Updated · Make This Useful
Snow removal contract template
A snow removal contract has to say when the truck comes, how many pushes the season price covers and what each push past that costs. Write the trigger depth, the season dates, the cap and the extra-push price, then the end-of-drive windrow, walks and de-icing, staking and damage, cars in the way and payment. Promise an order of service, never a clear-by time: one deep overnight storm breaks every time promise on the route.
Set the trigger and cap
Fill in your trigger depth, season dates, visit cap and extra-push price, and delete the walks and de-icing clause if you only plow. Sign it with the customer before the first storm, while stakes still go into the ground.
Snow removal service agreement
Between ____________ (____________) and ____________, ____________.
- Services included: ____________
- Price: ____________
- Schedule: ____________
- Start date: ____________
- Payment terms: ____________
- When we plow. We plow once ____ inches of snow have fallen, measured on an untouched spot at your property, and clear the drive after the snow stops. A long storm may need a push partway through as well, and each push counts as a visit. Below the trigger, we come only if you ask, at $____ a push.
- Season price and visit cap. The season runs from ____ to ____, and the season price covers up to ____ pushes, with a storm over ____ inches counted as two. Each push past that is $____, billed after the storm. If you pay per push instead, every push is billed at the price above.
- Light and heavy winters. The season price stays the same however much it snows, up to the visit cap. We don’t refund pushes a light winter never needed, and we don’t charge more in a heavy one until the cap is passed.
- Order of service. We plow in route order once the snow stops, with medical and early-shift driveways first. We can’t promise a clear-by time, because one deep overnight storm slows every stop after it. If you need out early, tell us before the season and we will place you as near the front as we can.
- The end of the drive. We clear the ridge of snow the street plow leaves across the end of your driveway (the windrow) if it is there when we come. If the street plow seals the drive again after we have gone, a return trip to clear it is $____.
- Walks, steps and de-icing. Walks, steps and de-icing are included only if they are listed in the services above. When de-icing is listed, we spread ____ on ____ after each push. Ice that forms after we have left is treated on a new visit at $____.
- Stakes and damage. Before the ground freezes, we stake the edges of your drive and anything a blade could catch; please leave the stakes in until spring. If we damage turf, pavers, a curb or anything staked or in plain view, we repair it by ____. Hidden things nobody staked or pointed out are not ours to repair.
- Cars in the driveway. When snow is forecast, please park cars in the garage or off the drive. If a car is in the way, we plow around it and take a photo of what we could not reach. The visit counts as a push, and a return trip to finish is $____.
- Payment and installments. The season price is due in full by ____, or in ____ payments of $____ due on ____. Extra pushes, return trips and de-icing are billed after each storm and due within ____ days. If a payment is more than ____ days late, we tell you and stop plowing until it is paid.
- Ending the agreement. Either of us can end this agreement with ____ days’ notice in writing. If it ends partway through the season, pushes already made are charged at $____ each and we refund the rest of what you paid.
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
How many pushes should a seasonal snow contract cover?
Enough for a normal winter where you plow, plus a cap and a price for each push past it. Rosemount Plowing in Minnesota runs its season from November 1 to March 31 at a two-inch trigger, with up to 12 plow-outs, any storm of 10 inches or more using up two of them, and extra visits on a two-car drive at $50 (checked October 2026). Base your own cap on how often snow reached your trigger in recent winters.
The cap is what makes a season price fair in both directions. In a light winter the customer pays for pushes that never came, and the contract should say plainly that there is no refund, because the same price would have covered a heavy one. Without a cap, a big winter is all your cost: every storm after the season price runs out is fuel, salt and hours you don’t get back. With one, the customer knows what the season buys and what a push past it costs.
Should a snow plowing contract promise a time the drive will be clear?
No. Promise the order you plow in instead: the route starts once the snow stops, medical needs and early shifts go first, and each customer knows roughly where they fall. A clear-by time made in October is broken by the first storm that keeps falling until dawn, and the customer remembers the promise, not the snowfall. If people want to be first, sell priority as its own line and limit how many you sell.
Long storms are the other trap. Say in the contract that you may push partway through a heavy fall and again when it ends, and that each pass counts as a visit. A customer on a capped season will ask why one storm used two pushes; the answer should already be on the page they signed.
Who pays for lawn and paver damage from plowing?
Agree it in writing before the ground freezes. Put stakes along both sides of the drive and at the places a blade finds first: the turf beside the apron, paver borders, a raised curb, steel or plastic edging. Torn turf along the drive is what customers find when the snow melts, so say if you rake and reseed it in spring or leave it to them. Anything staked or in plain view is yours; anything buried and unmarked is not.
Pavers and gravel need a different setup. On pavers, a poly or rubber cutting edge keeps steel from catching a lifted edge. On gravel, set the blade up on shoes and leave a thin layer of snow behind, and write that into the contract so the customer isn’t expecting bare stone.
Frequently asked questions
Can a customer cancel a snow contract after a mild December?
Only on the terms you wrote down, which is why the payment schedule matters. Take the season price in full before the first storm, or in installments that stay ahead of the plowing, and say what ending early costs: pushes made at your per-push price, the rest refunded. A customer who has already paid for January has far less reason to walk away from it.
What should a snow contract say about ice?
Exactly what you treat and when. Plowing leaves a thin pack that can glaze over once the sun is off it, and a customer without de-icing in the contract may still expect the drive to be safe to walk on. If you sell it, list the surfaces, say whether it goes down on every push or on request, and treat ice that forms later as a separate visit.
Is per push or a season contract better for a new plow business?
Per push is safer while you learn the route. You’re paid for every storm, and a heavy winter can’t leave you plowing for free. A season contract brings in money for salt and repairs before the first snow, but price it once you know how many driveways your truck clears in a storm. Sell both, building the season from the per-push price, and let customers pick.