Contractor management - guidance

Understanding what information to ask for and share with contractors can be confusing. Our clear guidance should point you in the right direction.

What and when

If you appoint a contractor, it’s vital to tick the appropriate health and safety boxes. The process begins with an initial check to identify whether the contractor’s health and safety arrangements are up to scratch. Once this is done you should provide the contractor with enough information about the proposed project and any site-specific risks they need to be aware of.

 Be organised

The various stages of the contractor selection and management process generate a paper trail. This is why we have created a new Contractor Management - Guidance document that identifies which forms should be completed and when.

Starting point

Firstly, our guidance points you towards two of our standard contractor appraisal documents. The more complex of the two is for appraising a contractor with five or more staff; the other is for those with fewer than five. The documents ask questions that are appropriate to the size of the contractor. The guidance also gives explicit instructions on how to use them.

 What the job entails

Next, the guidance suggests that our “Scope of works” document is used. Completion will ensure that you have shared important information about the nature of the work and details of any risks on your site, for example, if there’s a fragile roof or asbestos present.