Construction
Subcontractor document control on site
Collect each subcontractor's paperwork before they set foot on site, and let it expire on its own.
On a site with six subcontractors and forty workers, health and safety paperwork means about two hundred documents that expire on different dates and arrive by email, by WhatsApp and by hand. The problem is not storing them: it is knowing, on an ordinary Tuesday, whether the person welding on the third floor has valid training.
What to ask for, and in what order
It is worth splitting into three blocks, because they are three different moments with three different counterparts. Asking for everything at once is the fastest way to receive nothing.
| Block | What you ask for | From whom |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Social security registration, liability insurance, tax clearance certificate, risk assessment | The subcontractor's manager |
| Workers | Safety training, medical clearance, PPE handover record, individual registration | The same manager, one per person |
| Machinery | CE marking, last maintenance record, insurance and operator licence | Whoever supplies the equipment |
What it actually prevents
- Someone walking on site with lapsed insurance and nobody noticing until there is an incident.
- Losing a morning before every inspection gathering paperwork from three different inboxes.
- Expiry dates tracked by a spreadsheet somebody has to remember to open.
- Arguing with a subcontractor about whether they sent a certificate: the delivery date is logged.
Watch out
The most commonly forgotten piece is expiry. A tax clearance certificate is valid for three months: with no expiry alert, by the second site of the year it is no longer valid and the file still looks complete.
How to set it up
- 1
Create a "Subcontractor onboarding" process with the three phases
Designed once. After that, onboarding a new subcontractor is two clicks.
- 2
Mark as mandatory only what genuinely blocks access
Mark everything and the file stalls on a document that never stopped anyone entering.
- 3
Set expiry dates on the documents that have them
Insurance, tax clearance certificates and training. The alert fires before it lapses, not after.
- 4
Run the process when hiring, picking the site folder
One folder per site, one file per subcontractor inside. That is what turns an inspection into five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
›Does the subcontractor have to register for anything?
No. They get a link by email or WhatsApp, upload their documents from a phone, and that is it. No sign-up, no password.
›Can I reuse a subcontractor's paperwork on another site?
Yes. What does not change — insurance, social security registration — is provided once and referenced; site-specific items are requested again.
›What if a worker joins mid-project?
They are added to the running file without rebuilding anything, and the request reaches the subcontractor's manager.
›Does it work for contractor coordination requirements?
That is exactly the case: it gathers, dates and retains the documentation that has to be exchanged, and records when each item was handed over.
›How do I prove to an inspector that I had everything?
Every delivery is dated. If you also certify the closed file, a third party can verify the date without taking your word for it.
A real case
The situation
A construction company with four active sites gets an unannounced inspection at the Valencia one.
What you do
- Opens that site's folder
- Shows each subcontractor's file with the delivery date of every document
- Checks on the spot that no training has lapsed
What you get
The inspection is resolved on site, without calling the office or asking for time to produce paperwork.
The situation
A subcontractor arrives on site without current documentation.
What you do
- Checks their status before authorising entry
What you get
The gap shows before the gate.
The situation
A new worker arrives on the same day.
What you do
- Checks per person what is missing
What you get
Onboarding is resolved before access.
The situation
A document expires mid-project.
What you do
- Records expiries per company and per person
What you get
The warning arrives before it bites.
The situation
Chasing twelve subcontractors occupies a person.
What you do
- Requests and chases automatically
What you get
That person reviews instead of nagging.
The situation
The client asks who was on site on a specific day.
What you do
- Checks the record of authorised access
What you get
You answer using that day's date.
This article answers
- subcontractor document control
- how to collect health and safety paperwork from a subcontractor
- contractor compliance documentation
- check that subcontractor workers have valid training
- software to manage construction site documentation