Subcontractor Prequalification Checklist

What prequalification is

Before a general contractor lets a subcontractor bid or work on a project, many ask them to prequalify: fill out a questionnaire and send supporting documents that show the business is licensed, insured, safe and able to take on the work. Some GCs use a paper or PDF form; others use an online portal.

Every GC’s form is different, but most ask for the same core information.

The usual checklist

• Company details: legal name, address, years in business, ownership, and key contacts
• A signed W-9
• Contractor license numbers, classifications and expiration dates
• A current certificate of insurance that meets their limits, often with them named as additional insured
• Your EMR (experience modification rate) for the last three years
• OSHA 300A injury and illness summaries for recent years, if your business is required to keep them
• Your written safety program, and sometimes training records
• Bonding capacity, often a letter from your surety
• References and a list of similar past projects
• Financial information, on some larger projects
• Certifications such as DBE, MBE or WBE, if you hold them
• An authorized signature

Build a master packet once

Most of those answers don’t change from one GC to the next. Keep one master set of current documents and standard answers, and each new packet becomes a matter of copying, checking and filling in the few questions that are specific to that GC.

• Keep every document current and note its expiration date.
• Use the same wording for the same answers every time, so your packets are consistent.
• Save a copy of each packet you send, in case the GC asks you to update it next year.

Don’t guess

If you don’t know an answer, such as an EMR you haven’t looked up or an employee count you need to check, leave it blank and find out. A wrong answer on a prequalification form can be harder to fix than a late one.