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Christmas light installation contract
A Christmas light installation contract has to say who owns the lights and when they come down, because those two cause most of the arguments in January. Then it covers storage, service calls for bulbs out, outlets and timers, how the lights attach, damage to gutters and shingles, weather delays and payment. Most of all, put the takedown date in the same contract as the install date, and get both signed before the first clip goes on.
Write up the lights job
Keep the leased sentence or the bought one in the ownership clause, whichever matches your package, and fill in your dates and how many service calls the price covers. Attach a photo of the house with the agreed runs marked, so a longer run later is easy to spot as an extra.
Christmas light installation agreement
Between ____________ (____________) and ____________, ____________.
- Services included: ____________
- Price: ____________
- Schedule: ____________
- Start date: ____________
- Payment terms: ____________
- Install and takedown dates. We install by ____ and take everything down between ____ and ____, and the takedown is included in this price. We don’t work on a wet, icy or windy roof, so bad weather moves a visit to the next safe day; we tell you the new date, and the price stays the same.
- Leased or bought lights. On a lease, the lights, clips and timer stay ours: we take them back at takedown and charge $____ a foot for any stolen or damaged by others. If you buy them, they’re yours once paid for, and each later season you pay only for the labor.
- Storage between seasons. If we store the lights, we pack and label them by run and keep them dry until next season’s install. If you end service, collect them by ____ or we drop them off for $____. When you keep them yourself, have them out and ready by install day.
- Bulbs out during the season. If a bulb, strand or clip fails, tell us and we fix it within ____ days at no charge, up to ____ service calls a season. Damage from storms, animals or anyone moving the lights is repaired at $____ a visit.
- Outlets, power and timer. We plug into your outdoor outlets, so they and any indoor switch that controls them need to stay on. If an outlet keeps tripping or none is near a run, we tell you; adding or repairing outlets is electrician’s work and not part of this price. Our timer turns the lights on at dusk and off at ____.
- Ladders, roof and clips. We hang lights with plastic clips on the gutter lip and shingle edges, and never nail, screw or staple into your roof, trim or siding. Tell us about steep, tile or slate roofs and anywhere we shouldn’t step.
- Gutters and shingles. Before we hang anything, we look along the gutters and roof edge and write down what is already loose, cracked or pulling away: ____. We repair any damage we cause while installing or taking down. Anything already failing that gives way is yours to fix.
- Extra runs and changes. Trees, wreaths, extra runs or a new color are added only after we price them and you say yes by text or email. Moving lights you’ve approved to a new spot after install is a separate visit at $____.
- Booking payment and balance. Half the price is due when you book, and it holds your install date. The rest is due on install day, once you’ve seen the lights on, and a $____ late fee is added if it’s still unpaid ____ days later.
- Cancelling a booking. If you cancel ____ days or more before install, we refund the booking payment in full; after that, we keep $____ for the lights and time set aside for you. If we can’t install by the date above, you pick a new date or take a full refund.
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
Who owns the lights in a Christmas light contract?
Whoever the contract says, so give it one sentence. On a lease, the lights, clips and timer are yours: they come back at takedown, you store them, and you charge for strands that go missing. On a sale, they belong to the customer once paid for. Abulous Lighting near Atlanta sells its C9s at $4 a foot and leaves the storage with the customer (checked October 2026).
The arrangement that goes wrong is the one nobody wrote down. A customer who paid for the first season assumes the lights are theirs, and asks for them when they switch installers. If you lease, say so on the quote and in the contract, and say the price buys the season’s use of the lights, not the lights.
What should a light contract say about bulbs out?
How fast you come, how many trips the price includes, and what you charge for damage you didn’t cause. A customer with half a roofline dark the week before Christmas wants a date, not an apology. Set a response window you can keep in your busiest week, a number of free calls for strands and clips that fail, and a trip price for storms, squirrels and ladders leaned on the gutter.
How do you protect gutters and shingles in a light contract?
Clips only, and a written walk-around. Plastic gutter and shingle clips hold C9s without a single hole, so the contract can promise no nails, screws or staples. Before the first clip goes on, look along the gutters and roof edge, photograph what’s already loose or cracked and write it in. Damage you cause is yours; a gutter already pulling off the fascia isn’t.
Takedown is where shingles get hurt. Asphalt tabs turn brittle in January cold, and a run pulled down in one long tug can snap the tabs its clips were holding. Unclip each light by hand, wait for the frost to burn off before anyone steps on the roof, and look along the roof edge again before you leave.
Frequently asked questions
What if the customer wants the lights left up longer?
Write a takedown window, and a price for anything after it. Your January route runs on those dates, so a house that wants February means a separate trip. HomeGuide’s range for removal-only work is $100–$400 (checked October 2026), a fair guide to what that trip is worth when it isn’t already in the package.
What happens if it rains or snows on install day?
You move it, and the contract says so in plain words: no work on a wet, icy or windy roof, the next safe day instead, a text with the new date and the same price. Leave room in your November schedule for it. A route booked solid to Thanksgiving has nowhere to put the houses a storm pushed back.
Do I need a lawyer for a Christmas light contract?
Not for homes. The agreement only has to settle dates, ownership, damage and payment in words you and the customer read the same way. Commercial accounts such as shopping centers and HOAs often send their own contract with insurance terms; read that one closely, with help if you need it, before you sign.