Maintenance is vital in establishing a smooth business operation at every facility. Organizations that don't take care of their physical assets will have to outsource their maintenance work, and you simply can't do that without signing a service contract.

A maintenance contract will protect customers' investments in products and services, ensure them against unplanned downtime, and guarantee to always have professional services at close reach. While as a service provider, a maintenance services contract will help to plan the service schedule, estimate the items that would be necessary, and build a positive long-term client relationship between the two parties.

Let's dive into what a maintenance contract is, how you can properly make one, and check all the elements that compose this service contract.

Maintenance contracts are legal documents that settle an agreement between the company/customer and the maintenance service provider. It specifies the terms of the agreement between the two parties. A maintenance contractor can be hired to do a variety of different services, from general upkeep, routine maintenance, and specialized repairs. 

Any detail should be stated in the contract (like which equipment is covered, how often facilities maintenance will be done, and any additional cost required), solidifying the service provider's commitment. The maintenance service could apply to landscaping, buildings, machinery, computers, and any other business system that requires it.

There are several components that a maintenance contract includes:

• Name and Contact: It must have contact information details like the names of both parties, their addresses, locations where the service is to be performed, and details of signatories.
• Equipment Details: Operating conditions, technical specifications, location, and other relevant information in regard to the machinery to be serviced. 
• Service Provider Responsibilities: The extent of responsibilities that the contractor should provide.
• Client Responsibilities: The contract will detail what should be expected from the client’s side, as a service cannot be well-performed if the company and its workers aren’t cooperative.
• Completion Time: State the timeframe that the service should be completed. The contract should outline these stipulations.
• Response Time: When the contractor should start to offer its services (should be as soon as possible). Failing on this could lead to contract termination, with one party notifying the breaching party of the motives of such a decision.
• Compensation Structure: Delay in service and damage to equipment can warrant compensation if that is specified previously in the contract.
• Price: Clearly state the price of the contract, the duration, terms, and conditions of payment, and any additional item like, for example, if you are going to need early payment, price discounts offered, or if there is a "money-back guarantee" policy.
• Force Majeure: This part of the contract states that both parties are liberated from their obligations in the event of extraordinary circumstances. Such legal statutes are a standard in these contracts.

Drawing up an annual maintenance services contract (or any sort of mid/long-term maintenance contract) will make your budgeting and planning much easier. Both parties can use estimated costs to calculate service requirements. The contractor will clearly understand what types of jobs they should expect. 

Also, service providers will gain a deep understanding of their customer's ongoing support requirements. Forging better relationships will lead to better contracts when both know how often equipment downtimes happen, how many visits the contractor needs to do, and the client's needs.

It ensures the client that the quality of work is standardized across that pre-accorded period of time and makes sure the service provider will comply with the terms agreed upon.

Also, customers benefit from always having at their reach emergency support and their needs covered. Both will benefit from having regular maintenance planned ahead of time.

With this simple template, you get all the necessary information to set both parties to negotiate the terms and conditions for the job. It has blank spaces to be filled with the information of the customer and service provider.

You can download the template for free from eForms.com.

In this template, a page is dedicated to providing a description of the said agreement and how you can properly adjust the document for your needs. It is more advanced and has a more professional look.

You can download it for free from SampleTemplates.com.

This template could seem to be designed specifically for electrical work, but you can adapt it for any type of job. It comes with all the required sections needed for a maintenance contract and a final table to set your service and its pricing.

You can download it from MyWordTemplates.org.