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Insight · Subcontractors

Why you cannot find
reliable subbies.

It is treated as a hiring problem and it is a retention problem. The firms that get the good trades are the ones that are straightforward to work for.

Published ·Updated ·5 min read·Written by

A row of tracked excavators

Reliable subcontractors are not hard to find. They are hard to attract, because they are not short of work and they choose who to price for. The firms that get them are the ones that are straightforward to work for: clear scope, decisions answered, applications dealt with, and payment on the date that was agreed.

It is not a hiring problem

The complaint is always framed the same way: we cannot find good subbies. Framed like that it has no solution, because it implies the good ones are hidden and the task is searching harder.

They are not hidden. They are working for somebody else, and the question worth asking is why that firm rather than yours.

A genuinely good subcontractor with a full order book is making a choice every time an enquiry lands. They price the ones they want and let the others go quiet. So the useful question is not where to find them, it is what you look like on the list.

Good trades are not short of work. They are short of contractors who are straightforward to work for, which is a much smaller pool than it should be.

What they are actually choosing between

Ask subcontractors why they favour one main contractor over another and the answers are consistent, and almost none of them are about rates.

  • Do they get paid when they were told they would. Overwhelmingly the first answer, and the one that outranks price.
  • Is the scope clear enough to price. An enquiry with drawings, a programme and a defined package is cheap to price. One that requires three phone calls to understand gets deprioritised, particularly when the trade is busy.
  • Do decisions come back. Being on site with nothing to do because nobody answered a question costs a subcontractor real money.
  • Is the paperwork proportionate and asked for once. Four separate emails over three weeks each requesting one document tells a good firm exactly how the job will run.
  • Do applications get dealt with rather than argued. A contractor that reduces every valuation on principle trains its supply chain to inflate and to look elsewhere.

Most of them are within your control and cost nothing.

The levers that actually work

Four, in order of effect.

Pay on the date. Not early, just when you said. This is the single strongest thing a contractor can do and it is almost entirely a process question rather than a cash one: most late payments are late because somebody did not deal with the application in time, not because the money was not there.

Send an enquiry somebody can price without ringing you. Drawings, scope, programme, what is included and excluded, and when you need the price. Half an hour of your time converts into a better and faster response from every trade you send it to.

Ask for the compliance pack once, at onboarding. Everything at the same time, in a format they already have, and do not ask again for what you hold. That is set out in vetting a subcontractor.

Answer questions in a day. Even when the answer is that you do not know yet.

Where vetting fits, without contradicting itself

There is an apparent tension between wanting to be easy to work for and needing insurance, cards, accreditation and RAMS before anybody starts. It resolves cleanly.

What makes vetting painful is not the list, it is the process: asked repeatedly, asked late, asked in pieces, asked again for things already provided. A subcontractor who receives one clear request at the point of award, and is never asked for the same certificate twice, does not experience it as friction. The same list delivered badly is the reason they stop returning your calls.

Keeping them once you have them

Cheaper than finding them, and mostly a matter of not doing avoidable things.

Give them enough notice to plan labour. Tell them early when a programme moves rather than letting them mobilise and be turned away, because remobilisation is the most common uncompensated cost in subcontracting. Deal with the final account rather than letting it drift, and release retention without being chased, which is rare enough to be remembered. And where something goes wrong on their package, say so directly and quickly rather than through the valuation.

Where this touches the platform

Most of the levers above are process rather than software. What a system removes is the specific failures caused by information being scattered: applications sitting unactioned because nobody owned them, the same certificate requested twice because the first is in an inbox, insurance currency unknown at the moment of instruction, and payment dates that nobody is watching. Unibuild holds subcontractors as records with their orders, documents, insurance position and payment history together, and gives them their own portal login showing the orders you issued, the invoices they raised against them, and whether those have been approved and paid. That last one removes a whole category of phone call, for both sides.

Subcontractor management The subcontractor portal Reminders and expiry Applications for payment

Where to start, on Monday

Ask three subcontractors you rate a direct question: what is the most annoying thing about working for us. You will get a real answer, it will be specific, and it will usually be something small and fixable that nobody in your business knew about.

Then check one number: over your last twenty subcontractor payments, how many went out on the date they were due. If the answer is most of them, you are already ahead of most of the market. If it is not, that is the first lever and it is worth more than the other three together.

Asked most often

The follow-up questions.

The checks to run before instructing anybody are in vetting a subcontractor.

How do I find reliable subcontractors?
Reframe the question: good trades are not hidden, they are working for somebody else and choosing which enquiries to price. The firms that attract them are straightforward to work for, meaning clear scope on the enquiry, decisions answered quickly, compliance asked for once at onboarding, applications dealt with rather than argued, and payment on the date agreed.
Where do contractors actually find subcontractors?
Referral from trades already on site does most of the work, and it outperforms every other route because the recommender has to face you afterwards. Beyond that: supplier and merchant contacts, trade association member lists, accreditation registers, and the firms already working for main contractors you respect. Online directories fill gaps. The best source is usually somebody standing on your job this week.
How do I check a subcontractor is reliable before using them?
Ask for two references on work of the same type and size, then actually telephone them and ask specific questions. Did they finish when they said. What happened when something went wrong. Would you use them on a job with a tight programme. Generic written references prove nothing. A five-minute conversation with a contracts manager who has used them tells you more than any amount of paperwork.
What do subcontractors actually value in a main contractor?
Being paid when they were told they would be, above almost everything including rate. Then a scope clear enough to price without three phone calls, decisions that come back, paperwork that is proportionate and requested once, and applications dealt with rather than reduced on principle. Most of these are within a contractor's control and cost nothing.
Does paying more attract better subcontractors?
Less than most firms expect. Rate matters, but a busy and competent trade will generally take a slightly lower rate from a contractor who pays on time, answers questions and runs a clear job over a higher rate from one who does not. Reliability of payment consistently outranks price in what subcontractors say they choose on.
What is the most common uncompensated cost for a subcontractor?
Remobilisation. A programme moves, the trade mobilises and is turned away or sent home, and returns later at their own cost. Telling subcontractors early when dates change, rather than letting them arrive, is one of the cheapest things a main contractor can do to keep good trades willing to price its work.
How do I make vetting less off-putting?
Ask once, at the point of award, for everything at the same time, in a format they already hold, and never ask again for something you have. What makes compliance painful is the process rather than the list: requested repeatedly, late, in pieces, and duplicating what was already provided.
What should I do about a subcontractor who is good but always busy?
Plan around them rather than replacing them. Give longer notice than you give anybody else, pay on time without being chased, and be straight about programme changes. Reliable trades ration their availability by how much trouble a client is, not only by price. Firms that complain they cannot get good subcontractors are frequently the ones those subcontractors have quietly deprioritised.
Is it better to use one subcontractor or several for the same trade?
Two or three who know your work, with one of them dominant. A single supplier is a programme risk the moment they are ill, busy or in dispute with you. Five keeps nobody invested enough to prioritise you. Two or three means there is always an alternative and each of them has a reason to keep the relationship, which is the balance most established contractors settle on.
Next step

Be the contractor good trades price first.

Good subbies choose their main contractors too. They price first for the firm that pays on time and does not lose their paperwork.

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