How to Manage Subcontractors Without the Headaches

You can't do every trade yourself. At some point you need a sparky, a plasterer, or a tiler — and how you manage that relationship determines whether the job runs smoothly or becomes a nightmare of rework, finger-pointing, and compliance headaches.

Finding good subbies

The single best source is recommendations from other tradies you trust. After that:

• Check their licence — confirm it is current and covers the specific work you need, in your state. Use your state's online licence check (e.g. QBCC Licence Search, NSW Fair Trading Licence Check).
• Ask for references — call the last two builders or tradies they worked for. Ask specifically about reliability, quality, and whether they would use them again.
• Check insurance — request a Certificate of Currency for public liability ($5M minimum). If they have employees, confirm workers comp is current.
• Start small — give them a minor job first. See how they communicate, how clean they leave the site, and whether they finish on time. Scale up from there.

The written agreement

Do not start work on a handshake. A written subcontractor agreement does not need to be 20 pages of legalese — but it must cover:

• Scope of work — exactly what they are doing, in enough detail that there is no ambiguity about what is included and what is not.
• Price and payment terms — fixed price or hourly, when they invoice, when you pay. Be specific. "On completion" is not specific enough.
• Timeline — start date, expected completion, and what happens if they are late.
• Defect liability — who pays to fix defective work, and within what timeframe.
• WHS responsibilities — who provides what PPE, site induction requirements, and the expectation that they comply with your site safety rules.
• Insurance requirements — minimum public liability cover and evidence of workers comp if applicable.

Managing them on site

The brief

Walk the job with them before they start. Show them exactly what you need, point out anything tricky, and make sure they understand the standard you expect. A 15-minute walk-through saves hours of rework.

Site induction

Every subcontractor must receive a site induction covering hazards, emergency procedures, PPE requirements, and your specific site rules. Get them to sign it. This is not bureaucracy — it is a legal WHS requirement and your protection if something goes wrong.

Check the work

Do not wait until the job is finished to look at it. Check progress at natural milestones — after rough-in, before close-up, before final finish. Catching a problem early is a 10-minute conversation. Catching it after the plasterboard is up is a $5,000 disaster.

Paying them

Pay your subbies on time, every time. Nothing destroys a good working relationship faster than late payment. If cash flow is tight, be honest about it upfront — most subbies will work with you if you communicate, but they will not work with you again if you ghost them on payment day.

The compliance stuff

• TPAR — lodge your Taxable Payments Annual Report by 28 August each year. Record every payment to every contractor throughout the year so you are not scrambling in July.
• Contractor vs employee — make sure your subbie arrangement is genuinely a contractor relationship, not a disguised employment. The ATO test looks at control, delegation, risk, and tools. If you get this wrong, the penalties are severe.
• WHS records — keep copies of site inductions, insurance certificates, and any safety-related communications. These are the first things a regulator asks for after an incident.