A landscaping scope of work is the written baseline of a project: it names the project description, itemized tasks, materials and specs, timeline, permits, responsibilities, and acceptance criteria. Anchor it to ASLA contract guidance and a standard specification format, and every bid and change order becomes measurable.
TL;DR:
- Every task should include a measurable quantity and unit, while plant names, container sizes, and material depths replace vague descriptions.
- Assign approval authority and price supplemental work before bidding; the landscape architect may review payments but cannot authorize changes alone.
- Require signed change orders before extras begin, with added work, price adjustment, and schedule effect recorded; verbal agreements are difficult to enforce.
- Cite the specification section and edition, attach relevant exhibits, and state which document controls conflicts; check local requirements before reusing another jurisdiction’s clauses.
- Sequence milestones around dependencies, assign permits, access, waste, and safety responsibilities, and date every quantity and price revision to prevent outdated exhibits from driving bids.
Table of Contents
- What a landscaping scope of work does and how it differs from a proposal or contract
- What to include in the scope of work: tasks, deliverables, and measurement units
- Assigning responsibilities, payments, and change orders
- Standards and specification formats to cite in your scope of work
- Schedules, permits, site access, and safety items to include
- Copy-ready scope of work template and review checklist
- Why we insist on written change orders and versioned exhibits
- Turning your design into itemized scope inputs with Veete
- FAQ
- Sources
What a landscaping scope of work does and how it differs from a proposal or contract
A scope of work is the part of your project paperwork that answers one question: what exactly will be built, planted, and handed over? It sits between the creative pitch and the legal terms. Everyone who prices, builds, or approves the work reads it, so vague wording here becomes a dispute later.
These documents get confused often, so separate them early:
- Design proposal: pitches the look and concept of the project, usually with sketches and a fee. It persuades; it does not bind anyone to specific quantities.
- Scope of work: lists tasks, materials, quantities, deliverables, and schedule in measurable terms. It is the technical core that bidders price from.
- Contract: adds the legal frame (parties, insurance, payment terms, remedies) and usually attaches the scope as an exhibit.
Ownership depends on the delivery method. In design-bid-build, the design group typically writes the scope and the owner signs it before bidding. In design-build, the contractor often drafts it alongside the design. With a construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC), the construction manager helps refine it before pricing locks in.
ASLA guidance stresses that responsibilities among the design group, client, and contractor should be clearly defined, and that services outside the basic scope should be listed as supplemental services so they can be priced separately.
What to include in the scope of work: tasks, deliverables, and measurement units
Start with an overview paragraph that sets the baseline. State the site address, the purpose of the project, and the outcome you want, such as "replace a failing lawn with drought-tolerant planting beds and a paver patio." Everything later is measured against this paragraph, so write it as if a stranger will have to settle an argument with it.
Next, break the work into trades and give each task a unit. Bidders can only compare prices when they count the same things. Sample contract language commonly opens with a catch-all obligation, such as the contractor shall provide all labor, materials, and equipment, and then lists the specific tasks that follow from it.
Typical task lists by trade:
- Site preparation: clearing and grubbing (square feet), sod removal (square feet), protection of existing trees (each), utility locates (lump sum).
- Grading and drainage: rough and finish grading (square feet), subsurface drain lines (linear feet), compaction requirements stated by depth.
- Planting: trees (each, with caliper), shrubs (each, with container size), groundcover (square feet or flats), topsoil (cubic yards, with depth), mulch (cubic yards, with depth).
- Irrigation: zones (each), drip line (linear feet), controller and backflow device (each), system testing.
- Hardscape: paver area (square feet), base material (cubic yards or tons, with depth), edge restraint (linear feet), retaining walls (face feet).
Materials need specifications, not adjectives. List plants by botanical name and size, such as Acer rubrum at a specified caliper, rather than "a red maple." State depths as numbers: 3 to 4 inches of mulch, 4 to 6 inches of topsoil, and a compacted paver base thickness. Our guide on a landscape material list with 3 to 4 inches of mulch shows how depth and area turn into ordering quantities, which is exactly the arithmetic a bidder repeats.
Short projects can stay short. A municipal example, Attachment B, treats installation of plant material and mulch as the complete scope, which shows a single-purpose job does not need pages of boilerplate.
Finally, list deliverables. These are things the owner receives: planting plans, irrigation as-built drawings, product warranties, maintenance instructions, and a final cleanup of the site. Reference attached spec sections by number instead of retyping them, so the scope stays readable and the details live in one place.
Pro Tip: Write every quantity with a unit and a depth or size, then ask a colleague to count the line items. If two people would price the same line differently, rewrite it.
Assigning responsibilities, payments, and change orders
Scope disputes often arise over who decides, who pays for extras, and how work gets accepted. Close each gap in writing.
- Define roles. Name the owner, the design group, and the contractor, and state what each approves. ASLA notes the landscape architect often serves as a limited client representative who can review and approve payments but cannot unilaterally authorize changes.
- List supplemental services. Anything outside the baseline, such as extra site visits, redesign after approval, or soil testing beyond the stated count, gets a unit rate or hourly rate before work starts.
- Tie payments to progress. Use milestones such as mobilization, rough grading complete, planting complete, and final acceptance. Require a pay request with a quantity breakdown and photos. For help turning quantities into fair line prices, see our guide to pricing landscaping services like a pro estimator and our look at landscaping labor rates.
- Require written change orders. State that no extra work begins until a signed change order lists the added or removed work, the price adjustment, and the schedule impact.
- Define acceptance. Describe inspections, a punch list, a correction window, and a final sign-off that releases retainage.
Why the written rule matters: practitioners in construction law note that verbal change orders are essentially unenforceable, which leaves both the owner and the contractor arguing over memory instead of paper.
Standards and specification formats to cite in your scope of work
A scope that points to a recognized specification format inherits its structure, its standard paragraphs, and its habit of leaving no trade unassigned. In the UK, the Preston and South Ribble landscape specification follows CAWS/NBS arrangement, and it shows how standardized work sections reduce ambiguity across trades. In North America, public agencies often use numbered divisions for the same purpose.
Municipal specifications are also a rich source of enforceable detail. The City of Riverside landscape specifications, for example, break the work into numbered sections such as irrigation 32 80 00 and planting 32 90 00, and they include prescriptive requirements on uniform coverage, backflow protection, spacing, and subsurface drainage. You can cite a section like that instead of paraphrasing it.
How to use standards well:
- Cite the section number and edition date so nobody argues about which version applies.
- Attach the relevant sections as an exhibit rather than quoting fragments, and state which one controls if the scope and the spec disagree.
- Match the spec to the jurisdiction. A clause written for one city may not fit another, so confirm local requirements before copying.
- Reference qualifications where they matter. Industry bodies publish credentials such as Landscape Industry Certified, which some scopes name in prequalification sections to verify contractor competence.
- Keep ASLA exhibits together. ASLA's standard form recommends attaching the owner program, scope of services, supplemental services, schedule, and fee schedules, because the more specifically the scope is described at signing, the lower the chance of later misunderstanding.
Schedules, permits, site access, and safety items to include
Put time and place in writing. A schedule with no milestones is a wish, and a scope that ignores site logistics will surface them as change orders.
Milestones and timing:
- Milestone list: notice to proceed, utility locates complete, rough grading, irrigation pressure test, hardscape complete, planting complete, final inspection, and substantial completion.
- Float and critical path: note which tasks cannot slip, such as irrigation tests that must precede sodding, and how many days of float the rest carry.
- Seasonal limits: state planting windows and what happens when weather closes them. Public scopes often add seasonal considerations and controller adjustments as explicit tasks.
Permits and approvals:
- Name each permit (grading, tree removal, right-of-way, stormwater) and say who applies, who pays, and who posts the notice on site.
Site access and safety:
- Access and staging: gates, hours, where materials and equipment sit, and who protects neighboring property.
- Traffic and erosion control: barricades, flaggers if needed, silt fencing, and inlet protection.
- Waste: state who hauls debris, where soil goes, and what documentation is required. A construction waste management template is a handy model for the wording.
- Safety rules: protective equipment, locked equipment overnight, and a named person responsible for site safety.
Copy-ready scope of work template and review checklist
Paste the sample below into your document and replace the bracketed-free details with your own site facts. It is deliberately compact, so adapt the units and depths to your project.
Sample scope of work excerpt
Project summary: Replace the existing lawn at the property with planting beds and a paver patio, per the attached drawings.
Tasks: Remove sod and dispose off site. Rough and finish grade to drain away from the structure. Install 4 inches of compacted paver base, bedding course, and pavers with edge restraint. Install drip irrigation in all beds. Plant trees, shrubs, and groundcover per the plant schedule. Apply 3 inches of mulch.
Materials: All plants as listed by botanical name and container size in Exhibit A. Topsoil and mulch as specified in Exhibit B.
Milestones: Demolition complete, hardscape complete, irrigation tested, planting complete, final inspection.
Acceptance: Work is accepted when the owner and design group sign the punch list as closed and the maintenance instructions are delivered.
Review checklist
- Does the project summary state the site, purpose, and outcome?
- Does every task have a unit and a quantity?
- Are plants listed by botanical name and size?
- Are depths stated for mulch, topsoil, and base?
- Are deliverables named?
- Are permits assigned to a party?
- Are milestones dated or sequenced?
- Are site access and staging described?
- Is waste disposal assigned?
- Are supplemental services priced?
- Is the change-order rule written?
- Are acceptance and punch-list steps defined?
| Document to attach | What it holds | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Drawings | Layout, grading, planting plan | Design group |
| Spec exhibits | Section-numbered requirements | Design group |
| Schedule | Milestones and float | Contractor |
| Fee and supplemental rate sheet | Unit and hourly rates | Owner and contractor |
Why we insist on written change orders and versioned exhibits
Having read a lot of scopes, the most expensive mistake is the cheerful verbal "sure, add that." It feels friendly in the moment, and it is the single clause most likely to turn a good job into a dispute, because nobody can prove what was agreed. Insist on a signed change order every time, even for small items, and make it a habit on both sides.
The second habit is quieter: keep quantities and prices in one versioned exhibit, and label every revision with a date. When a bed grows, the mulch, soil, plant count, and labor all move together, and a stale spreadsheet is how they drift apart.
Pro Tip: Name exhibits like "Quantities v3, dated" and list which version the contract references, so nobody prices from an old copy.
— Rokas
Turning your design into itemized scope inputs with Veete
Once the design is settled, the slow part is counting. Our 3D planner lets you lay out beds, lawns, paving, planting, fencing, and structures, and it prices every object as you draw. Because pricing stays linked to each object, a design change updates quantities and costs automatically, so your scope exhibits do not drift out of sync with the plan. You can export plans and shopping lists to attach to a scope of work or a bid package, and you can set your own supplier rates.
You can try it on the Free plan, and the Home plan runs 6 EUR per month or 48 EUR per year. Compare plans on our pricing page and start your first itemized plan today.
FAQ
What is an example of a scope of work in landscaping?
A short example is "install plant material and mulch at the listed locations," which one municipality uses as the entire scope for a single-purpose project. Larger projects add tasks by trade, quantities, specs, and milestones, as in the template above.
Where should I put the scope of work in a landscaping contract?
Attach it as an exhibit to the contract and reference it by name. ASLA recommends attaching project-specific information, including the scope of services and schedule, as exhibits so the scope stays specific and easy to update.
What is the difference between a scope of work and a proposal?
A proposal pitches the design concept and fee, while the scope of work lists measurable tasks, materials, and deliverables that bidders price from. The contract then makes the scope legally binding.
Do I need written change orders for small extras?
Yes. Even small extras should be written down with the price and schedule effect, because verbal agreements are hard to enforce and easy to remember differently.
Sources
- Asla
- CITY OF RIVERSIDE
- Preston and South Ribble FRMS Landscape Specification
- 1. CONTRACTOR shall provide all labor, materials, equ