsenate.gov (Snow and ice contracts)
- 16 CFR 429.0, 429.1 (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7159(d)(8) (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- Gen. Bus. Law sec. 771; Lien Law sec. 71-a (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- General Obligations Law 5-903(2) to (3) (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- sec. 713.015; sec. 501.201 (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- Bus. and Com. Code sec. 17.41 (Contracts, consumers and getting paid)
- Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7031(a), (b) (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 8 CCR 342(a); 330(h) serious injury definition; DIR accident-reporting guidance (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 1910.333(c)(3); 1910.269(a)(1)(i)(E), (r), (x) (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 29 U.S.C. 255(a), 216(b) (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- 29 U.S.C. 216(b), 255(a) (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- Texas Property Code 53.021(4); actual parties and work dates require construction-counsel review (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- 20 CFR 655.15(b), 655.20(j)(2) (Who must sign off and deliverables: us house style)
- 29 CFR 1904.39(a); California 8 CCR 342(a), controlling state case (Who must sign off and deliverables: us house style)