PROPERTY MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
Important legal advice, jurisdiction and formality warning
This fictional agreement is a worked educational example, not legal advice and not a universally valid contract. It is written for a residential landlord and contractor operating in England and Wales. The parties must check the actual title, tenancy obligations, building regulations, gas and electrical safety rules, asbestos requirements, planning controls, data protection, tax treatment, licensing conditions and any consumer or procurement requirements that apply. It must be adapted to the property portfolio and properly executed; a signature does not cure an unlawful term or replace a required statutory notice, certificate or consent. Obtain independent advice before relying on it.
Date and parties
This agreement is made on 8 January 2027 between:
1. Meadowgate Residential Management Limited, company number 15820471, of 14 King William Yard, Bristol BS2 0QL, called the Client; and 2. Oakline Property Repairs Limited, company number 14780623, of 3 Enterprise Close, Filton, Bristol BS34 7QF, called the Contractor.
The Client manages the freehold property at 27 Willowbank Road, Bristol BS7 9LA, containing four self-contained flats, communal stairs, a rear garden, a bin store and a cycle shed. The Client is appointing the Contractor for the services described here from 1 February 2027 until 31 January 2028. The appointment is non-exclusive and does not make the Contractor the Client’s agent for letting, rent collection or statutory enforcement.
1. Services and standards
The Contractor will provide planned and reactive maintenance to the building fabric, plumbing, heating controls, communal lighting, joinery, plastering, decoration, locks and external paths. It will not undertake gas appliance work, fixed electrical installation work, asbestos removal, structural engineering or work requiring a specialist licence unless the Client gives a separate written instruction and the Contractor confirms that an appropriately qualified person will perform it.
The planned programme is: inspect the roof and rainwater goods in February and August; test communal lighting and emergency lighting in February and August; inspect external doors and locks in March and September; clear gutters in April and October; service the communal boiler in July; and inspect the paving, fencing and drainage in November. The Contractor will provide a dated report and photographs within three business days of each planned visit.
For a life-safety emergency, such as an active water escape, loss of communal heating in freezing weather, insecure external door, exposed live electrical component or serious roof opening, the Contractor will acknowledge the call within 30 minutes and attend within four hours. An urgent defect that is not an immediate danger will be acknowledged within four business hours and attended within two business days. A routine defect will be acknowledged within one business day and attended within five business days. These are service commitments, not a guarantee that a specialist or replacement part will be available immediately.
The Contractor will carry out work with reasonable skill and care, follow written manufacturer instructions, leave areas secure and reasonably clean, and protect residents and their belongings. It will provide a completion note identifying the operative, arrival and departure times, work done, materials used, photographs where useful, and any further recommendation. It must immediately report a suspected gas leak, serious damp, safeguarding concern, fire-safety risk or other matter that should be referred to the Client or an authority.
2. Instructions, access and resident contact
Only Elena Margaret Price, the Client’s Property Director, or Marcus Joel Lang, its Maintenance Manager, may approve chargeable work. The Contractor may make emergency work safe up to the limit in clause 3 but must telephone the Maintenance Manager as soon as practicable. It must not sub-contract work without the Client’s written consent, except for an emergency specialist whose identity and qualification must be recorded.
The Client will use reasonable efforts to arrange lawful access and will provide relevant keys and available records. The Contractor must give residents at least 24 hours’ notice for non-emergency attendance unless a resident agrees otherwise. It must not enter a dwelling without consent or a lawful access route, must not photograph personal belongings unless necessary to evidence damage, and must protect personal data. It must send appointment messages to residents through the Client’s approved system rather than retaining resident contact details longer than reasonably necessary.
3. Prices, approval and invoices
The Client will pay a monthly management retainer of £420.00 plus VAT, a standard operative rate of £48.00 plus VAT per hour, and an emergency out-of-hours rate of £72.00 plus VAT per hour. Travel within 15 miles is included. Materials are charged at the Contractor’s evidenced cost plus a 12% handling charge; no charge is payable for an ordinary van, quotation or return visit to correct defective work.
The Contractor may incur up to £350.00 including VAT per individual job without prior approval only where delay would reasonably increase damage or risk. A job expected to exceed that amount requires a written estimate and the Client’s approval. Works totalling £1,000 or more require two competitive quotations unless the Client records why an emergency or compatibility issue makes that impracticable. The Contractor must not split a job to avoid an approval threshold.
The Contractor will invoice monthly in arrears, with the retainer and completed jobs itemised by address and job reference. A January 2027 mobilisation inspection and report costs £180.00 plus VAT and is payable with the first invoice. The Client will pay undisputed sums within 30 days. It must notify a genuine dispute within ten business days and pay the undisputed balance. The Contractor may suspend non-emergency work after 14 days’ written notice of an overdue undisputed amount, but may not withdraw from an active emergency response in a way that creates an avoidable safety risk.
4. Insurance, compliance and responsibility
The Contractor will maintain public liability insurance of at least £5,000,000 per occurrence, employers’ liability insurance of at least £10,000,000, and professional indemnity insurance of £1,000,000 for design advice it actually gives. On 8 January 2027, Oakline supplied certificates issued by Harbour Mutual Insurance, policy references HM-P-881204, HM-E-881205 and HM-PI-881206, each expiring on 31 January 2028. It will notify the Client before cancellation or material reduction.
The Contractor is responsible for its staff, wages, training, tax and equipment. It must comply with health and safety law, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, waste-transfer requirements and any site-specific risk assessment. It will not disturb suspected asbestos-containing material and will stop work if conditions are unsafe. The Client remains responsible for the building’s title, landlord decisions, statutory notices and instructions outside the agreed services.
The Contractor is liable for direct loss caused by its negligence, wilful misconduct or breach. It will make good damage it causes to the building or a resident’s property. Neither party excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or liability that cannot legally be excluded. Subject to those limits, each party’s aggregate liability in a contract year is capped at £25,000, except that the cap does not apply to unpaid charges, confidentiality, data misuse, or the Contractor’s insurance-backed liabilities.
5. Defects, records and ending the appointment
The Client must notify an apparent defect in completed work within six months after completion where reasonably discoverable. The Contractor will inspect within five business days and correct defective workmanship without further labour charge within ten business days, or explain a longer period where parts or access are genuinely required. The Client may reasonably set off an evidenced correction cost after giving the Contractor seven days to remedy.
The Contractor will keep job records, invoices, risk assessments and waste records for six years and provide them on reasonable request. The parties will review service levels quarterly. A material breach not remedied within 14 days after written notice permits termination. Either party may terminate for convenience on 60 days’ notice; the Client will pay for authorised work completed up to the termination date. Immediate termination is permitted for insolvency, serious safety misconduct, loss of required insurance or unauthorised entry.
The parties will first refer a dispute to Elena Price and Oakline’s director Harold Vincent Shaw for a meeting within ten business days. If unresolved, they will attempt mediation through Bristol Mediation Service for at least 20 business days, without preventing urgent safety or possession proceedings. This agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory rule.
Signatures
Signed for Meadowgate Residential Management Limited by Elena Margaret Price, Property Director Signature: ____________________ Date: 8 January 2027
Signed for Oakline Property Repairs Limited by Harold Vincent Shaw, Director Signature: ____________________ Date: 8 January 2027