Key takeaways
- A service record should show when the property was cleared, what was done, and why any visit was skipped.
- Homeowners use records to settle billing questions. Businesses use them to defend injury claims.
- Michigan’s general limit for injury claims is three years (MCL 600.5805), so records need to outlast the season.
- Timestamps recorded at the moment of service carry far more weight than notes written the next day.
On this page
What counts as proof of service?
A useful service record answers three questions for every visit:
- When was the property cleared? A time recorded at the moment the stop was finished, not reconstructed later.
- What was done? Plowed, shoveled, salted, and which areas.
- Why was anything skipped or left undone? A parked car, a locked gate, a hazard the crew found.
Notes on conditions and photos add weight when something unusual happened, such as a car blocking the apron or damage found on arrival. The core, though, is simple: a time and an outcome for every stop.
Why homeowners should care
For a homeowner, records mostly settle small questions before they become arguments. Did you come on the 14th? Why was I billed twice that weekend? Why was the walk not done? A company with records can answer in one sentence. A company without them answers with a guess, and you are left deciding whether to believe it.
Why businesses need it
For a commercial property, the record is part of the product. Slip-and-fall claims rarely arrive during the storm. They arrive weeks or months later, often through an attorney, and the first question is always what was done on the property that day, and when.
That question got more important in 2023. In Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the "open and obvious" nature of a hazard like snow or ice no longer automatically ends a premises liability case; it goes to breach and comparative fault instead, which are usually questions for a jury. More claims reach a jury, and juries look at evidence of reasonable care. A timestamped service history is that evidence.
Michigan's general statute of limitations for injury claims is three years (MCL 600.5805), so records need to last well beyond the season. Ask your attorney or insurer how long to keep them for your situation.
Weak proof versus strong proof
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| An invoice listing dates | A completion time recorded at each stop |
| "The driver says we came" | An outcome for every stop: done or skipped |
| A note written the next morning | Notes and photos attached to the visit record |
| Nothing about skipped stops | A reason recorded for every skip |
| Records kept "somewhere" | Records the contractor can produce for a date on request |
Do photos prove snow was removed?
Photos help most when something is unusual: a vehicle blocking the apron, damage found on arrival, a hazard that needed a second look. A photo of a cleared driveway at 5 a.m. proves it was cleared at 5 a.m.; it does not prove it stayed clear at 9. That is why the timestamp, the conditions and any follow-up visit belong in the same record.
How we record visits
Our route board records the time each stop is marked done. Skipped stops carry a reason, and they get a text and a return visit. Crews can attach notes and photos to the visit record when something is worth documenting. Commercial clients can request the record for their property for any date. More on our system.
For the record-keeping side of commercial snow management, see our guide to snow logs.
Sources
- Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, Inc. (Mich. 2023) — open and obvious doctrine moved to breach and comparative fault
- MCL 600.5805, Michigan Legislature — three-year limitations period for injury to a person or property
Written by the Macomb Lawn & Snow Solutions team in Macomb Township, Michigan. We plow and salt homes and businesses across all 26 Macomb County communities, November 15 to April 15. Published September 28, 2026. About us · How we research these guides · How our dispatch works