Expert terms

1 · Relationship

• You're an independent contractor, not an employee. You choose which jobs to accept, when you work within the agreed window, and how you do the work. You use your own tools and can work for anyone else.
• You can't bind the platform to anything, and you don't represent yourself as its employee.

2 · Rates and platform fee

• Customer prices follow the published rate schedule (rates). Jobs are fixed-scope quotes.
• Platform fee ladder (% of labor), by your number of counted jobs: jobs 1–6 25%, jobs 7–12 22%, jobs 13–18 20%, job 19 onward 18%. Founding experts (the first 20 experts we approve) start at 22% for jobs 1–12, then 20% and 18% on the same schedule.
• A job counts once it is completed and paid out (confirmed by the customer, or auto-confirmed), and only if it was not refunded and not lost to a chargeback. The rate for a job is fixed when you accept it; later completions don't change it.
• Fees are rounded down to the dollar. Trip charges pass through to you in full. Customer prices are the same at every step.
• The platform pays Stripe's card, payout, and dispute fees. Your share isn't reduced by them.

3 · Payment-first, and when you get paid

• No job offer reaches you until the customer has paid the full quote and the payment has succeeded. You never work on credit, and the platform never pays you out of its own pocket before the customer's payment exists.
• Your share is released when the customer confirms completion, or 72 hours after you mark the job complete if the customer hasn't reported a problem.
• Extra work needs a written change order that the customer pays upfront. Don't do unpaid extra work. It won't be paid.

4 · Disputes and refunds

• If the customer reports a problem within the 72 h window, the funds stay held. You get 1 business day to finish within scope at no extra charge. Then we decide from the written record within 2 business days: release, partial refund, or full refund, all from the held funds.
• Refunds and card chargebacks after a payout are covered in section 5.

DRAFT · pending attorney review · not legal advice

5 · Chargebacks, refunds and reserve

• Reserve (holdback). When a job is confirmed (or auto-confirmed 72 hours after you mark it complete), 90% of your share is paid right away and 10% is held as a reserve. The reserve is released to you automatically 60 days after the customer's payment if there has been no refund or chargeback on that payment.
• Refunds and chargebacks after payout. If the customer's payment for a job is refunded or charged back (including a card dispute filed after your payout), your share of the refunded or disputed amount is recovered: first from that job's unreleased reserve, then by a reversal of the Stripe transfer to your account, up to the amount transferred. A partial refund recovers only your proportional share.
• Netting. If a reversal fails or doesn't cover the full amount (for example, your Stripe balance is empty), the shortfall is recorded as a balance you owe and is netted against your future payouts and reserves until it's repaid. Every adjustment is emailed to you and shown in your payout history.
• Chargebacks we win. If a chargeback is decided in our favor, anything recovered for it is put back: the reserve is restored and released, reversed amounts are sent back to you, and any balance it created is cleared.
• What doesn't change. The platform fee ladder (section 2) is the same with or without a reserve. The platform still pays Stripe's card, payout, and $15 dispute fees; those are never charged to you. Only your share of money the customer actually got back is recovered.

6 · Security and conduct

• Access only through a session the customer starts or a temporary account they create. Never ask for, accept, or store passwords.
• Don't copy customer data. Delete anything you received when the job ends. Report suspected incidents within 24 hours.
• Post written updates, and a change log when you finish.

7 · Non-circumvention and conflicts

• For 12 months after your last job with a customer you met through the platform, don't take paid work from that customer outside the platform, and don't ask them to pay you off-platform.
• Disclose your current employer. You won't be offered jobs from its customers or trading partners.
• We don't onboard anyone we first met through Upwork or Field Nation; their terms keep those relationships on their platforms.

8 · Taxes, insurance, liability

• Stripe collects your identity, bank, and W-9 information. The platform files a 1099-NEC if you're paid $2,000+ in a calendar year (2026 threshold).
• You're responsible for your own taxes and insurance. E&O insurance is required for on-site jobs.
• You're responsible for losses caused by your own negligence or misconduct on a job.