Most snow contracts say what the contractor will do. Fewer say what the contractor has to prove. That gap shows up months later, when a slip-and-fall claim arrives and someone asks what happened at the property at 6 a.m. on a Tuesday in January.
October is the time to close it. Contracts are being signed now, and a contractor can set up how they record visits before the first storm far more easily than in the middle of one. This checklist is written for property managers, condo and strata councils, HOA boards and facility managers. Contractors can use it too: it is what your best commercial clients are about to ask for.
Why the record matters more than the plowing
A well-plowed lot leaves no trace once the snow melts. What is left is the record. When an injury claim comes in, the questions are always the same: was the site serviced, when, by whom, and what was put down. A record made at the time of the visit answers them. Notes rebuilt from memory weeks later, or an invoice line that says “salted, 12 visits”, usually do not.
Asking for a proper record protects you as well. If the contractor’s records are complete, you can show you hired a competent contractor and checked that the work was done.
The minimum record for every visit
Ask for these at every visit, plowing and de-icing alike. A de-icing visit on a night with no snow still needs its own record.
| Record | What good looks like | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival and departure time | Captured when the crew starts and finishes, not typed in later | Shows the response time your contract promised, and when the site was last treated |
| Location | A GPS position from the crew’s phone or truck at the property | Ties the visit to your site, not the lot next door |
| Before and after photos | Taken on site, each stamped with the time and place | Shows the condition the crew found and the condition they left |
| What was done | Plowed, shovelled or de-iced, by area: lot, walks, entrances, ramps | Lets you check the work against the scope in the contract |
| Material applied | Product and amount, logged at the site during the visit | The first thing an adjuster asks about on an ice claim |
| Conditions and notes | Refreeze, drainage problems, blocked areas, anything left for later | Shows hazards were noticed and reported |
What you receive, and what the contractor keeps
You don’t need every number on every report. A sensible split: after each visit you get a short completion report with the time the visit finished and the photos, and the contractor keeps the full record, including material amounts and crew notes, and hands it over when you or your insurer asks.
Write both halves into the contract: what you receive after each visit, and what the contractor must keep and produce on request.
This is general information, not legal advice. Ask your insurer or a lawyer what your contracts should say and how long records must be kept where your property is.
Clauses to add to the contract or RFP
- Service triggers. The snowfall depth or conditions that start a plowing visit, and the conditions that start a de-icing visit. Treat them as separate events, because ice often forms on nights with no snow.
- Response time. How soon after a trigger the crew arrives, and which areas come first: entrances, fire lanes, accessible parking, walks.
- Visit record. Every visit records arrival and departure time, location, before and after photos, the work done and the material applied, all captured at the time of the visit.
- Reporting. A completion report for each visit, sent within an agreed time, for example the same business day.
- Record keeping. The contractor keeps the full record for an agreed period and provides copies within an agreed number of days of a request, including after the contract ends.
- A real sample. The bid includes a visit record or completion report from a real past visit, with the client’s details removed.
- Insurance. A current certificate of insurance that meets what your own insurer requires.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Can you show me a completion report from a real visit last winter?
- How does the crew record arrival and departure: on a phone at the site, or on paper afterwards?
- Do your photos carry the time and the place they were taken?
- How is salt or de-icer recorded: per site and per visit, or only as a total on the invoice?
- What happens when the crew has no cell signal, in a parkade or on a rural lot?
- How long do you keep records, and how fast can you produce them for a claim?
- Who do I call during a storm, and how will I hear if you are running behind?
Red flags
- Logs written up at the end of the night, or the end of the month.
- Photos with no time or place, or the same photo used for several visits.
- Salt that only appears as a seasonal total on the invoice.
- Reports that exist only “on request” and take weeks to arrive.
- No answer to “can you show me a real one?”
If you are the contractor reading this
Commercial clients ask for these records more every year, and the contractors who can show them keep their contracts. You can do it on paper: the free salt log template has the fields, and the storm communication templates cover the completion report.
Or let the crew’s phones do it. Icey Software records each visit as it happens (start and finish times, GPS, photos taken during the visit, and the material logged at the site) and turns every completed visit into a site report for your client, while salt amounts and crew notes stay in your own records. See how Icey records proof of service. The Free plan covers up to 5 operator seats and up to 15 active sites, with no card.
Frequently Asked Questions
What proof of service should a snow contractor provide?
For every visit: arrival and departure times, a GPS position at the property, before and after photos stamped with the time and place, what was done in each area, and the material applied. Many property managers receive a short completion report after each visit, while the contractor keeps the full record and produces it on request.
How long should a snow contractor keep service records?
At least as long as an injury claim could be brought where the property is, plus a margin. Limitation periods differ by province and state, so ask your insurer or lawyer, and write the period into the contract, including what happens after the contract ends.
Should salt amounts be on every report?
They don’t need to be. What matters is that the contractor logs the material at the site during each visit and can produce that log quickly when an insurer or adjuster asks. Put that duty in the contract.
Are paper logs good enough?
They can be, if they are filled in at the site during the visit and include the time, the work and the material. The weakness of paper is that it is easy to fill in later and hard to tie to a time and place. Photos stamped with the time and location close most of that gap.
Is a de-icing visit separate from a plowing visit?
It should be recorded as one. Ice often forms on nights with no snowfall, and a de-icing visit needs its own time, location, photos and material record, just like a plowing visit.
How Icey records proof of every visit
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