They sent me a contract to sign?

[DarrylMueller]

If you get a contract to sign remember one thing , it is only there to protect the writer of the contract. Don't sign unless you agree with it if you don't agree cross it out each item and initial each item. It is not uncommon for me to cross out almost the entire contract. I have seen contractors tied up like a pretzel because they did not read the fine print on a contract, and they could not get paid. Another thing if you do sign a contract you have a real good chance of becoming part of a faulty construction claim law suit.
Then there is little things that come up as extra work, if you don't get a signature on a extra work order chances are you will lose that money. I am talking about time, labor, materials and wear and tear on equipment. That is your profit.
Make up your own contract or purchase order that says what you are going to do. Make it plain and simple. This could work in most situations. If the other party questions, you can say that our work to be covered by your contract and should be done under a purchase order.
If the work does not have a soils report and boring logs then state that and you are bidding the work as clean dirt. If the job turns out to be a rock or water job then you have a change of conditions and get extra money. Stop and get that signed when it happens.
Contractors or sub-contractors work the reverse of most business. Let me put it like this. If you take you car for in service, or go to a Doctor you have to sign that you agree to pay for this work. In construction sub-contractors work the reverse. Or to put it another way, would the car service or the Doctor sign your contract for the service you want no. Then why should sub-contractors have to sign the other party's contract? When they, say we want you to sign our contract so we know what you are going to be doing, you can say read my purchase order, it says what I will be doing.