Fix stuff for free?

[Optimus Prime]

Is this kind of thing quite common? It's for a day rate contract.

2.2 provide the Services in a timely, efficient, competent, diligent, cost-effective, professional and reliable manner, using all reasonable skill and care and exercising the expertise expected of a qualified and experienced provider of such services;
2.3 provide the Services in accordance with those standards and methodologies as may be agreed with the Client, and in any event in accordance with Best Industry Practice and all applicable laws and regulations, and shall at all times take responsibility for the way in which the Services are performed;
2.4 remedy promptly and free of any charge any work carried out by the Consultant which it or the Consultant has been notified in writing is considered by the Client to have been performed in breach of Clauses 2.2 and 2.3, without prejudice to any other rights <The Agency> may have arising from such breach;

[eek]

I've seen that on fixed rate pieces of work (a consultancy I used to work for would accept such requests by charging 250% of their time and resources quote).

I wouldn't accept it on a day rate contract unless the day rate is sky high because unless there is other clauses in there regarding you controlling estimates, it means that they could suggest a piece of work takes 1 day instead of a week, you attempt to complete the work and spend the rest of the week "fixing" it for free.

[Wanderer]

Fix stuff for free?

It's not that uncommon and it's actually a good thing if you would like to be outside IR35. Read about the "Repair At Own Expense test" in HMRC's IR35 tests. As always, it does depend on this being a realistic expectation rather than a window dressing contract clause.

Regardless of IR35, I usually rectify my mistakes on my own time because it shows goodwill towards the client and that's just sound business.

[VectraMan]

I've had the same thing. It's the sort of thing that would never happen in reality; you'd have to monumentally screw something up for it to apply and then they're more likely to try to use the first clause as reason to get rid of you rather than let you loose on their systems again.

[thunderlizard]

I normally work on that basis. It's rare that I actually screw something up materially, that is entirely attributably my fault. On average it means I do about 1 or 2 hours per month free. Years ago I did a Saturday after a particularly embarassing muck-up. If anybody wanted to call you on something much more significant, the burden of proof on them would be so big that the free hours would be hardly worth it.

[Sockpuppet]

I've always wondered this. I've screwed stuff up in the past. We missed a new defect which went into a live system last Friday (mainly because the release notes didn't say this code has changed.....but I digress) so I had to do an 18 hour shift to rectify the screw up. Now ovbiously I don't get paid more for that but as all the e-mails flying round were the usualy politically correct tulip i.e. "we're having some issues and we're working hard to resolve them asap" rather than "sockpuppet ****ed up and we're invoking the bit in his contract that says he has to fix it for free, oh and you might want to print this for your IR35 records" how the heck do you prove you had to fix at own cost?

I have copies of the incident log that was raised, but lets face it it just says there was an issue. Not an issues that i had to fix.

[SueEllen]

Now ovbiously I don't get paid more for that but as all the e-mails flying round were the usualy politically correct tulip i.e. "we're having some issues and we're working hard to resolve them asap" rather than "sockpuppet ****ed up and we're invoking the bit in his contract that says he has to fix it for free, oh and you might want to print this for your IR35 records" how the heck do you prove you had to fix at own cost?
.

You can't.

Then there is the issue of how a company treats it's permies.

[Moscow Mule]

Charge them as usual, then issue a credit note for the time spent fixing your own cock up (Warranty refund or whatever). All on a verifiable audit trail in your records & theirs.

I've done this before where something was genuinely my fault rather than me being a victim of the clients process

[Taita]

Charge them as usual, then issue a credit note for the time spent fixing your own cock up (Warranty refund or whatever). All on a verifiable audit trail in your records & theirs.

I've done this before where something was genuinely my fault rather than me being a victim of the clients process

This seems very sensible to me and it emphasises genuine good business practice!

[Sockpuppet]

Charge them as usual, then issue a credit note for the time spent fixing your own cock up (Warranty refund or whatever). All on a verifiable audit trail in your records & theirs.

I've done this before where something was genuinely my fault rather than me being a victim of the clients process

That is a good point, though I have a self bill agreement. Ah tosh.