Subcontract Drafting & Placement
Risk mitigationFixed FeeFor Main Contractors10 working days
I draft and place the subcontract after tender, keeping the terms back to back with the main contract where they need to be, capturing the tender's clarifications in the order and chasing execution so works do not start on an unsigned draft. The most expensive subcontract is the one that was never signed.
The problem
The tender is chosen, the works are needed on site, and the order goes out as a purchase order or two-line email so the subcontractor starts Monday. The intention is to paper it later, and later never comes: the clarifications agreed at tender are nowhere in writing, and the terms worked to are anybody's guess. Then a variation is disputed, or there is a defect, and no document says who owes what. The subtler failure is an order whose terms are not back to back with the main contract, so a delay you are charged for cannot be passed down.
The solution
I draft the subcontract on the right form and make the terms sit correctly against the main contract: the obligations you must pass down are passed down, the payment terms are lawful and workable, and the programme, variation and damages provisions line up so no risk falls between the two contracts. The tender's clarifications, the exclusions confirmed, the rates agreed, the attendances settled, are written in so the deal struck is the deal in the document. Then placement is execution: the order issued, the subcontractor's queries resolved, and the signature chased so the contract is executed before the works begin.
What you receive
The works start on a signed subcontract that says what was agreed, sits correctly against the main contract, and leaves no gap for a risk to fall through. When a variation, a delay or a defect arises later, there is a document that decides it, the difference between a commercial conversation and a dispute. And the clarifications won at tender survive into the order, instead of evaporating in the gap between choosing a subcontractor and papering the deal.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: ten working days.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
How it works
You tell me about the package and the winner
One call on the package, the chosen tender and how soon the works are needed on site. The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.
You send me the tender and the main contract
The list below lets the order capture the real deal and sit correctly against the contract you are placing it under.
- A
Head contract terms to flow down
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to draft the subcontract's terms from, so the risk that should pass down stays with you instead
Where to find it: The project's commercial folder or your own order for the works.
Why I need it: What must pass down, or the risk stops with you
- B
The scope for this package
ImportantWithout it: The subcontract is drafted from the quotation alone, and every gap has to be put back to you as an assumption before it can be issued
Where to find it: The scope and exclusions document issued with the enquiry, from the relevant service where this practice assembled the pack, because that is the boundary the price was actually built against. Otherwise the quotation the subcontractor priced against, or the drawings and specification sections it relies on. Check the buying folder for the package.
Why I need it: What the subcontractor is asked to do
- C
Price and rates
EssentialWithout it: There is no agreed basis to pay them on, so the order cannot be issued
Where to find it: The agreed price: the tenderer's own submitted price as amended by what was negotiated and confirmed in writing afterwards, from the relevant service where that ran. Not an adjusted total from the relevant service levelling schedule. An adjusted total contains this practice's own allowances for that tenderer's exclusions and is a figure they never offered; placing an order at it binds them to a price they did not quote and binds you to pay for scope nobody agreed. If the only figure available is an adjusted total, that is not this input and the work does not proceed.
Why I need it: What they are paid and on what basis
- D
The programme
EssentialWithout it: Their obligations have no dates to attach to, so the order cannot be issued
Where to find it: Your current accepted programme, wherever the project team holds the live version.
Why I need it: The dates their obligations attach to
- E
The intended subcontractor
EssentialWithout it: The conflict check cannot run and the order has no one named to place it with
Where to find it: Companies House for their registered name and number, and your own commercial contact who dealt with them at tender.
Why I need it: Who is being placed, with registered details
- F
Insurance and bond requirements
ImportantWithout it: The particulars fall back to the head contract's own minimum cover, which may be less than you actually want in place
Where to find it: Your own insurance broker or risk policy will state what you normally require; otherwise the head contract's own insurance and warranty schedule sets the minimum.
Why I need it: What must be in force before they start
- G
The intended subcontract form, with any standing amendments you apply to every package
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to test the checklist against, nothing to draft the amendments on, and no set of conditions for the payment mechanism to sit in, so the pack cannot be built
Where to find it: Your commercial team holds the form they place packages on, and their own standing amendments to it. Where they have no standard form, which form to use is their commercial decision and not one to assume: ask which form they intend and get the answer in writing.
Why I need it: What the flow-down is tested against, and what the order is drafted on
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
I draft the subcontract back to back where it needs to be
The right form, the obligations that must pass down passed down, and the payment, programme and variation terms lined up against the main contract.
I write the tender's clarifications into the order
Exclusions confirmed, rates agreed and attendances settled, so the deal that was struck at tender is the deal in the executed document.
Checked Before Issue
The order is not issued until any employer's consent is confirmed, the payment terms pass the Construction Act check and no particular is left blank.
You issue the order to the subcontractor
The order goes out from you; the subcontractor's queries on the draft come back to you and I help resolve them.
I chase the signature before the works start
Execution followed up until the contract is signed, so the works begin on an agreed document rather than on a draft everyone means to finish later.
Returnables Before Access
Before the access date you are told in writing exactly which signed documents are still outstanding and what starting without them would expose you to.
I leave the works starting on a signed subcontract
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
Tips that raise your odds of success
Questions I get asked often
This service places the winner chosen by Tender Levelling & Award Recommendation. Once the subcontract is live, the payment cycle under it is run by Subcontractor Account Administration in the Payments theme, which assesses their applications and serves the notices you owe.