What To Consider When Hiring Subcontractors

As a general contractor, you have significant flexibility to hire the subcontractors that will be the best fit for your project. However, hiring the wrong subcontractors can jeopardize not only your productivity and effectiveness, but also your workplace safety.

What are the best practices for hiring better subcontractors?

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Best Practices For Hiring Subcontractors

These are some of the best practices for hiring subcontractors.

These are some of the best practices for hiring subcontractors:

Don’t just go for the lowest bid. It’s tempting to hire the subcontractor with the lowest bid. Doing so not only saves you money but positions you more advantageously when submitting bids to your clients. However, subcontractors with exceptionally or unusually low bids usually have a reason why they’re offering so little. Make sure you’re not compromising safety or quality for the sake of saving money.
Check safety records. It’s imperative that you check the safety records of every subcontractor you hire. It’s possible for safety conscious and diligent parties to suffer an accident, but if the safety records of your subcontractors seem consistently unsafe, or otherwise problematic, err on the side of caution and do not hire them.
Check references. Always check references. This is not a superficial consideration; it can tell you a lot about the work history and integrity of this subcontractor.
Evaluate financial stability. While it doesn’t impact safety directly, it’s also a good idea to evaluate the financial stability of your subcontractor. Is this subcontractor taking on too much work or bidding too low? If so, they could be poorly positioned to work on your project.
Verify insurance, licensing, and bonding. Insurance, licensing, and bonding are all important for your subcontractors. Not only does this protect them and keep them safe, but it also shields you and your team from potential costs and liability issues.
Ask about quality controls. You should also investigate the quality controls of the subcontractors you intend to hire. What protective measures do they have in place to keep the job-site safe? How do they guarantee the quality of their work? You can also ask about how they have deployed and used these measures in the past.
Ask about safety prioritization. In the course of your interviews, ask lots of questions about safety prioritization. You need to make sure that every subcontractor you hire has safety as their top priority, and you need to verify that they’re going to be willing to follow your safety protocols. This is not an area where you can afford to be flexible, so reject any subcontractor who doesn’t seem to take safety seriously enough.
Put it in writing. Don’t assume that your research and your interviews have led you to a perfect picture of the working relationship you and your subcontractor will have. It’s important to put all the details into a written contract that both of you sign. This way, they’re going to be bound by their pledges and actions.

Onsite Management

Once you hire your subcontractors, you’ll still be responsible for their work and activities on the job-site. These are some of your best practices for ongoing onsite management of your subcontractors:

Set expectations early. Hopefully, you and your subcontractor have spoken about your working relationship and how you want to manage the job-site once the project begins. However, it’s still important to have a frank conversation with your subcontractor as the project begins so you can set expectations early. Make it clear what you expect from them and give them the opportunity to ask any questions they might have.
Proactively acknowledge issues. If you notice anything off about the work this subcontractor is doing, acknowledge it and address it as proactively as possible. Don’t allow them to continue their bad habits indefinitely, and don’t wait for an accident to happen. Remind them of your policies and the job-site you want to cultivate.
Enforce a zero-tolerance safety policy. Zero-tolerance policies are designed to make working environments safer by imposing serious penalties for anyone who puts others at risk of serious harm. It’s a good idea to adopt and enforce a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to workplace safety and make sure your subcontractors know how to abide by it.
Pay attention to client interactions. Finally, pay close attention to any client interactions your subcontractor might have. Even though your subcontractors work somewhat independently, they’re still going to represent you to the client. You need to make sure they’re going to put their best feet forward and make a good impression with your clients whenever they visit the job-site.

Hiring better subcontractors and managing them effectively will make your job-site safer for everyone, including your employees, clients, and partners. It requires some extra due diligence, and sometimes some extra costs, but it’s worth the investment in the long run.