Excavation contract template — differing site conditions and utilities
Excavation has the oldest clause in construction law attached to it: differing site conditions. Here is what the contract has to settle before the machine arrives.
This is a checklist of what a excavation contract has to settle — not a ready-to-sign legal document, and not legal advice. Most states regulate home improvement contracts: required disclosures, cancellation windows, deposit limits and licence display all vary, and some trades carry extra rules. Adapt this, then have a lawyer in your state review it before you put it in front of a customer.
Download as a spreadsheet to work through, or print it to sit alongside your own agreement.
What a excavation contract has to settle
Excavation contracts exist to allocate the risk of what is underground, which nobody knows at signing. The differing-site-conditions clause is the mechanism: it names what the price assumes about the soil, and the unit rate that applies when reality differs. Without it, rock is a negotiation held while a machine sits idle. Utility locates are the other half — who calls, how long the wait is, and what happens if an unmarked line is struck despite a clean locate.
Clauses it needs
- Parties, licence number, site address and the scope in cubic yards
- The soil condition the price assumes, stated explicitly
- Differing site conditions: unit rates for rock, unsuitable material and groundwater
- Utility locates: who calls, the required wait, and liability for unmarked lines
- Hand-digging obligations within the tolerance zone of marked utilities
- Spoil: hauled or retained, and where retained spoil is placed
- Haul tickets as the basis for load-count billing
- Standby time rate when trucks or inspections delay the crew
- Access route, and responsibility for restoring it
- Erosion control, and who holds the permit that requires it
What excavation contracts actually get argued over
- Rock encountered with no unit rate, negotiated while the machine idles
- An unmarked line struck after a clean locate, with no liability clause
- Load counts billed without tickets attached
- The access route left rutted, with restoration never scoped
The estimate this contract is built on
A contract can only be as clear as the scope it references. BidWand drafts the itemised estimate — labour, materials, exclusions and assumptions — that the scope and exclusions clauses point at.
Draft the excavation estimate this contract references
This generates the estimate, not the contract — describe the job and you get the itemised scope to attach. No email needed to see the first one.
What you get — see the format first
A complete estimate you can send to the customer, built from the rate you enter:
| Description | Qty | Unit | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor — itemized by task | hrs | hour | your rate | — |
| Materials — with your markup applied | qty | ea / sq ft | cost + markup | — |
| Permits, disposal, access | — | — | — | — |
Plus a plain-English scope summary, assumptions (what had to be guessed), exclusions (what you are not doing — the section that prevents most change-order arguments), and a validity period. Printable, or send the link.
Every figure comes from the rate and markup you supply. We never fill in a market price for you.
Related guides
How much to charge
pressure washing · interior painting · drywall repair · junk removal · handyman work
Estimate templates by trade
excavation · concrete · drywall · flooring · fencing · tree service · pressure washing · junk removal
How to estimate
How to write a contractor estimate · Estimate vs quote vs bid — and which one you should send · What to include in a contractor estimate · How to price a job as a contractor · Should you charge for estimates? · How to follow up on an estimate · How to handle change orders · Estimate vs invoice: what's the difference? · How to raise your prices as a contractor