MASTER CHECKLIST
Subcontractor onboarding checklist at a glance
Company information
- □Legal company name and authorized trade name
- □Primary contact and business information
- □W-9 and reusable company records
- □Scope and trade information
Insurance
- □Requested insurance documentation
- □Entered effective or expiration dates where relevant
- □Project-specific evidence identified
- □Replacement and review process established
Licenses & credentials
- □Applicable company and trade licenses
- □Registrations and certifications
- □Required employee qualifications
- □Entered dates and responsible renewal owner
Agreements
- □Subcontract agreement executed under company procedure
- □Scope, project, and responsible parties clear
- □Operational requirements extracted
- □Change and communication procedures understood
Safety
- □Requested safety programs and plans
- □Training or qualification evidence where required
- □Site-specific requirements identified
- □Responsible reviewer assigned
Project assignment
- □Subcontractor connected with the correct project
- □Scope and performing company recorded
- □Reusable records separated from project evidence
- □Due dates and recurring requirements established
Public works / prevailing wage
- □Coverage and authority determined
- □Wage decision and payroll process addressed where applicable
- □Apprentice and classification records considered
- □Agency submission procedure confirmed
Payment setup
- □Vendor and payment information routed appropriately
- □Invoice and waiver process established
- □Selected payment prerequisites identified
- □Authorized approval remains with company
Ongoing compliance
- □ComplyWatch review assigned
- □Expirations and recurring records monitored
- □Replacement requests and reviews tracked
- □New project requirements added without restarting company setup
Closeout
- □Final payroll and subcontractor records reviewed
- □Waivers, warranties, and certifications organized
- □Outstanding requirements resolved
- □Required history retained
ESTABLISH THE RELATIONSHIP
What is subcontractor onboarding?
Subcontractor onboarding is the process of collecting, reviewing, and organizing information needed to establish a company relationship and prepare the subcontractor for an assignment. It can include company information, tax documentation, insurance, applicable licenses, agreements, safety records, project forms, labor requirements, and payment setup.
The exact checklist changes with the company, trade, jurisdiction, owner, contract, funding source, scope, and project. No universal list guarantees compliance.
THREE DIFFERENT DECISIONS
Prequalification vs. onboarding vs. compliance
Should we work together?
Financial, capacity, safety, experience, and risk review under the company's process.
What establishes the relationship?
Collect information, execute agreements, assign the company, and establish requirements.
What must remain current?
Monitor expirations, recurring work, project changes, payment prerequisites, and closeout.
Contractor Comply supports onboarding and ongoing compliance organization. It does not claim to perform broad financial or operational prequalification.
STEPS 1 + 2
Collect basic company information and the W-9
Start with the legal company name, authorized trade name where relevant, contact details, business information, scope or trade, and the people responsible for operations, accounting, and compliance. Keep reusable information at the company level instead of recollecting it for every job.
- □Legal company name and authorized DBA recorded
- □Primary and accounting contacts identified
- □Scope and trade information captured
- □Current W-9 routed and maintained appropriately
- □Reusable company records centralized
- □Project-specific information kept separate
Follow current IRS Form W-9 guidance and qualified tax advice. Contractor Comply organizes the record; it does not provide tax advice.
STEP 3
Collect insurance documentation—and establish renewal
Initial collection is only step one. The company may need to record relevant dates, connect the insurance record with active projects, monitor approaching expiration, request replacement, review the returned file, and preserve history.
- □Requested insurance record received
- □Correct company relationship recorded
- □Entered effective or expiration dates added where relevant
- □Project-specific insurance evidence identified
- □Replacement responsibility and review process established
- □Prior record retained where appropriate
See the focused contractor COI tracking guide. Contractor Comply does not verify limits, endorsements, exclusions, additional-insured status, adequacy, or legal sufficiency.
STEP 4
Collect applicable contractor and trade credentials
Licensing varies by state, municipality, trade, scope, and contractor type. Determine what applies through the appropriate authority and contract. Where a record is tracked, identify the holder, type, jurisdiction, issuing authority, number where relevant, supporting document, entered date, and renewal responsibility.
The license and credential expiration guide explains the collect, monitor, renew, replace, review, and history workflow. Contractor Comply does not perform authoritative government verification.
STEPS 5 + 6
Execute the agreement and turn requirements into operations
The subcontract agreement, project documents, and company procedures can create insurance, safety, labor, payroll, material, payment, reporting, and closeout requirements. Qualified parties should handle legal review and execution.
Once requirements are identified, convert them into an operational register with the responsible party, due date, recurrence, evidence, status, and notes. Contractor Comply does not provide legal contract interpretation.
STEPS 7 + 8
Collect safety records and required employee credentials
Depending on the work, onboarding may include safety programs, site-specific plans, training records, competent-person documentation, operator qualifications, equipment certifications, and other employee credentials.
- □Applicable company and project safety requirements reviewed
- □Requested programs or plans collected
- □Employee credentials identified where required
- □Supporting documents and entered dates recorded
- □Responsible reviewer assigned
- □Project-specific qualifications confirmed under company procedure
Use current OSHA construction assistance and applicable state resources. Software does not replace the contractor's safety responsibilities or qualified personnel.
STEPS 9 + 10
Assign the subcontractor to the project
This is the distinction folders and onboarding packets often miss. A W-9, company insurance record, or license may be reusable. A project can still require separate forms, endorsements, safety evidence, payroll, materials, waivers, or closeout records.
A new project should not mean starting from zero. Reuse current company records where appropriate, then request only the job-specific evidence.
STEPS 11–13
Certified payroll, public works, and payment setup
Determine whether prevailing-wage or certified-payroll requirements apply from the contract and responsible authority. For covered work, onboarding may need wage decisions, classifications, rates, fringes, apprentices, weekly payroll responsibilities, and agency submission procedures.
Contractor Comply can generate a certified payroll report structured to match the WH-347 format. WH-347 is not universally mandatory, and Davis-Bacon does not apply to every public project. Review the certified payroll workflow and public works guide.
Payment setup can include vendor information, invoice procedures, waivers, payroll, and other selected prerequisites. Payment Readiness organizes tracked items; the company retains authorization and payment decisions.
STEP 14
Give the subcontractor one clear, mobile-friendly request
Complete your project packet
Upload the records shown as missing or requested for company review.
No access to the contractor's internal dashboard.The strongest request says: Here is what we need. Upload it here. A secure focused page reduces email-download-save-update steps and works for subcontractors responding from a phone or jobsite.
STEP 15
Review what comes back
Received does not mean approved or current. A file may be for the wrong company, unreadable, expired, incomplete, or unrelated to the requirement. Route new uploads through review, classify them, enter relevant dates, connect them with the correct company and project, and record whether correction is needed.
STEP 16
Onboarding should lead into ComplyWatch
After onboarding, ComplyWatch can surface tracked missing, approaching, expired, overdue, and review-needed records. The company no longer needs to reopen every project simply to determine what requires attention.
ComplyWatch operates on the information tracked inside Contractor Comply. It does not independently know every legal or contractual requirement.
BALANCED COMPARISON
Subcontractor onboarding spreadsheet vs. Contractor Comply
| Workflow | Spreadsheet | Contractor Comply |
|---|---|---|
| Company information and status | Yes | Yes |
| Supporting records | Usually separate | Connected |
| Reusable vs. project-specific records | Manual structure | Company and project workflow |
| Secure focused request | Email/manual | Upload portal |
| Review-needed uploads | Notes or separate process | Needs Review |
| Expiration and recurring attention | Calendar, formula, or review | ComplyWatch |
| Payment and closeout context | Other trackers | Connected tracked workflow |
THE MANUAL TIPPING POINT
10 signs your subcontractor onboarding process needs work
BUILD ONE STANDARD PROCESS
A repeatable onboarding lifecycle
- 01
Company setup
Create the reusable company record.
- 02
Credential collection
Gather applicable W-9, insurance, license, safety, and certification records.
- 03
Project assignment
Connect the company with the correct job and scope.
- 04
Project requirements
Add unique evidence and recurring obligations.
- 05
Review
Confirm returned records under company procedure.
- 06
Active monitoring
Move expirations and missing items into ComplyWatch.
- 07
Payment Readiness
Review selected tracked prerequisites.
- 08
Closeout
Collect final evidence and retain appropriate history.
A simple checklist may be enough when few subcontractors are active, projects are similar, records rarely expire, one person owns review, and supporting files remain easy to find.