How should you respond when a client redlines your contract?

Work it through

You're the contractor. Pick what you'd do, then see how each choice plays out.

Patricia Huang

Corporate attorney who applies legal precision to everything, including her home renovation

Listen

1. AReview her modifications seriously. Negotiate the delay penalty to something reasonable with weather/force majeure exceptions. Discuss the insurance gap honestly. Accept the jurisdiction clause — it's fair for a contract this size
   Correct

   A client who redlines your contract is a client who takes the project seriously. $500/day liquidated damages is high but negotiable — offer $200/day with documented exceptions for weather, supply chain, and change orders. The $1M insurance ask is reasonable for a $65K project — consider upgrading your coverage (it's not that expensive and makes you competitive for larger jobs). Treating her modifications as a negotiation rather than an insult builds massive trust.

2. BTell her it's your standard contract or nothing — you're not running your contract past her legal team
   Terrible

   You just lost a $65,000 job and a client who would have been your most organized, well-documented, prompt-paying customer. Patricia doesn't modify contracts to be difficult — she does it because she understands risk. A contractor who refuses to negotiate terms on a $65K project signals either arrogance or something to hide. She'll find someone who takes the job seriously.

3. CAccept all her modifications without negotiation — she's a lawyer, she probably knows better
   Pushover

   Accepting $500/day in delay penalties without weather exceptions means one week of rain costs you $3,500. Patricia is negotiating for her interests — you need to negotiate for yours. That's not adversarial, it's professional. She'll actually respect you MORE for pushing back on unreasonable terms. A lawyer who sees a contractor accept one-sided terms wonders what else they're not paying attention to.