How to prequalify subcontractors: a one-page process for GCs

Prequalification tends to go wrong in one of two directions. Either there's no program and the estimator decides who's "good" from memory, or there's a forty-page questionnaire modelled on a public-sector RFQ that half the subs never complete, so the estimator decides from memory anyway.

Here's a right-sized version for a mid-size GC. Adapt it to your jurisdiction and your insurance and legal advisors; the details of bonding, workers' compensation and insurance requirements vary by province and state.

What prequalification is for

Be honest about the goal. For most mid-size GCs it's three things:

1. Don't award to a sub who can't finish. Financial capacity, bonding, workload.
2. Don't put a dangerous crew on site. Safety record, workers' compensation standing, a program in place.
3. Don't get surprised by insurance gaps. Coverage meeting your contract minimums.

Most of what's on a typical questionnaire beyond those rarely changes a decision.

The 6-question form

One page. Subs complete it in fifteen minutes, which is why they complete it.

1. Legal name, address, years in business, and trades performed (as cost codes, from a list you provide).
2. Largest single contract completed in the last three years, with the GC's name and a contact.
3. Bonding capacity (single and aggregate) and surety name. "Not bonded" is acceptable for smaller trades.
4. Workers' compensation account number and current clearance, plus the last three years' experience rating or equivalent.
5. Insurance: general liability limit, auto, and pollution or professional coverage where relevant. Attach the certificate.
6. Safety: written program? COR or equivalent certification? Lost-time incidents in the last three years?

Plus a signature and date.

What to leave off

1. Financial statements below a threshold. Some GCs set it in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. Above it, ask for the last year-end statement and look at two things: working capital, and whether revenue is falling sharply.
2. More than one reference. One completed project with a contact you can phone beats ten with nobody to call.
3. Org charts, quality manuals, equipment lists. Ask for them on the specific job that needs them.
4. A scoring rubric. They turn every decision into an argument about weights. Use three states instead: Approved, Approved with limit (a dollar cap on what you'll award), or Not approved, with a one-line reason.

The process in 5 steps

1. Send the form when a sub joins the list

"We keep this on file so we can award without a scramble. One page, fifteen minutes." Most will do it. Some won't until an award is imminent, which is fine.

2. Make it a condition of award, not of invitation

If you gate invitations on prequal, your bid list shrinks to subs who fill out forms, which isn't the same as subs who do good work. Invite widely, qualify before you sign.

3. Put the result where bidders are picked

If the form lives in a shared drive and the trade list lives in a spreadsheet, nobody checks. Add three fields to the trade list itself: Prequal status, Limit, Date. The database columns include them for this reason. In a directory tool it's a field on the company record.

4. Refresh yearly

In your slow season, send the form back to every Approved sub prefilled with last year's answers and ask them to confirm or update. Certificates and clearances expire. Anyone who ignores two refresh requests drops to "Approved, expired" and is asked again before an award.

5. Keep job-specific asks with the job

A bond for the sub's scope, a specific insurance endorsement, a project safety plan: ask for those on that job, from the awarded sub, and file them with the job. Mixing them into the prequal file is how it becomes forty pages.

What about prequal platforms?

BuildingConnected has TradeTapp, Procore has a prequalification module, and standalone services exist. They suit large GCs with hundreds of subs and a compliance function. For a mid-size shop they can push you back toward the long-form problem, because the form is the platform's and subs dislike completing a different one per GC. If you go that way, check two things: can you shorten the questionnaire to what you use, and does the result show where you pick bidders?

Don't skip the known subs

The subs who most need prequalifying are the long-standing relationships nobody thinks to check: the firm whose surety lapsed quietly, or whose founder retired and whose new owner has never run a job your size. Send them the same one-page form as everyone else and frame it as "we're doing this for everyone." A well-run business sends it back in a day.

Short version

Six questions, one page. Approved / Approved with limit / Not approved. Status visible on the trade list. Refresh yearly. Job-specific asks stay with the job. Invite widely, qualify before award, include the old friends.

Prequalification decides who you'd award to. Getting them to bid is the other half, and that's what Invite All (our product) is for: one tracked invitation per sub from your own inbox, so the approved subs on your list actually see the job and tell you whether they're in.