Handyman Terms & Conditions
Effective: June 2025 | Incorporated: Delaware | Operations: Arizona, expanding nationwide | Updated: September 2026
Welcome to Ohana Helps. You chose self-employment because you are good at what you do and you want the freedom to prove it. We built this platform to maximize that. We procure the customers. We handle quoting, scheduling, payment processing, documentation, and marketing. You show up, do great work, and get paid. That is the deal. Read these terms so you understand exactly what we expect, what you get in return, and how to make this work as well as possible for you.
1. What You Are — Independent Contractor
Ohana Helps is a marketplace platform. We connect you with customers who need your services. We take a platform fee from each appointment in exchange for procuring that customer and providing the infrastructure you need to run your business. That is the full extent of our relationship. We are not your employer. We are not your supervisor. We are not your liability shield. By accepting these terms you acknowledge: • You are a 1099 Independent Contractor — not an employee, partner, or agent of Ohana Helps • Ohana Helps does not direct, supervise, or control how you perform your work • You are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, tools, transportation, and every business decision • You guarantee and warranty your own work — Ohana Helps makes no warranties on your behalf and has no liability for your work • All responsibility for work quality, property damage, safety, legal compliance, and warranty obligations rests entirely with you from the moment you claim a job through the end of the applicable warranty period You are a self-employed professional. Own it. Everything that comes with it — the freedom and the responsibility — is yours.
2. What You Get — Why This Platform Is Worth It
Our average vendor working 7 or more appointments per week earns more than $70,000 per year. Several of our vendors earn over $100,000 per year using Ohana Helps as their full business infrastructure — quoting, scheduling, payment, documentation, and marketing all in one place. No other platform gives independent service professionals this. Most self-employed handymen are running their business blind — no terms and conditions, no payment guarantee, no documentation, no protection from bad customers. Here is what you get the moment you join: • AI-powered instant quoting from 13,000+ past jobs — customers arrive with accurate expectations • Timestamped before and after photos on every job — your protection in every dispute • A card on file for every customer before anyone shows up — you will get paid • Stripe payment processing — paid at job completion, directly to your account • Your own custom landing page — drive your own traffic and earn more per hour when you do • Monthly subscriber customers — recurring income you could never build alone • A leaderboard that rewards the best performers with more visibility and priority • A platform that holds customers accountable as firmly as it holds vendors accountable • Terms and conditions, arbitration, and enforcement infrastructure most handymen never have In return, we expect you to step up. We are not a platform for everyone. We are a platform for professionals.
3. Eligibility and Onboarding
• Pass a full background check satisfactory to Ohana Helps • Maintain active general liability insurance at all times • Provide valid government-issued ID and SSN or EIN for 1099 tax reporting • Complete all required Ohana Helps platform training before accepting your first job • Maintain a professional appearance — not a suit, but clearly a professional • Never arrive at a job site smelling of alcohol or cigarettes
4. Claiming Appointments — Get Off the Sidelines
We run ads. We pay for everything. Customers are here booking real appointments. Your job is to claim them and carry them out professionally. • Claim any appointment within 5 minutes of availability — speed is tracked and rewarded on the leaderboard • Minimum 4 appointments per month to maintain active status • Minimum 1 appointment per week on average — below this and you will be reviewed for removal The leaderboard rewards the fastest claimers, highest-rated vendors, and most consistent performers. This is a meritocracy. The best handymen win. On cherry-picking: You cannot selectively claim only large jobs. If you claim a big job, you are held to a higher standard. Big jobs are our top customers — VIPs. We monitor every large job closely. We expect five-star performance and a five-star review on every one. Fail them and you fail us.
5. How to Carry Out Every Appointment — The Standard
The golden rule: Ask for permission, never forgiveness. Before doing anything beyond the original scope — anything — ask the customer first. Before you arrive: • Review all job details in the platform • If you will be late, update the system and notify the customer within 10 minutes of knowing — not after the fact • If your first appointment runs over, call the next customer immediately and update the platform • Never leave a customer in the dark — communicate proactively, always When you arrive: • Arrive on time. This is not negotiable. • Assess the job thoroughly before starting • If the job will go over the estimate, tell the customer BEFORE you proceed • If the scope has changed, get explicit approval before expanding it • If work is outside your capability or the exemption threshold, say so immediately — do not attempt it During the job: • The timer runs from platform check-in to platform check-out — accurately • The first hour is the minimum call — be fully productive the entire time • After the first hour, time is billed in 15-minute increments for as long as the job takes • Every update, every change, every communication goes through the system and is timestamped Our average job is three hours. If yours is routinely going much longer on standard tasks, that is a conversation we will have. If it runs shorter, that is fine — the customer pays for actual time and gets fair value.
6. Materials — How It Works, Zero Exceptions
You never front materials. You never accept cash or any direct payment from a customer for any reason. All money flows through the platform. This is non-negotiable. Violation results in immediate permanent removal. When a job requires materials: • Assess what is needed and communicate with the customer before leaving • Go to any major supplier — Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, Floor and Decor, Sprinkler World, or similar • Call the customer from the store — they authorize and pay directly via phone sale. Most major retailers are used to this with contractors. • You bring the materials back. The customer has their receipt. You never handled their money. • The timer runs for reasonable material travel time — be expeditious This protects you — you never risk not being reimbursed. This protects the customer — their payment information stays secure. ZERO TOLERANCE: No cash. No direct payment. No card holding. No Venmo. No Zelle. Nothing outside the platform. If we discover money changed hands outside the system, you are removed immediately and permanently.
7. How Your Pay Works — The Claim Fee and Split
Understanding your compensation structure is essential. Here is exactly how it works: THE CLAIM FEE / PREPAID FIRST-HOUR SPLIT: When a customer books an appointment onto your calendar, the normal claim fee is Ohana Helps' prepaid 40% split of the customer's first billed hour for that appointment. It is your skin in the game for the scheduled commitment and Ohana's prepaid first-hour platform share. The customer's actual first-hour rate controls. If an applicable Premium Hours percentage raises the customer's hourly rate, the prepaid split rises with it. If an applicable percentage promo reduces the customer's labor rate, the standard prepaid split follows that customer rate. Existing maintenance-plan, gift-credit, admin-waiver, and other specifically approved exceptions are handled automatically by the platform. This is not escrow and it is not a second charge added to the customer's bill. Existing cancellation/refund rules still apply where the policy specifically provides for a refund or void. THE FIRST HOUR: At job completion, you receive the full first billed hour from the customer payment because Ohana's share of that hour was already collected through the prepaid split. THE SPLIT AFTER THE FIRST HOUR: Additional eligible labor is split 60% to you / 40% to Ohana in 15-minute billing increments. The same rule applies to the appointment's actual quoted hourly rate. Premium Hours does not create a second payout formula. REFERRAL COMPENSATION: Referral-partner compensation is separate from the service split and is paid from Ohana's side under the existing referral-program percentages. If you are the properly attributed referral partner for your own customer, you may receive both your service earnings and your separate referral compensation. Customer promo discounts still follow the promo rules attached to that booking. VIDEO HELP: Video Help remains the separate 50% / 50% service split because there is no field-service travel. STRIPE PROCESSING FEES: As an independent contractor on a Stripe Standard account, you are responsible for your own Stripe payment processing fees. These fees are deducted automatically by Stripe from your payouts. This is standard for self-employed professionals processing payments through Stripe and is part of the cost of running your own business. Stripe will provide you with full transaction records and your 1099-K directly — you do not need to request tax documentation from Ohana Helps. TAX REPORTING: Because you are operating on a Stripe Standard account, Stripe issues your 1099-K tax form directly to you based on your payment volume. Ohana Helps does not issue 1099 forms to vendors. It is your responsibility to maintain accurate records and comply with all federal, state, and local tax obligations. Consult a tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.
7A. Premium Hours — You Control When You Are Available
You set your own working days, working hours, calendar availability, and minimum booking notice as an independent professional. Ohana Helps does not require you to work evenings, weekends, overnight, or short-notice appointments. When you choose to make yourself available during premium periods, the customer pays the single highest premium that applies to that appointment: • Weekend daytime — Saturday or Sunday, 7:00 AM through 5:59 PM: +10% • Evening — 6:00 PM through 8:59 PM: +10% • Same-day with at least 6 but less than 12 hours notice: +15% • Urgent — less than 6 hours notice: +20% • Overnight / late night — 9:00 PM through 6:59 AM: +25% • Immediate — less than 2 hours notice: +35% PREMIUMS DO NOT STACK. If more than one condition applies, only the single highest premium is used. HOW PREMIUM HOURS CHANGES THE RATE: Premium Hours changes the customer's hourly labor rate for that appointment. It does not create a separate premium payout bucket. Once the applicable percentage is added, the resulting customer hourly rate is the rate used by the normal appointment economics. For example, if a local market rate is $100/hour and an urgent +20% tier applies, the customer rate is $120/hour. The normal prepaid first-hour split, first-hour payout, later 60/40 split, and any valid percentage-based referral compensation all use the applicable customer labor amount under their existing rules. Because the rule is percentage-based, it scales automatically when Ohana operates in a market with a different base hourly rate. Premium pricing never bypasses your schedule or calendar. Customers can only book you when the appointment fits the services, service area, working hours, minimum notice, calendar availability, and other eligibility settings you maintain. Keep those settings accurate. Referral and Strategic Partner compensation, where applicable, is calculated separately under the partner program rules using eligible collected labor revenue. Discounts, credits, refunds, chargebacks, warranty/free work, and other exclusions continue to apply under their existing rules.
8. Closing Out Every Job — No Exceptions
Before you leave any job site, every single time, you must complete all of the following: • Upload before and after photos — multiple, real, clearly documenting the work — through the platform immediately • Stop the timer accurately when work is complete • Get the customer's sign-off on the job • Collect payment before leaving in all standard situations • If there is a genuine comeback situation (e.g., drywall mud drying mid-job), document it clearly, schedule the comeback visit before leaving, and collect payment at the final visit Photos are your protection. They are the truth on record. Take them every single job, every warranty call, every comeback visit. Do not skip this. Reviews: Minimum one review per four jobs. If you are not getting reviews you are not operating at a professional level. Every job is an opportunity for a five-star review. Earn it. Big jobs: Any job running significantly beyond standard duration gets extra scrutiny. We expect exceptional performance and a five-star review on every large job. These are our best customers and they deserve your best work.
9. Cancellation Policy — Honor Your Commitments
When an appointment is booked onto your calendar, a real person is counting on you. Honor that commitment. • Cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled start — no penalty • Cancellations within 24 hours without documented emergency: strike on your account • Three strikes within 90 days: suspension pending review • No-shows without communication: immediate suspension pending review • Comeback visits are a continuation of a started job — they are not rescheduling and are not subject to cancellation fees • Rescheduling an appointment that has not started to a different day with less than 24 hours notice = cancellation — fee and strike apply Every cancellation and no-show costs real income to a real customer and damages the reputation of every vendor on this platform. You represent all of us. Act accordingly.
10. Warranty — You Own It, Start to Finish
The moment an appointment is booked to you and you perform the work, you are responsible for that work. That responsibility does not end when you leave the job site. It extends through the applicable warranty period for the work performed. Workmanship guarantees are job-specific. A fan that falls is not a warranty matter — it is an immediate safety and liability issue. A faucet that leaks shortly after installation is your responsibility. Drywall that looks poor within a reasonable time of completion is your responsibility. Work that fails due to customer misuse, neglect, or conditions outside your control is assessed case by case. You make the professional determination and you stand behind it. How warranty work is handled: • Customer schedules a warranty visit through their dashboard — it is clearly visible at the top of their appointment • You are notified immediately and must respond within 48 hours — no exceptions • You show up to the scheduled warranty visit just like a regular appointment • Take before and after photos on every warranty visit • Assess the issue — determine if it is workmanship, a manufacturer defect, or customer-caused • You control whether there is a charge based on the nature of the issue • Handle it professionally. It is your reputation on the line. Failure to respond within 48 hours or failure to appear for a warranty visit gives Ohana Helps grounds to enforce against you — account suspension, removal, and active support of the customer in pursuing any legal remedy they have against you. Do not let it get there.
11. The Handyman Exemption — Know Your Limits and Stay Within Them
You operate under state handyman exemption laws. In Arizona: ARS §32-1121(A)(14). The Ohana-contracted handyman scope must stay below the applicable project threshold and require no permit. Vendors do not sell or front customer materials; customer-owned materials remain outside the Ohana contracted job value. As we expand to additional states, the platform applies the verified jurisdiction rule for the property location. You cannot: • Exceed the state exemption dollar threshold on any single job • Do any work requiring a permit • Do structural or foundational work, any roof work • Run new electrical wiring or new circuits • Run new plumbing or replace supply lines • Do anything legally requiring a license You can: • Install fans and fixtures on existing wiring, replace outlets/switches/breakers/GFCIs • Replace toilets, faucets, garbage disposals, and minor plumbing fixtures on existing connections • Repair drywall, patch, paint, caulk, minor carpentry, assembly, mounting, hanging • Any of our 530+ listed services When in doubt — do not do it. Stop. Tell the customer it requires a licensed professional. We would rather lose the job than lose the ability to operate. Violating the handyman exemption puts you, the customer, and Ohana Helps at serious legal risk.
12. Platform Exclusivity and Non-Solicitation
• All work originated through Ohana Helps must be completed through the platform — no off-platform arrangements of any kind • You may not solicit, arrange, or accept direct work from any Ohana Helps customer outside the platform for 24 months from your last platform interaction with that customer • The platform tracks this. The data does not lie. We will know. Violation = immediate permanent termination. You will also be liable for damages equal to the greater of $5,000 or 3x the value of any off-platform transactions discovered. We do not negotiate on this.
13. Accountability — Everything Is on the Record
The Ohana Helps platform timestamps and records everything. Every claim, every check-in, every photo, every communication, every payment, every review, every cancellation. If something happens on one of your jobs, we have the full record. This protects you when customers make false claims. It holds you accountable when you fall short. Operate with integrity and this system is your best friend. The platform actively monitors: • Job completion rates, cancellation frequency, and no-show history • Review scores and how frequently you earn reviews • Warranty response times and completion rates • Time spent on jobs relative to category averages — outliers get reviewed • Claim speed and leaderboard ranking • Any patterns suggesting poaching, clock-milking, or off-platform activity
14. Prohibited Conduct — Immediate Permanent Removal
The following result in immediate permanent removal from the platform with no second chances: • Stealing from customers or Ohana Helps in any amount • Harassment, threats, or any inappropriate behavior toward any customer • Performing work under the influence of alcohol or drugs • Accepting cash or any direct payment from customers outside the platform • Poaching customers for off-platform work • Knowingly violating the handyman exemption • Chronic no-shows or cancellations without cause • Sharing customer personal information with any third party • Representing yourself as an Ohana Helps employee
15. Arbitration and Disputes
All disputes between you and Ohana Helps shall be resolved by binding arbitration under AAA rules in Delaware. You waive participation in class action litigation against Ohana Helps. Nothing in this section prevents Ohana Helps from seeking immediate injunctive relief for violations of Sections 12 or 14. Disputes between you and a customer are between you and that customer. Ohana Helps will facilitate and enforce, but your warranty obligations and liability for your work are entirely yours.
16. Termination
Either party may terminate this agreement at any time with or without cause. Immediate termination for violations of Sections 12 or 14. Obligations under Sections 10, 12, and 15 survive termination indefinitely.
17. Geographic Expansion — Texas and Beyond
This agreement applies to all markets where Ohana Helps operates. As we expand to Texas and additional states, you agree to comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws in each market — including state-specific handyman exemption thresholds. State-specific addenda will be provided prior to each new market launch. The same standard of professionalism, accountability, and excellence is expected in every market we enter.
18. Text Messaging (SMS) Communications
If you separately check the optional transactional SMS-consent checkbox, you consent to receive transactional SMS messages from Ohana Helps related to your application, account, and jobs, including onboarding, scheduling, and job-status updates. Providing a mobile phone number alone does not constitute SMS consent. Transactional SMS consent is optional, is not required to apply or use the platform, and is not a condition of purchasing or using services. Marketing SMS is separate from transactional SMS. If you affirmatively enable the separate Marketing Text Messages preference in your Ohana Helps account settings, you consent to receive promotional and marketing SMS messages from Ohana Helps, including service offers, seasonal home-service information, service updates, and other promotional messages. Marketing SMS is off by default and is not a condition of applying for or using Ohana Helps. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, or HELP for assistance. You may also contact Ohana Helps at (480) 542-5046. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Ohana Helps does not sell, share, rent, or provide mobile information, SMS opt-in data, or messaging consent to third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes.
Ohana Helps
A technology platform empowering professional handymen through real appointments.