Self employed steeplejack: contract for services

This document is suitable for:

• Steeplejack contractors

• Any construction business

• A self employed steeplejack

• Householders

It has been drafted specifically to deal with the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), and can therefore be used by those within the scheme and those who fall outside the scheme such as householders.

It is not suitable where the steeplejack contractor is anything other than a self employed individual. There are two reasons for this a. the documents have been drawn for one person only and b. the CIS deduction scheme applies only where the steeplejack contractor is an individual.

For thousands of self employed people some version of this document will be presented to a new client as “my contract”. For any business using self employed steeplejack or construction industry staff it provides the essential starting point for the relationship.

If you are really an employee, take note: Although the agreement clothes the transaction with all the characteristics of self employment, simply using one of these contracts will not necessarily avoid the relationship of employer and employed. Both the Inland Revenue and any industrial tribunal will be entitled to look behind the agreement at the reality of the contract. Some of the questions they might ask are:

• Is this the contractors only work or does he work for others too?

• Does the client control how the work is done?

• Are the hours fixed by the client or can the contractor choose when he works?

• Does the contractor work on the clients premises, using the client's equipment?

• To what extent is the contractor at risk as a self employed person?