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Contractor Agreement

All governing documents: Terms of Service · Privacy Policy · Homeowner/Customer Terms · Contractor Agreement · Billing/Refund Terms · Founding Contractor Agreement · Non-Discrimination Policy

Effective Date: October 14, 2026  |  Version 1.0

This Contractor Agreement ("Agreement") is between HammerDuck LLC, a Georgia limited liability company ("HammerDuck") and the individual or business entity that registers a Contractor account on the HammerDuck platform ("Contractor," "you," or "your"). This Agreement supplements and is incorporated into the HammerDuck Terms of Service. If a Founding Contractor offer applies to your account, the Founding Contractor Agreement also applies and controls over this Agreement on the specific terms of that offer. By completing a Contractor business profile and ticking the acknowledgment described in Section 2, you agree to this Agreement.

1. Independent Business Relationship — Not Employment

HammerDuck is a connection marketplace. It is a lead-generation and communication platform through which independent home-service businesses find, bid on, and communicate with homeowners and other customers ("Customers") about residential projects. HammerDuck is not your employer, and this Agreement does not create an employment, agency, joint-venture, partnership, or franchise relationship of any kind. You are, and will hold yourself out as, an independent business. Nothing in this Agreement or in HammerDuck’s marketing, product copy, or the Founding Contractor badge is intended to, or does, create any right to direct or control the manner or method by which you perform work for a Customer.

You are solely responsible for your own business, credentials, licensing, insurance, contracts with Customers, taxes, the work you perform, and compliance with all applicable law. HammerDuck issues no tax forms to Contractors, withholds nothing from any payment, and never pays a Contractor anything; a Contractor’s only payment relationship with HammerDuck is Contractor’s own payment of membership fees to HammerDuck through Stripe, as described in the Billing/Refund Terms.

2. Required Acknowledgment

Before you can save a business profile or place a bid, you must affirmatively check the following acknowledgment, which is a material term of this Agreement: "I understand that HammerDuck is a connection marketplace and is not my employer, contractor, agent, insurer, guarantor, or representative. I am responsible for my business, credentials, licensing, insurance, contracts, taxes, work, and legal compliance." You must also self-certify that the licensing and insurance information you enter into your profile is accurate.

3. Worker-Classification Analysis — Georgia and South Carolina

HammerDuck operates in the Central Savannah River Area, serving both Georgia and South Carolina counties, and Contractors may work on both sides of the state line. This Section states, and this Agreement is drafted to preserve, the specific facts of the HammerDuck–Contractor relationship that support independent-contractor status under both states’ legal standards. A companion Georgia Home-Service Marketplace Contractor Classification Guide, provided to HammerDuck separately, sets out the full legal analysis; this Section summarizes the operative facts and the contractual commitments that keep those facts true as the Platform evolves.

3.1 Georgia Standard

Georgia’s general common-law test derives from O.C.G.A. § 51-2-4 ("An employer generally is not responsible for torts committed by his employee when the employee exercises an independent business and in it is not subject to the immediate direction and control of the employer"). Georgia’s Court of Appeals has consistently articulated the operative test as: "whether the contract gives, or the employer assumes, the right to control the time, manner and method of executing the work, as distinguished from the right merely to require certain definite results in conformity to the contract." Cajun Contractors, Inc. v. Peachtree Prop. Sub, LLC, 360 Ga. App. 390, 861 S.E.2d 222 (2021); accord Estes v. G&W Carriers, LLC, 354 Ga. App. 156, 840 S.E.2d 486 (2020). Where the putative employer reserves only the right to insist on a particular outcome — not the time, manner, and method of reaching it — the worker is an independent contractor.

3.2 South Carolina Standard

South Carolina likewise applies a common-law right-of-control test, applied under the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act (S.C. Code Ann. § 42-1-130 et seq.). "[T]he determination of whether a claimant is an employee or independent contractor focuses on the issue of control, specifically whether the purported employer had the right to control the claimant in the performance of his work." Wilkinson ex rel. Wilkinson v. Palmetto State Transp. Co., 382 S.C. 295, 299, 676 S.E.2d 700, 702 (2009). South Carolina courts examine four factors: "(1) direct evidence of the right or exercise of control; (2) furnishing of equipment; (3) method of payment; (4) right to fire." Id.; Ferguson v. New Hampshire Ins. Co., 412 S.C. 203, 771 S.E.2d 851 (S.C. Ct. App. 2015). Ferguson is directly instructive here: the South Carolina Court of Appeals held that eMove — an internet marketplace matching U-Haul renters with independent local moving help, structured much like HammerDuck — was neither the statutory employer nor the common-law employer of a mover who used the platform, because eMove did not control how the mover performed the job, did not furnish equipment, paid the mover through the marketplace mechanism rather than a wage, and neither party was bound to work with the other again. The analysis is structurally similar to Georgia’s but is applied independently by South Carolina courts, so this Agreement is drafted to satisfy both states’ factors on their own terms rather than assuming Georgia compliance transfers automatically.

3.3 Facts of the HammerDuck Relationship Supporting Independent-Contractor Status

The following facts, true of the Platform as built and which this Agreement obligates HammerDuck and Contractor to preserve, support independent-contractor status under both states’ control-and-payment factors:

HammerDuck has deliberately not built, and will provide notice under Section 3.4 before building, any feature that would shift this analysis, including: HammerDuck holding, escrowing, or disbursing payment for the underlying work; performance-based ranking or "featured" placement tied to price, speed, or ratings beyond neutral trade-and-county matching; dispatching or assigning Contractors to specific projects; requiring minimum response times; or HammerDuck setting or approving Contractor pricing.

3.4 Change Control

If HammerDuck is considering a product change identified in the Classification Guide as one that would affect this analysis, HammerDuck will consult Georgia and South Carolina counsel before launching that change. Nothing in this Section limits HammerDuck’s ability to operate and improve the Platform generally; it applies specifically to the change-sensitive features identified in the Classification Guide.

4. Business Profile; Representations and Warranties

Before bidding, you must complete a business profile stating your business name, primary trade and any additional trades, the counties you serve (limited to the eighteen counties HammerDuck currently serves, as published on the Platform), years in business, website, bio, tagline, license status ("Not required for my work," "Licensed," "Not licensed," or "Pending / in process," as applicable) and license number if you choose to provide one, insurance status ("Insured," "Not currently insured," or "Pending / in process," as applicable), and, optionally, a Google Business Profile link, portfolio photos, and references. You represent and warrant that: all information in your profile is true, accurate, and current; you hold, and will maintain, any license required by Georgia or South Carolina law, or by the applicable county or municipality, for the trade(s) and location(s) in which you bid and work; you carry insurance appropriate to your trade, or you have accurately represented that you do not; you will obtain any permit required for a project before beginning work that requires one; and you will comply with all applicable licensing, safety, employment, and tax law with respect to your own business, employees, subcontractors, and helpers. HammerDuck does not verify any representation in this Section and relies on you to keep your profile accurate; you agree to update your profile promptly if your license or insurance status changes.

If you link a Google Business Profile, you represent that the profile is genuinely yours and consent to HammerDuck displaying the associated public rating and review count as described in the Terms of Service.

Home inspection services. If you offer home inspection as a trade, you further represent and acknowledge that: (a) in South Carolina, home inspection is a licensed occupation regulated by the South Carolina Residential Builders Commission (S.C. Code Ann. § 40-59-500 et seq.), and South Carolina law prohibits a home inspector from performing work or improvements on a residence on which the inspector performed a home inspection within the previous twelve months (S.C. Code Ann. § 40-59-580(A)(7)); any repair or improvement work you offer requires its own residential builder or specialty contractor license, as applicable; (b) Georgia does not currently license home inspectors at the state level, but Georgia law requires you to provide the person for whom the inspection is performed a written statement of the scope of the inspection, that the inspection is a visual inspection, and written notice of any defects found together with any recommendation that specialists be retained (O.C.G.A. § 8-3-330 et seq.), and local business licensing or occupational tax requirements may apply; (c) you are solely responsible for determining and holding every license, registration, and certification that each service you offer requires in each jurisdiction in which you offer it, and for complying with any restriction on inspecting and repairing the same property; and (d) HammerDuck does not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for your license or license status, and the availability of a "Home Inspection" category on the Platform is not a representation by HammerDuck that any Contractor holds a license or that any service is lawful for a particular Contractor to perform. The responsibilities in this paragraph apply to every service category; they are stated here for home inspection because the rules differ between Georgia and South Carolina.

5. Membership and Bidding

Your ability to bid on projects depends on holding an active membership (trial, paid, Founding, or fee-waived) and on the open-bid limit, both described in the Billing/Refund Terms, which are incorporated into this Agreement by reference. This Agreement does not restate those mechanics; where this Agreement and the Billing/Refund Terms both speak to billing, cancellation, or bidding limits, the Billing/Refund Terms control. The trades and counties on your business profile decide which new-job alerts you receive, and you can turn those alerts off at any time from the Account card.

6. Use of Customer Contact Information

A Customer’s private contact information (name, street address, phone number, and e-mail) becomes visible to you only as described in the Terms of Service, and only in connection with the specific project for which it was disclosed. You agree to use a Customer’s contact information solely to communicate about that project, and not to: add the Customer to a marketing list; resell, share, or otherwise disclose the Customer’s information to a third party; or contact the Customer about any other service or business opportunity without the Customer’s separate consent. You are solely responsible, as the initiator of any call, text, or visit to a Customer, for your own compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and any other law governing such contact.

7. Scheduling and Site Visits

Site visits, measuring visits, and start-of-work dates are proposed and confirmed through the Platform as described in the Terms of Service. You are solely responsible for showing up to a confirmed visit or promptly rescheduling; HammerDuck does not dispatch you, does not guarantee a Customer will be present, and is not a party to the appointment.

8. Reviews

A Customer who has accepted your bid may leave one rating and optional review of your work on that project. You may post one public reply to a review and may not alter, delete, or attempt to have HammerDuck remove a review except as described in the Terms of Service. You agree not to offer any Customer an incentive, discount, or other benefit in exchange for a review, and not to condition any part of your performance on the Customer leaving, editing, or removing a review.

9. Portfolio Content and References

If you upload portfolio photos or references, you represent and warrant that: for any photo taken at a Customer’s property, you have that Customer’s consent to use the photo on your HammerDuck profile; no photo shows an identifiable minor without a parent or guardian’s consent; and any person you list as a reference has consented to be listed, together with the contact information and project description shown.

10. Prohibited Conduct

In addition to the prohibited conduct described in the Terms of Service, you agree not to: discriminate against a Customer on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by the Terms of Service’s non-discrimination standard or by applicable law; engage in unsafe conduct while performing work sourced through the Platform; or misrepresent your license, insurance, or business status in any communication with a Customer.

11. Suspension and Termination

HammerDuck may suspend or terminate your Contractor account for cause, including fraud, harassment, discrimination, repeated violation of this Agreement or the Terms of Service, unsafe conduct, illegal activity, or non-payment following the grace periods described in the Billing/Refund Terms. Except where HammerDuck reasonably believes the conduct involves fraud, a safety threat, or illegal activity — in which case HammerDuck may suspend immediately pending investigation — HammerDuck will notify you by e-mail of the basis for a proposed suspension or termination and give you an opportunity to respond before final action, and you may appeal a completed suspension or termination by e-mailing customerservice@hammerduck.com. You may close your account voluntarily at any time as described in the Billing/Refund Terms.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HammerDuck and its owner from any claim, loss, liability, damage, and expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to: the work you perform or agree to perform for any Customer; any claim that you are misclassified as an independent contractor by a third party (other than a claim arising solely from HammerDuck’s breach of Section 3 of this Agreement); your licensing, insurance, permits, or workmanship; your relationship with your own employees, subcontractors, or helpers; and your breach of this Agreement.

13. Disclaimers; Limitation of Liability

The disclaimers and limitation of liability in the Terms of Service apply to this Agreement and are incorporated by reference. HammerDuck does not warrant your business results, the volume of leads or bids you receive, or any Customer’s decision to hire you.

14. Dispute Resolution; Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, and disputes are subject to the dispute-resolution, governing-law, and venue provisions of the Terms of Service.

15. Miscellaneous

This Agreement, together with the Terms of Service, the Founding Contractor Agreement (if applicable), the Privacy Policy, and the Billing/Refund Terms, is the entire agreement between you and HammerDuck regarding your Contractor account. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. This Agreement may be updated as described in the Terms of Service.