Planner · WTR 1998
Staff holiday planner
A leave record per person with entitlement, carry-over and every request approved, a team planner a quarter per page, and the 2026 and 2027 bank holidays by nation. As a PDF, Word and an Excel workbook.
Free download · Editable PDF
Free subcontractor approval check sheet
A subcontractor approval check sheet records the checks made before a firm goes on your approved list, the decision, and when it is reviewed. This one covers thirteen checks, the approved list register and the review log, as an editable PDF and a Word document, free to use and reuse.
- Format
- Editable PDF
- Pages
- 3
- Built on
- CDM 2015 regulation 8
- Cost
- Free, always
What is in the subcontractor approval check sheet
3 pagesThe thirteen checks
Companies House, CIS verification with HMRC, employers’ and public liability insurance, all risks or professional indemnity, the SSIP certificate, the health and safety policy, RAMS reviewed, competence evidence, right to work, VAT and the reverse charge, bank details confirmed, and references.
The decision
Approved, approved with conditions or declined, with the conditions, the scope approved for, who approved it, and the expiry of each certificate so the review date falls before the first one lapses.
The approved list
One row per subcontractor: trade, CIS rate, when each insurance and the SSIP expires, the approval date, the review date and the status. The list your buyers order from.
The review log
Each review, what was checked, the outcome and who did it, so the list can be shown to have been kept rather than written once.
What the law and HMRC say
Checked against the sourceCompetence before appointment
A designer or contractor must have the skills, knowledge, experience and organisational capability the work needs. A person who appoints one must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves of it.
CDM 2015, regulation 8CIS verification
Verify a subcontractor with HMRC before the first payment, unless you have included them on a return in the current or two previous tax years. The verification returns the rate to deduct: gross, 20% or 30%.
HMRC CIS340Employers’ liability insurance
An employer must hold employers’ liability insurance of at least £5 million and display the certificate. A subcontractor with employees is an employer.
Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and Regulations 1998The written policy
An employer with five or more employees must have a written health and safety policy and bring it to the attention of the employees.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2(3)The reverse charge
For most construction services between VAT-registered businesses in the Construction Industry Scheme, the customer accounts for the VAT. An end user or intermediary supplier tells the subcontractor so in writing.
HMRC VAT Notice 735How to use it
Do the checks before the first order
A check that cannot be ticked delays the appointment. The sheet has the date and the person for each, so the question later is never whether it was done.
Confirm the bank details by phone
Ring a number you already hold for the firm, not one on the invoice or the email, before the first payment. Changed bank details are the commonest payment fraud in the trade.
Review before the certificates lapse
The review date is the earliest expiry or a year, whichever is sooner. In Unibuild, subcontractor management checks every insurance policy overnight, and a firm whose cover has lapsed is off the approved list by morning.
Asked most often
Questions about
Questions about
this template.
Is this subcontractor approval form free?
Yes. It is free to download, use and reuse, including on paid work and for clients, with no sign-up and no email address. Download the editable PDF or the Word version.
What should I check before using a new subcontractor?
That the company exists and is active, that HMRC has verified them for CIS and returned a deduction rate, that their employers’ and public liability insurance is in place with the expiry noted, that they hold an SSIP certificate or can show the same evidence, that their RAMS for your job are specific and reviewed, that the people they send are competent, and that their bank details are confirmed by phone. The sheet lists all thirteen.
Do I have to verify a subcontractor with HMRC?
Yes, before the first payment, unless you have included them on a CIS return in the current or two previous tax years. The verification tells you whether to pay gross, deduct 20% or deduct 30%. Paying the wrong rate is the contractor’s liability, not the subcontractor’s.
How much employers’ liability insurance must a subcontractor have?
At least £5 million. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998 set that minimum, and the certificate must be displayed or available. A sole trader with no employees does not need it, which is why the sheet asks for the company number or the UTR first.
What is SSIP and do I need it?
SSIP is the Safety Schemes in Procurement forum. Its member schemes, such as CHAS, Constructionline, SafeContractor and Acclaim, assess a contractor’s health and safety arrangements once so clients do not each ask the same questions. A certificate from one member is accepted by the others. It is not a legal requirement, but a client’s contract often asks for it.
Why confirm bank details by phone?
Because an email asking you to change a subcontractor’s bank details is the commonest payment fraud in construction. Ring a number you already hold for the firm, never the one on the email, and confirm the details before the first payment and after any change.
How often should the approved list be reviewed?
Before the earliest certificate expires, or yearly, whichever is sooner. Insurance and SSIP certificates run out, so a list reviewed once a year has firms on it with no cover for months. The review log records each check.
How does Unibuild manage subcontractors?
On one record per firm. Subcontractor management holds the CIS verification, the insurance policies and the SSIP certificate with their dates, checks every policy overnight, and takes a firm off the approved list the morning its cover lapses. The subcontractor portal then shows each firm its orders, invoices and payments.
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Order · raised against the job
Purchase order
The order number, supplier, delivery address and job reference, the items with quantities and prices, the VAT treatment, the approval before it is sent, and a guidance page on matching the invoice to the order and the goods received note.
Next step
The same records,
The same records,
without the paper.
On the platform these stop being sheets. The check, the person, the date, the signature and the action that followed are recorded as the work runs and retrieved by site.