Referral Program Terms

R-1. About the program

R-1.1 The HammerConnect Referral Program lets Contractors pass along Requests for Trade Work, often work outside their own specialty, and pays an Eligible Referrer a Referral Share when a referred Request becomes a Qualifying Job. These terms add to the Master Platform Terms, the Contractor Terms, the US Schedule and the state addendum for the job site.

R-1.2 Referring is voluntary.

R-1.3 Part of the Platform Fee. The Referral Share is paid by the Company out of its Platform Fee (a marketplace service fee): of the 10% Platform Fee on a Qualifying Job, 5% goes to the Referrer and 5% to the Company. On a Job with no Referrer, the Company keeps the full 10%. A Referral Share is paid only on a Job that came to the Platform by a valid Referral (R-5). Where a Customer comes to the Platform directly, through a chat or voice assistant, through a Customer Agent, or through marketing by the Company, there is no Referrer, no Referral Share, and the Company keeps the full Platform Fee. These terms do not create any customer program.

R-1.5 Future tools do not create Referrers. Future matching tools (Master Platform Terms, section M-6.6) do not change who is a Referrer. If the Platform's tools route a Direct Request to a Contractor, that Contractor is not a Referrer. A Contractor that HammerConnect invites to respond to a Request (Master Platform Terms, section M-6.6(a)) is likewise not a Referrer. A Contractor who nominates a competitor on a Direct Request is not a Referrer and earns no Referral Share.

R-2. Who may refer, and who may earn

R-2.1 Referrers are Contractors. Only a Contractor with an Account may make a Referral. A Customer may share a HammerConnect link, but that is not a Referral and earns nothing.

R-2.2 Eligible Referrer. Only an "Eligible Referrer" earns a Referral Share. An Eligible Referrer is a Contractor that, when the Referral is made and when the Job closes:

• (a) has an active Contractor profile in good standing under the Contractor Terms;
• (b) is not excluded under R-2.3; and
• (c) for a Florida job site, holds an active Florida contractor license or is otherwise lawfully exempt, which we check when the Referral is made and again before any share is paid.

Payout setup (a Stripe connected account able to receive transfers, and a completed Form W-9) is a condition of payment, not of earning. If it is not complete when the Job closes, the share becomes a Held Share (R-9).

R-2.2A Inviting Contractors. The Company, or an existing Contractor in good standing, may invite a Contractor to join (Contractor Terms, section P-3.6). An invitation is not a Referral and earns nothing by itself.

R-2.3 Excluded referrers. You cannot earn a Referral Share if you are, or are acting for:

• (a) a community association manager or management firm licensed under Part VIII of Chapter 468, its owners, officers or employees, or a relative of any of them, for work at an association it manages or for that association's members;
• (b) a director, officer or committee member of a condominium, cooperative or homeowners' association, a relative of one (within the third degree of blood or marriage), or a business in which one of them holds an interest, for work at that association or for its members;
• (c) a person who has a duty to the Customer to choose vendors impartially (for example the Customer's property manager, agent or employee), unless the Customer agrees in writing to the share;
• (d) a real-estate licensee, insurance agent, insurance adjuster or public adjuster acting in that role; or an engineer, architect, home inspector, private provider or other professional engaged by or advising the Customer or the association on the Job;
• (e) anyone referring work connected to a property insurance claim, residential or commercial;
• (f) a government employee or building inspector with authority over the job site;
• (g) the performing Contractor, its owners, employees, family members or affiliates; or anyone who quoted, bid or took part in pricing the same Request (no self-referral);
• (h) the Customer, or a member of the Customer's household;
• (i) a Company employee or contractor.

R-2.3A No payment to individual managers or board members. The Referral Share is never paid to an individual property manager, community association manager, or association director, officer or committee member, unless these terms are amended to allow it.

R-2.3B No reciprocal deals. You must not agree with another Contractor to refer each other's Requests in return. We may cancel a share where we find a pattern of reciprocal referrals.

R-2.4 Future classes. The Company may later extend eligibility to other referrer classes after legal review, by updating these terms under R-13. The only class defined so far is an association under the optional Association Rider (R-15), which is not active.

R-2.5 Self-declared role. When you refer, we ask whether you also hold any other role connected to the job site or Customer (property or association manager, board member, real-estate or insurance professional, employee or agent of the Customer). Your answer must be true. We store it with the Referral, and a share is not paid where R-2.3 or R-2.3A applies. If you give a false answer we cancel any share (R-9.10) and may suspend your account.

R-3. The Referral Share

R-3.1 Amount. For a Qualifying Job referred by an Eligible Referrer, the Company pays a Referral Share equal to 5% of the Fee Base for that Job, less the effect of any refund or chargeback under R-9.3. No Referral Share is paid on a Job that has no Referrer (R-1.3).

R-3.2 Fee Base. "Fee Base" means the amount the Customer pays through the Platform for a Job, excluding taxes and tips, measured when each payment is collected (Contractor Terms, section P-6.1). It is the same base on which the Platform Fee is charged. The Fee Base itself is not recalculated for a refund; R-9.3 reduces the Referral Share when the Customer is refunded.

R-3.3 Source. The Referral Share is paid by the Company out of the Platform Fee (the marketplace service fee) the Contractor pays. The Customer's price does not include a separate referral charge. The Contractor does not pay you directly. The Referral Share is not money from the Customer's payment; it is the Company's own payment obligation to you.

R-3.4 Example. Fee Base $1,000 → Referral Share $50, payable after the Dispute Window closes (7 days in this Consumer example). If the Customer receives a $200 refund before the share is paid, the Referral Share becomes $40 (5% of the $800 that stays paid). If the $200 refund comes after the share was paid, the Company may recover $10 under R-9.3A. A full refund voids the share (or, after payment, lets the Company recover all $50). If the Customer cancels before any work starts under Contractor Terms, section P-6.8(a), there is no Qualifying Job and no share.

R-3.5 No other compensation. You will not take any other payment, gift or favor from the Contractor or Customer for a Referral made through the Platform. You will not offer the person you refer any rebate, gift, cash, coupon or deductible waiver.

R-4. Qualifying Job

R-4.1 A "Qualifying Job" is a Job that meets all of these:

• (a) it comes from a Request created through your Referral (your link, or your Referral submitted in the app), and you hold the attribution under R-5;
• (b) our team approved the Referral, using automated checks and people (a person handles anything flagged and every decline);
• (c) the Customer accepted a Contractor's Quote in the Platform within 90 days after the Referral;
• (d) the Customer paid through the Platform;
• (e) the Job was completed, the Dispute Window in the applicable Customer Terms closed and any dispute opened in it was decided;
• (f) you were an Eligible Referrer when you referred and when the Job closed;
• (g) the Job is not the result of fraud, self-referral or a breach of these terms;
• (h) the Customer did not cancel before any work started in a way that returned the Platform Fee under Contractor Terms, section P-6.8(a);
• (i) the Job is not connected to a property insurance claim (R-2.3(e); Contractor Terms, section P-6.1A); and
• (j) the Customer's payment for the Job has not been refunded or charged back (a partial refund or chargeback reduces the share as R-9.3 says).

R-4.2 What counts. The Qualifying Job includes deposits, milestones and approved change orders for that Request. It does not include later, separate Requests by the same Customer.

R-4.3 No share without collection. No share is earned on unpaid amounts, cash, or anything paid outside the Platform.

R-5. Attribution

R-5.1 First valid Referral wins. If more than one person refers the same Customer for the same Request, the first valid Referral, as time-stamped by our servers, holds the attribution. Only one Referral Share is paid per Job.

R-5.2 Valid Referral. A Referral is valid only if it is made through the Platform, describes a real need, and the Customer opts in through the link or confirms the Request. A Request that a Customer made on their own before or without your link, or that arose from the Company's own advertising, search, assistant or outreach, is not a valid Referral even if you later recommend a Contractor to that Customer.

R-5.3 Existing customers. A Referral is not valid if the Customer already had an open Request for the same work, or had already been introduced to the chosen Contractor through the Platform for the same work.

R-5.4 Attribution follows the Request. If your nominated Contractor declines and the Request is opened to other Contractors, or another Contractor is chosen, you keep the attribution. You earn the share whichever Contractor is chosen, including a second or third Contractor added to keep the Job (Master Platform Terms, section M-6.6A), as long as the Job is a Qualifying Job and the performing Contractor is not you or your affiliate.

R-5.5 Operator decision. If attribution is unclear or disputed, an Operator decides using the Platform records.

R-6. Nominating a specific Contractor

R-6.1 You may nominate a Contractor you know. The nominee is asked first. They still complete setup, and the Customer still chooses.

R-6.2 Nominating is not an award or a HammerConnect endorsement, and it does not share the Customer's details.

R-6.3 You must tell us about any relationship you have with the nominee (family, ownership, employment, regular business partner). We show the Customer any relationship you told us about with the nominee, before the Customer chooses.

R-6.4 No pressure. You must not tell the Customer that they must choose your nominee.

R-7. Your disclosure duties

R-7.1 To the person you refer. When you share a request link, you must make clear that you may receive a referral payment (your Referral Share) if they hire through HammerConnect. The Platform also shows the person you refer a notice, in their language, before they can open a Request: see R-7.5. The share message the app prepares for you includes this line, and you must not remove it:

English: "I may get a referral share from HammerConnect if you hire through this link."

Spanish: "Puede que reciba una participación por referido de HammerConnect si contrata a través de este enlace."

The app prepares the message in the Referrer's Preferred Language (English or Spanish at launch) and lets the Referrer switch it to the recipient's language among the released languages.

R-7.2 When you recommend a Contractor. If you recommend or nominate a Contractor, any opinion you give must be honest and based on your real experience, and you must disclose the possible share and any relationship with the Contractor clearly and close to the recommendation. You must not be paid, or promised anything, for a review or rating of a Contractor, and you must not ask a Customer to post one in return for anything.

R-7.3 To Contractors. Contractors are told in the Contractor Terms that a Referral Share may be paid from the Platform Fee. You must not ask a Contractor to pay you anything outside the Platform.

R-7.4 To your own clients or employer. If you have a professional, employment or fiduciary duty to the Customer or to a building, you must follow any rule requiring you to disclose or refuse referral compensation. If you are not sure, do not accept a share.

R-7.5 Platform notice. Before a Customer can open a Request that came from a Referral, and again on the Quote and the receipt, the Platform shows a notice in the Customer's language, and keeps a record of the version shown:

English, before the Request opens: "[Referrer name] shared this request. They may receive a referral payment from HammerConnect if you hire through HammerConnect. The payment comes out of HammerConnect's marketplace service fee, which the contractor pays. Contractors set their own prices. Your contract is with [Contractor]. You choose who to hire."

English, on the Quote and receipt: "HammerConnect charges [Contractor] a marketplace service fee of 10% of what you pay through the app. [Referrer] may receive half of that fee for referring you. This is not added to the quote as a separate charge."

Spanish: "[Referrer] compartió esta solicitud y puede recibir un pago por referido de HammerConnect si usted contrata a través de HammerConnect. Ese pago sale de la tarifa de servicio del marketplace de HammerConnect, que paga el contratista. Los contratistas fijan sus propios precios. Su contrato es con [Contratista]. Usted decide a quién contratar."

Spanish, on the Quote and receipt: "HammerConnect cobra a [Contratista] una tarifa de servicio del marketplace del 10 % de lo que usted paga a través de la app. [Referrer] puede recibir la mitad de esa tarifa por referirlo. No se suma a la cotización como un cargo aparte."

The Platform does not say that the referral has no effect on price.

R-8. Sharing the link: consent rules

R-8.1 You send it, from your phone. You share the request link yourself, from your own phone or account, to someone you know. HammerConnect does not send the first text, and neither does the Contractor: nobody texts the person until they tap Yes on the link page.

R-8.1A What you confirm. Before you share a link, you tick: "This person asked me to find someone, and I will ask them before anyone contacts them." Only you text the person first, from your own phone.

R-8.2 Only people you know who expect it. Share only with people who asked for help or whom you reasonably believe want it. Do not send links in bulk, to purchased or scraped lists, or to strangers.

R-8.3 You cannot consent for them. You cannot agree to texts from HammerConnect on someone else's behalf. The person you refer says yes with one tap on our link page (SMS Terms, section SMS-5).

R-8.4 Contact details you enter. If you enter someone's first name and phone number in the app, we use them only to match the Request, check for duplicates and tie the one-time link to that number. We do not text or email them unless they tap Yes on the link page, and we delete what you entered within 30 days if they do not.

R-8.5 You know the person. You confirm you know the person you refer and that they would expect to hear about HammerConnect from you. You send a link only to a person you know who asked for help or who would reasonably expect to hear from you. You send it yourself, one person at a time, from your own phone. You do not use bulk or automated tools, and you do not send the link by email in bulk or through any tool. You do not tell anyone HammerConnect will contact them. You are responsible for your own messages.

R-8.6 Contact stays in HammerConnect. Nobody gets anyone's direct phone number or email address from HammerConnect. After the person says yes, texts, calls and email between you, the Customer and the Contractor about the Job go through HammerConnect relay numbers and addresses (Master Platform Terms, section M-11.2). Do not ask for or give direct contact details or move the conversation off HammerConnect; a Contractor who does is covered by Contractor Terms, section P-11 and P-12.

R-9. Payout, Held Shares, fraud recovery and offsets

R-9.1 When paid. The Referral Share for a Qualifying Job becomes payable only when all of these are true: (i) the Dispute Window in the applicable Customer Terms (7 days for Consumers and for Commercial Customers) closes and any dispute opened in it is decided, or, if the Customer confirmed completion early, the Company has released the Contractor's payout before day 7 at its discretion (Contractor Terms, section P-7.1(c); early confirmation does not waive any Customer right, and the Company is not required to release early), (ii) the Company's Platform Fee on that payment is available to the Company at Stripe (usually several days after a card payment, and longer for bank-debit payments), and (iii) the payment has not been refunded or charged back (or, if refunded in part, the share is reduced as R-9.3 says). It is sent as a separate transfer from the Company's available Stripe balance to your Stripe account, not out of the Customer's charge, after the Contractor's payout for that Job is released. The Company may delay a transfer until the funds are available. For a Job paid in milestones, the share on each milestone becomes payable when that milestone's Dispute Window closes. Timing is set by the Company: during the pilot, an Operator releases each transfer manually, normally within 5 business days after the Dispute Window closes.

R-9.2 Minimum. There is no minimum. The Company pays every Referral Share, whatever the amount.

R-9.3 Refunds, chargebacks and fraud.

• (a) Earned only if not refunded. A Referral Share is earned only on a Qualifying Job that is completed, paid, past the Dispute Window and not refunded or charged back.
• (b) Refund or chargeback before the share is paid. If the Customer is refunded in part, or loses a chargeback in part, before we pay the share, the share is reduced in proportion: it becomes 5% of the Fee Base less the refunded or charged-back amount. If the Customer is refunded in full, the share is voided.
• (c) After the share is paid. If a refund or chargeback happens after we paid the share, R-9.3A applies.
• (d) Contractor-side costs. If a Customer disputes a card payment, any dispute fee and any negative balance sit on the Contractor's own account, and neither is charged to you.
• (e) Fraud. In addition, if the Company finds, after notice to you and a chance to respond within 10 business days, that the Referral or the Job involved fraud by you or with your knowledge (for example a fake Request, a self-referral, collusion with the Customer or the performing Contractor, or a wash Job), it may cancel the share and recover a share already paid by reversing the transfer (only if Stripe allows it and the amount can be recovered without charging your Stripe balance below zero), deducting it from your future shares or Contractor payouts, or invoicing you, payable within 15 days.

R-9.3A Recovery after payment. If a refund (in full or in part) or a chargeback happens after we paid the share, the Company may recover the part of the share that matches the refunded or charged-back amount (all of it, for a full refund). The Company may (a) deduct it from your future Referral Shares or other payments we owe you under this program, and (b) if you have no future payments to deduct it from, ask you to repay it. We tell you the Job, the amount and the reason before we deduct or ask. This is in addition to the fraud rules in R-9.3(e), which allow more.

R-9.4 Holds. We may hold a share that has not yet been paid while a dispute opened in the Dispute Window, or a documented fraud review, is open for that Job. We may also hold a share while a refund request or chargeback on that Job is open. A refund or chargeback is dealt with as R-9.3 and R-9.3A say.

R-9.5 Held Share. If the Job closes and you have not completed payout setup (a Stripe connected account able to receive transfers and a completed Form W-9), the Company holds your Referral Share (a "Held Share") until you do. The Company owes you the Held Share as a payment obligation. It is the Company's own money, not Customer money, and it is not a deposit, account or stored balance, and it is not held in escrow.

R-9.5A Notice and reminders. When a share becomes a Held Share, the Company tells you in the app and by email (and by text only if you opted in), in your Preferred Language, with the amount, the Job reference, and the steps to finish payout setup. The Company sends reminders at least 7, 30 and 90 days after the Job closes and then quarterly while the share remains unclaimed.

R-9.6 No shortened claim period; unclaimed property. The Company keeps the Held Share payable to you until you claim it by completing payout setup. The Company does not set a shorter deadline after which the share is lost, and it does not keep an unclaimed Held Share as Platform Fee. If you do not claim it, the Company will report and deliver it as Florida unclaimed-property law (Chapter 717) requires after the dormancy period (generally 5 years from when it became payable, s. 717.102(1)), including the notices that law requires before the report is filed (written notice 90 to 180 days before filing for property of $50 or more, and a certified-mail notice at least 60 days before filing if it is over $1,000, s. 717.117). The Company keeps a record of the notices it sends.

R-9.7 No interest. No interest is earned or paid on a Held Share or on any share awaiting transfer.

R-9.8 Tax form first. A completed Form W-9 is required before any share, including a Held Share, is paid (R-10.2).

R-9.9 Offsets. Before paying a Held Share or any share, the Company may reduce it only by: (a) a fraud recovery under R-9.3(e); (b) recovery of a refunded or charged-back share under R-9.3A; and (c) an undisputed amount you owe the Company as a Contractor under the Contractor Terms (for example a negative balance on your own Jobs). A refund or chargeback on the referred Job is dealt with only as R-9.3 and R-9.3A say. The Company will show you each offset.

R-9.10 Forfeit for breach. A share is cancelled, not held, if you were not an Eligible Referrer under R-2.2 when the Job closed or you broke these terms on that Referral (R-11). A cancelled share is kept by the Company as part of the Platform Fee. This clause applies to a referrer who was ineligible or broke these terms; it is not a forfeiture of a Held Share for not claiming it, which R-9.6 governs.

R-10. Taxes

R-10.1 Referral Shares are income to you. You are responsible for your taxes.

R-10.2 Every Referrer gives a completed Form W-9 (or Stripe's equivalent step) at onboarding, whatever the amount it expects to receive. If you are not a US person, you give Form W-8BEN (or W-8BEN-E) instead, and cash Referral Shares to a person outside the United States need Company approval. The Company will report Referral Shares on Form 1099-NEC where the law requires it. If a Referrer is a corporation that is not required to be reported, the Company may still ask for the W-9. These terms do not state a threshold.

R-10.3 Held Shares and tax forms. A Held Share that is waiting on your tax or payout setup is not treated as paid, and is not reported to the IRS as paid, until it is released to you. Once a Referral Share is available to you without conditions, the law may treat it as paid in that year even if you have not withdrawn it. If we must pay or report a Held Share under unclaimed property law, we will follow that law. If your taxpayer information is missing or wrong, the law may require us to withhold tax from a payment to you; we will tell you if that happens.

R-11. Fraud and prohibited conduct

You must not:

• (a) refer yourself, your organization or an affiliate, or a Job you will perform;
• (b) create fake Requests, fake Accounts, or Requests for people who do not want help;
• (c) split a Referral Share with the Customer or the performing Contractor;
• (d) offer anything to the Customer to choose a particular Contractor;
• (e) refer work you are not allowed to be paid for (R-2.3);
• (f) spam, cold-text or use purchased or scraped contact lists;
• (g) say or imply that you work for HammerConnect, or that HammerConnect endorses a Contractor;
• (h) agree to refer Requests in return for referrals from another Contractor (R-2.3B);
• (i) offer the person you refer any rebate, gift, cash, coupon or deductible waiver (R-3.5);
• (j) give a false answer about your role (R-2.5).

Breach lets us cancel unpaid shares for the affected Jobs (R-9.10) and suspend or end your Referrer access or Account. A share already paid is recovered as R-9.3 and R-9.3A say (items (a), (b) and (c) are treated as fraud).

R-12. No employment or agency

R-12.1 Referrers are not employees, agents or sales representatives of the Company and may not make promises for it. You introduce only. You must not quote, negotiate price or scope, attend the job as the Contractor's agent, sign for the Contractor or Customer, or handle the Customer's money. You must not say or imply that you can perform the work unless you are licensed for it and are the Contractor on the Job.

R-12.2 No control. You decide whether, when and how to refer. There are no quotas, minimums, exclusivity or schedules.

R-13. Changes and ending the program

R-13.1 We may change or end the program, or change the Referral Share, on 30 days' notice. Referrals made before the change keep the terms in force when made, if they become Qualifying Jobs within the period in R-4.1(c).

R-13.2 We may end the program immediately where required by law, a regulator, or Stripe; earned shares for completed Qualifying Jobs will still be paid where lawful.

R-14. Florida

R-14.1 For job sites in Florida, the Florida Addendum (FL-7) adds referral-fee restrictions.

R-15. Optional Association Rider (not active)

R-15.0 Status. This rider is not active. The Company will not offer it, accept an association as a Referrer, or pay any share to an association unless and until the Company announces it by updating these terms. Until then, a Referral from an association or its manager earns no share, and the Company keeps the full Platform Fee on that Job.

R-15.1 Who. If activated, a condominium, cooperative or homeowners' association (the organization itself, through its board) may be approved as an "Association Referrer". No individual (manager, management firm, director, officer, committee member, employee or a relative of any of them) receives any part of the share or credit.

R-15.2 How. Where the work is at the association's own property and the association is the Customer, the Company does not pay a Referral Share. Instead, if the rider is on, the Company may give the association a Platform Fee credit equal to 5% of the Fee Base, shown on the Quote and invoice and in the bid comparison the board sees. A cash share to an association is available only for Requests from its members' own jobs, only if the Company later offers it under updated terms, and only to a payout account in the association's own name after a Form W-9 in its own name.

R-15.3 Board approval and disclosure. Before activation, the association gives the Company a board resolution approving participation, adopted at a properly noticed meeting, and confirms it will disclose the arrangement to its members as its governing documents and the law require. Each Customer quote for work at that association shows the Platform Fee credit (for the association's own common-area Jobs, Customer Terms for Associations and Businesses, section CB-9.4) or that the association may receive a Referral Share (for unit owners' Jobs, Customer Terms for Homeowners, section C-7.4).

R-15.4 Manager's private agreement. If the association's manager or management firm has a private agreement with the association about referrals, that agreement is between them. The Company is not a party to it, pays nothing to the manager, and does not accept instructions to redirect the share or credit. The Company requires a certification, signed by an officer authorised by the board resolution, that no manager, management firm, director, officer or relative of any of them receives or will receive any part of the credit or share, directly or through the association.

R-15.5 Conflicts. A director, officer or manager with a personal interest in a Contractor must disclose it to the board and abstain, as Florida law requires. The association confirms that no individual will receive anything of value from a Contractor or the Company because of a Referral.

R-15.8 Taxes and forms. The association is responsible for its own taxes on anything it receives; the Company gives no tax advice. Referral income of an association is generally not exempt function income and may be taxable to it. The Company collects a Form W-9 in the association's own name, signed by a person with authority to bind the association, and may ask for a board resolution or a manager authorization letter confirming that authority. A fee credit is not a payment and is not reported on a Form 1099; for any cash share the Company reports as the law requires (payments to corporations are generally not reportable on Form 1099-NEC). If the manager takes a part under a private agreement, that is between the association and the manager.

R-15.6 Same rules. All other parts of these terms (attribution, Qualifying Job, Held Share, refund and recovery rules, no other compensation, fraud rules) apply to an Association Referrer.

R-15.7 Switching off. The Company may switch the rider off at any time if the law changes or legal advice requires it. Shares already payable for completed Qualifying Jobs are paid where lawful.

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