Running an internal exercise in your business to identify all the critical documents that are relevant to you, your business and your jobs now and into the future will be worth its weight in gold. This forms the foundation of whether your onboarding process is going to be successful or not.

The exact documents, their structure and how detailed they need to be will vary from industry to industry and even from job to job. It’s important to get professional advice if you are unsure of what your requirements are in any given scenario. That being said, here are some of the most common documents that need to be collected.

Subcontracting Documents

• Subcontractor business and contact details

The stock standard basic information to collect from a subcontractor include their business name, ABN, address and phone number. It’s also important to identify the primary contacts for the contractor for anyone who is going to be involved with your business. Also identifying the GST status of the subcontractor and doing a quick search on the ABN lookup to check it is valid and accurate can save some headaches later on. In some circumstances it can be worthwhile to store a copy of the contractors logo, business card and/or other advertising material for reference.

• Commercial contract

The contract spells out the terms and conditions of your arrangement with the subcontractor and is the most critical document of all. Failing to get a valid written contract signed and agreed to before work begins is opening your business to untold and unnecessary risks. It is also important to remember that a contract may also include several documents for larger projects and may be subject to change throughout the duration of a job when variations occur and are agreed by both parties.

• Scope of work

A scope of works is a thorough and detailed description of the work that needs to be completed. The size, scope and detail of your scope will vary depending on the complexity of the work involved. Be sure to get the subcontractor to sign-off on the scope to show they have taken in all the information and addressed any concerns ahead of time.

• Insurance certificates

Typical insurances include Public Liability, Workers Compensation, Professional Indemnity and/or Personal Accident & Sickness insurances. Insurance can extend to individual situations where specific insurances are required such as tools and equipment. When it comes to insurance, you need to get a copy of their ‘certificate of currency’ which details the insurance and triple check the contractor is covered for the level of insurance you require. Also important to note with insurance is that it can expire if the contractor misses payments, so you need to get updated copies regularly.

• Qualifications, licenses and tickets

Ensuring that your subcontractor has the correct skills and qualifications is important for your peace of mind that they’re capable but may also be a legal requirement. Allowing a subcontractor who is not adequately qualified or that has lapsed qualifications is a huge risk to your business and your clients. Licenses and qualifications expire and need to be monitored to be confident they meet their requirements.

• Right to work e.g. VISA, police checks, working with children.

Depending on your industry it may be important to check that the subcontractor has the right to work as a contractor in Australia. While their ABN is the most significant factor for a contractor to run a business in Australia it may also be necessary to get copies of their Visa conditions to stay within the law. Running background and police checks is a regular occurrence in industries where personal safety is paramount.

• Terms & conditions

When you sign a contract with a subcontractor spelling out the terms and conditions of the agreement, it may be worthwhile to check if the contractor has terms and conditions of their own. In some cases where a subcontractor provides their T&C’s attached to a quote or invoice, they can have a bearing on the engagement. Watch out for any inconsistencies and make sure they are dealt with in writing prior to work commencing.

• Safety documents e.g. SWMS, Site assessments & inductions

Safety documentation is another non-negotiable step to ensuring you are meeting your compliance requirements. Whether the subcontractor is working from home or working on a commercial construction site, there are important safety steps you need to address. Typical documentation includes Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS), location specific Site Assessments, General and site specific inductions as well as ongoing Tool Box Talks all contribute to a safe working environment. The checks and balances in a safe working environment are constant and need to be regularly addressed and updated.

• Payment documentation

The subcontractors invoice is the most obvious piece of payment documentation that you will need to collect. Once again, you need to scrutinise even an invoice to ensure that it meets minimum standards e.g. is the ABN supplied valid and current? You may also be required to or at least benefit from also collecting quotes, details of any negotiations and in NSW a subcontractor statement supplied with each invoice.

The main takeaway here is to thoroughly examine what documentation you need for any work you are hiring a subcontractor to complete. Understand that each piece of documentation is important for different reasons and any gaps in your paperwork may expose your business to unnecessary risks. If you would like more information on best practices for collecting all this documentation you can read on here.

The post What Documents Do I Need From My Subcontractor? appeared first on SubbieHub.

In simple terms, the efficiency, productivity, and ultimately the profitability of a job is largely determined by the subcontractors performing the job itself. With so much riding on the workmanship of subcontractors there is much to be gained from improving their performance.

Here we look at the top 5 keys to improve the productivity of a subcontracting relationship. These are not meant to be overly technical, but rather simple strategies that any business hiring subcontractors can implement in a short space of time.

Trust and relationships with principal contractors

The relationship between the hirer and the subcontractor is cited as the most important to the outcome of productivity on a jobsite. While this may seem touchy-feely to some, it’s a reality that people work best with other people they know, like and trust. Building up trust and positive relationships with subcontractors often happens in a short space of time due to the nature of contracting relationships, but can be broken equally as quickly.

The biggest factor in building trust with a subbie is open, often, and transparent communication both ways. Subcontractors understand that this is a commercial arrangement and business decisions need to be made. Telling them what you are doing, why you are doing it and when you are doing it during the planning and development phases will go a long way to building trust, whether they are the contractor that gets the job or not.

Quotes and tender practices

The general practice and process for receiving or reviewing quotes and tenders is often described by subcontractors as confusing, unclear and misleading. While the Hirer is shopping for the best contractor based on price, quality or services, they can easily offend subbies in the process.

Be clear with contractors from the outset with what the process is going to look like and what stage you are up to. Practices that involve shopping around, under cutting or sharing subcontractors proposals create mistrust and distaste towards your business.

Project documentation and document control

Admin, admin, admin. It is the bane of existence for both Hirers and Contractors, but like eating your veggies, it is essential to have a happy and healthy business. From a Hirers perspective there are a growing spread of documents and paperwork that need to be finalised before, during and after a job for them to maintain compliance requirements. For the subcontractor, it is an admin requirement that serves no purpose to their own objective and has a big impact on their time. This mismatch of perceptions leads to an endless back and forth relationship that can become frustrating or bitter when it doesn’t go smoothly.

While technology is often touted as the big solution, most platforms quickly become overly confusing, time or labour intensive and end up becoming outdated, unused or irrelevant. When it comes to technology simplicity is essential. The more information going into a system and the more users accessing and interpreting the information, the more chance of errors.

For project documentation and document control processes to improve productivity, they need to be targeted and laser focused on collecting the absolute minimum required to meet compliance requirements.

Planning, scheduling, and coordination

It’s no secret that scheduling mishaps and uncoordinated calendars result in frustrating delays and wasted time spent sitting on the fence. Depending on the size of the job or project and the number of contractors involved, this can become a real headache.

While principal contractors tend to keep a tight hold on the schedule and use themselves as a single point of contact for coordination, a move to a more open approach may inject some flexibility that improves productivity. It’s a common protest from subcontractors that they are not included in the timing and scheduling plan until too far down the line. The buck has to stop with the project manager, however, giving subcontractors a say in the plan design from early on will significantly lessen unexpected delays. If the subcontractor is involved in the design, they have buy-in from the start and can anticipate realistic objectives without being pressured to fit into an un-realistic deadline.

Once again, open, often and transparent communication with all the subcontractors involved in a job will help to ensure things run smoothly and you keep your finger on the pulse.

Payment and incentive structures

Money makes the world go round, and overwhelmingly peoples first response to a productivity issue is to throw money at it. While the size of the pay check does matter, the way you structure it matters more. Similarly, money alone isn’t going to solve all your problems, and yes, I left this to last for a reason. If you can tackle the first 4 tips mentioned above first, the money part is going to become a lot easier.

Incentives for subcontractors is all about structuring them to be in alignment with the outcome you are trying to achieve. Don’t skip ahead though, an outcome doesn’t have to be the end result, in fact the best outcomes are small bite size pieces that anyone can digest. If you can work out a way to break your job/project down into small incremental stages and align your incentives with reaching those milestones, you’re 90% of the way there.

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