Verbal Extra Work and Heat-Wave Planting
A landscape maintenance contract for a 60-unit townhouse complex specifies mowing, bed weeding, spring cleanup, and two visits per month. The property manager emails the crew leader: 'While you're there, replace the six dead cedars by the entrance, run a new drip line to the beds, and take out the leaning spruce near unit 12. Same rate as the contract-just do it, I'll confirm later.' The estimate for the extra work is $4,800 and includes a 300 mm caliper spruce removal near a gas meter. The crew is scheduled for two days, with temperatures forecast at 36°C. The manager also wants the cedars planted immediately for a weekend open house and says the warranty should cover them 'no matter what.' The contract requires written change orders over $500.
1. How should the crew leader respond to the request?
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The crew leader should not start the extra work on the email. The contract requires a written change order over $500, and the request adds three distinct scopes worth $4,800, including tree removal near a gas meter. Reply in writing the same day: acknowledge the request, restate the scope in specific terms, attach the estimate, state the price and schedule, and identify exclusions and conditions. Ask the manager to sign and return the change order before work begins.
The reply should also separate the items. The drip line and cedar replacement can be scheduled once approved. The spruce removal requires a utility locate before any digging or cutting near the gas meter, and may require an arborist or permit depending on local rules and the tree's condition. 'I'll confirm later' is not authorization. Document the verbal conversation and the email trail, and copy the client's official contact if the manager is not the contracting authority. If the manager pressures the crew on site, the leader should politely decline and refer to the signed change order.
2. What are the risks of planting the cedars immediately in 36°C heat, and what alternatives would you offer?
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Planting in 36°C heat raises transpiration demand while root recovery is limited. The cedars are likely to suffer transplant shock, scorch, and dieback even with watering, and the open-house deadline increases the chance that the client blames the contractor. The risk is higher if the plants are field-grown or held on a hot truck, and if irrigation is not yet connected.
Offer alternatives in writing: plant early morning or late afternoon, shade the plants for the first week, mulch immediately, and water deeply before and after planting. Use container-grown stock if available, because the root mass is intact, and consider larger stock only if it can be handled without damage. If the client insists on the weekend deadline, provide a written planting-care plan and explain that the warranty cannot guarantee survival through extreme weather. A better option may be to install the cedars after the event and use temporary potted plants for display. Let the client choose with the risks stated.
3. What documentation and warranty language should be issued for this extra work?
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Issue a written change order that lists each task, quantity, price, schedule, and responsibility. Include the utility locate requirement for the spruce, disposal of debris, protection of the gas meter, and any permit or arborist requirement. State that the existing irrigation is not connected until the new drip line is commissioned, and identify who supplies water during establishment. Record the site conditions at planting: temperature, stock size, root condition, planting depth, soil moisture, and photographs.
The warranty should be specific: plants are warranted for one growing season only if the client follows the written watering and care schedule, and the warranty excludes failure caused by extreme heat, drought, herbicide, mechanical damage, or neglect. 'No matter what' cannot be accepted. Provide a care sheet and a contact for reporting problems within a stated number of days. Keep signed acceptance, delivery tickets, watering records, and photographs. If the client refuses the warranty terms, document the refusal and proceed only on a clearly written, limited basis.