Downloadable bill for presenting to clients - Free

[Engineer]

I have prepared a new form for myself, it is the bill you would present to a client. I have tried to take everything into account and make sure it is as good as I can, however, if you can think of anything I've overlooked, or anything that can be improved, please let me know!

Hopefully it has spaces for all the security questions you would need to ask when answering a lockout to a building or vehicle. It should also be just as good for repinning a lock onsite, selling something from your store, giving a quote, etc. It is a single page and cope with clients who are businesses or private individuals.

It has two versions, an unlocked, unrestricted pdf and a high-quality jpg at 300dpi. They are released as freeware, so you can do as you like with them and I have released them only on LP101.

Download Locksmithing Form.zip

[MacGyver101]

It looks good.

I'd suggest a rework of the waiver, though. The first sentence describes the work in the past tense, and suggests that you're signing it after the work is already done -- while the second and third sentences describe the work in the future tense, and suggests that you're both signing it before the work is started. The "I" is also a bit ambiguous if both parties are signing the same statement: perhaps two waiver statements would be clearer?

Just my $0.02...

[Engineer]

Good point MacGyver101 !

I have reworked the form and it is now version 1.2. The same download link will work, but it will now get you the new forms, not the old ones.

Thank you for pointing that out, I am grateful to you and hopefully the new version of the disclaimer should be a bit more "watertight" I hope.

[zeke79]

Your best bet for a "watertight" waiver would be to have a lawyer who works in the same state, area, etc that you live in and do your work in write one up for you. It will likely only be in the $100 range but it could save you much more than that in the end if you are ever in court over work you have done for a customer. These waivers however will likely only cover you if the work you done is free from defects in workmanship.

In that case, when you work on a door that is in bad shape when you arrive it should be noted on the invoice that you did in fact recommend a fix or a new door for best security, etc. It should also have a signature from both yourself AND the customer that they denied the work to repair the door to working and security standards etc. This will save you from defects in workmanship that were already present on the door etc.

Just my $.02. A lawyer can be your best friend in cases such as these as they can ensure they are as "watertight" as they can be when taking into account working standards etc. It should also work the same when the customer demands a non insurance standard lock be installed on a door. I am no longer up on all of the UK standards "BS standards if I recall correctly". But as long as you explained to them and noted it on your invoice with both your signature and theirs under the explanation it can save you alot of hassle in court again.

Again, my best advice is to not overlook or balk at the price of having a lawyer put your waiver together. It will likely be one of the best investments you can put into your business.

~Zeke79~

[Engineer]

Hi Zeke79,

These are good points also - Thank you!

I have ammended the form to version 1.3 now (again, use the download link in my original post and you will always get the latest version.

In the "NOTES" section, I have now made it clear that you should note any pre-existing damage in that section (before starting work), that way you will be covered if the customer claims you damaged something that was already in a poor state. You could even carry a cheap digital camera to document any damage before you start if you wanted extra protection.

I don't think there is any such thing as a truly watertight disclaimer, a clever lawyer will always find something to argue in court I'm sure. Even if there was a watertight disclaimer, it sould probably have to be so strongly worded, that customers would refuse to sign it.

The biggest problem is that the laws differ from country to country. Even worse is that there are sometimes even local laws to contend with as well as your own national ones.

When you download the forms, there is a read me in there (plain text file) that explains that the disclaimer included is a sort of "universal" one that is good, but might not be suitable for you or your location. If you have any concerns over the wording, you should insert your own current waiver/disclaimer, or consult a legal specialist in your area to get one specifically written for yourself if you do not already have one, or it has not been updated for some time. There are instructions for how to use "Paint" on the jpg version to change anything you like about the form.

You raise an excelent point about customers who require for example, a cheap lock that does not meet insurance requirements. In the left hand column, you get to list supplied parts. You can fill in as many details as you like there, so if there is a request for locks that do not meet insurance grade, you would for example, list it as "2 Mortice locks - non-BS Standard £6.95" for example in the UK, or whatever would be required in the country the form is being used in, to make it plain that the customer requested parts that might potentially cause problems later.

I think the trick to using any form like this, is if anything strikes you as odd, or makes you feel wary in any way, please make sure is is listed on the form, so you are covered if there is any come-back later on.

Thank you for your help!

Your best bet for a "watertight" waiver would be to have a lawyer who works in the same state, area, etc that you live in and do your work in write one up for you. It will likely only be in the $100 range but it could save you much more than that in the end if you are ever in court over work you have done for a customer. These waivers however will likely only cover you if the work you done is free from defects in workmanship.

In that case, when you work on a door that is in bad shape when you arrive it should be noted on the invoice that you did in fact recommend a fix or a new door for best security, etc. It should also have a signature from both yourself AND the customer that they denied the work to repair the door to working and security standards etc. This will save you from defects in workmanship that were already present on the door etc.

Just my $.02. A lawyer can be your best friend in cases such as these as they can ensure they are as "watertight" as they can be when taking into account working standards etc. It should also work the same when the customer demands a non insurance standard lock be installed on a door. I am no longer up on all of the UK standards "BS standards if I recall correctly". But as long as you explained to them and noted it on your invoice with both your signature and theirs under the explanation it can save you alot of hassle in court again.

Again, my best advice is to not overlook or balk at the price of having a lawyer put your waiver together. It will likely be one of the best investments you can put into your business.

~Zeke79~

[MacGyver101]

Sorry, one more thought: you should probably make room, adjacent to the signature boxes, to print the locksmith's name and the customer's name. (This could be important in helping to later establish who signed the waiver -- in particular if there are multiple locksmiths working for you, and the client has multiple employees who might have signed the form.)

[Jaakko]

There are instructions for how to use "Paint" on the jpg version to change anything you like about the form.

JPG is not intened for use like this, I would suggest using PNG. If you do modifications to the JPG and save it, the picture looks even more messy than it was. It is thus better to use PNG as it doesn't lose anything when compressing.

Other option would be to make the form with OpenOffice, that way everyone can open and edit it as they like.

[Engineer]

Hi again MacGyver101,

Again, good points - Originally I thought of the signature boxes needing the names to be printed as well, but decided against it. The customer should not need to print their name, as it would already be on the top of the first column as "Customer Name". However, thinking about it, there are likely to be some occasions where for example the customer is a business and the person who signs onsite, is not the same one who contacted you in the first place. So a place for their name to be printed as well as signed is probably worth doing after all.

I also thought about whether the Lockie should print their name as well as sign the form. I thought some might not want their name listed quite so clearly for security reasons. However just to make sure, I pulled out all the invoices, delivery notes, receipts and anything else I could find that companies had sent to me. Whether this is a UK thing or not I don't know, but not a single one of them that had their signature on it, had that persons name printed on it. Many expeced me to print and sign my name, but never their own delivery driver, workman, etc. However, I've made a space for that as well, incase you require it of your staff, or the form is downloaded for use in a place where it is a legal requirement.

So I have already uploaded a new version to take account of all these changes.

Thank you again for your help!


Sorry, one more thought: you should probably make room, adjacent to the signature boxes, to print the locksmith's name and the customer's name. (This could be important in helping to later establish who signed the waiver -- in particular if there are multiple locksmiths working for you, and the client has multiple employees who might have signed the form.)

[Engineer]

Hi again Jakko,

Thank you too for your helpful points. You are quite right that JPGs are not the right format for this sort of thing and that PNGs would be better. However, I had to make the form(s) easy for people to edit with the minimum of software. BMPs would have been better, but the file is suprisingly large with BMPs not having any compression. I know some people around the world are still accessing via dial-up, rarther than broadband, so I decided to go with jpg as that could be edited by just about anyone and people are comfortable with JPGs. You are right, png would have been better, but to compensate for this, I made the .jpg at 300dpi, so it prints out crystal clear.

If people do a lot of resizing of it or something like that, artifacts will start to appear on the form though. The best thing to do then, would be to load it into IrfanView or your favorite image editing program. Remove all the color from the form, so it is in black-and-white only, then alter the contrast to remove as much of the artifacts as possible.

Open Office is a good idea, I have the Pro edition on my computer anyway. I also like Lotus Symphony - It's free from:

http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotu ... e.nsf/home

I would like to ask those who read this thread to let me know if you would like an Open Office version of the form as well? I do know it is a big download for some people and from what I've read on other groups, some people don't like having to install extra software (especially Microsoft's .net framework for example). So if people could let me know if they are happy with jpg and pdf versions in the zip file, or if there is enough demand for an Open Office version, then I will include that in the zip file in future as well.

Thank you for your help as well!

[Engineer]

NEW VERSION!

After a PM to me, I have made some alterations to the form that might be an important change for you. I have also expanded the (plain text) "Read Me" in the zipped file to give more explanation of how sales/jobs can be entered and how the form can be used to it's best hopefully...

It is now version 1.5.

[best]

Hello,

Thank Engineer,

I like it,