Commercial Annual Service Agreements: Scope, Terms and Renewal Mechanics
An annual service agreement is a multi-season contract that locks pricing, prioritizes install scheduling, and bundles install, mid-season service, removal and storage into one scope. We write one-year and multi-year commercial agreements.
Most commercial properties in West Michigan that light every year end up on a service agreement for a simple reason: it removes the fall vendor scramble. This page explains what an agreement actually locks, what is in the scope, how renewal and rate adjustments work, and when an agreement is the wrong tool.
What a service agreement actually locks
Three things. The install date, the scope, and the pricing basis for the term.
The install date is the asset. Contracted properties go on the route before public booking opens, which is the only reliable way to guarantee a position inside the install window. The scope is the second thing locked: the design, the linear footage, the product, the service terms and the takedown and storage terms are all fixed at signing, so there is nothing to renegotiate every September. The pricing basis is the third. The agreement states what the property pays for the term and how any adjustment at renewal is handled, so the number is known before the season starts rather than discovered in October.
For a West Michigan property the single most valuable line in a service agreement is the install date. The lake does not negotiate. An agreement signed in summer puts your property on the route before public booking opens, which is the only reliable way to guarantee a pre-freeze install on a lakeshore or Grand Rapids commercial site.
Scope line items
A commercial service agreement should read like a complete season, not an install day. The line items we write are:
Design and documentation. The approved design, photographed and recorded, so the same display goes up each year and a refresh is a deliberate decision rather than an accident.
Product. Commercial-grade LED custom-cut to the roofline and frontage, with the property's product stored and reused season over season. Whether the property owns the product is stated in the agreement.
Install on a locked date, with overnight or off-hours windows where tenants or customers require it.
Mid-season service. The line item most proposals skip. Any section that fails during the season is repaired as part of the agreement, with priority response for contracted commercial accounts.
Removal. Takedown begins the second week of January once roofs are walkable and wraps in February. In-season service runs through every ice storm and polar vortex week in between, and the takedown is built into the contract, not quoted separately when you have no leverage.
Storage. Off-season storage of the property's product, inventoried, so the next season starts from a known kit rather than a box of unknowns.
Billing. Direct to the property management company, ownership entity or HOA board, with Net-30 available for qualified accounts, and one invoice for multi-property portfolios.
Renewal and rate-adjustment mechanics
A good agreement makes renewal boring. The term is stated. The renewal date is stated. Whether the agreement renews automatically or requires a signature is stated. And any rate adjustment at renewal is described in the agreement at signing, not introduced in a renewal letter.
Design refresh is handled the same way. The default is the same display as last season. A property that wants to add a building, extend the frontage or change the palette does that as a documented change to the scope, with the pricing effect shown before anyone signs.
Most of our Michigan commercial agreements renew in late winter, right after takedown, when the property manager has the season fresh in mind and the design refresh conversation is easy to have. Multi-property firms operating across Kent, Ottawa, Kalamazoo and Ingham counties can consolidate every site under one agreement with one invoice.
When a service agreement does not fit
An agreement is the wrong tool for a property that is not sure it will light next year, or for a building that is about to change in a way the scope cannot follow.
A single small storefront in Rockford or Zeeland that wants roofline lights for one season and is not sure about next year is better served by a one-season scope. A property that changes ownership or management often, or a site with a major renovation planned, should also wait rather than lock a multi-year term around a building that is about to change.
In those cases we write a one-season scope with the same service, takedown and storage terms, and the property decides about an agreement after it has seen a full season.
Want to see what an agreement looks like for your property? Request a commercial site walk or call (877) 645-4484. Related: when a commercial property should book and our commercial lighting overview.
Service Agreement Questions
- A multi-season contract that locks the install date, the scope and the pricing basis for the term, and bundles design, product, install, mid-season service, removal and storage into one document and one number.
- One-year and multi-year commercial agreements. Multi-year terms are the common choice for properties that light every season and want a locked install date and a stable scope, and multi-property discounts are available for portfolio clients.
- Yes. Contracted properties in West Michigan are placed on the route before public booking opens, which is the only reliable way to guarantee a position inside the install window.
- The agreement states the term, the renewal date, whether it renews automatically or by signature, and how any rate adjustment is handled. None of that is introduced in a renewal letter. The default design is the same as last season, and any change is documented with its pricing effect before signing.
- Yes. Any section that fails during the season is repaired as part of the agreement, with priority response for contracted commercial accounts. It is the line item cheaper proposals most often leave out.
- The agreement states it. Product that is stored and reused season over season is inventoried at takedown, so each season starts from a known kit.
- Yes. Multi-property portfolios can be consolidated under one agreement with one invoice to the property management company or ownership entity.
- When the property is not sure it will light next year, when a sale, management change or major renovation is on the horizon, or when the property is seriously considering a permanent architectural system instead. In those cases a one-season scope is the better tool.