A scope of work states the work to be performed, the sequence, materials and standards, who supplies what, access and site conditions, exclusions, and acceptance criteria. Write it phase by phase in plain language, name specific materials where price depends on them, and list exclusions explicitly.
Order the document the way the job actually happens, so the client reads it as a story rather than a spec sheet.
Replace vague words with measurable ones. 'Paint the room' becomes 'two finish coats of eggshell over one primer coat on walls, one coat on ceiling, cut in at trim'. 'Repair as needed' becomes 'repair up to 32 square feet of decking; additional decking billed at $X per sheet as a change order'.
Common exclusions worth listing: permits and fees, engineering, asbestos or lead abatement, hidden condition repairs, landscaping restoration, final cleaning, temporary accommodation, appliance hook-ups, and anything requiring a licensed trade you have not quoted.
Describe the job in one or two sentences and WinkScope AI drafts a phase-by-phase scope in trade language, with editable exclusions and assumptions. Saved scopes become reusable templates per trade, and project-specific terms can override your company defaults on a single estimate.
Long enough to remove ambiguity, short enough that the client reads it. For a residential remodel, one to three pages is typical.
In construction they are used interchangeably. A statement of work is more common in commercial and services contracting and often includes commercial terms as well as the work description.