Getting on main contractors' approved subcontractor lists

To get on a main contractor's approved subcontractor list, contact their supply chain or procurement team, complete their supplier questionnaire or portal, and send a pack showing your insurance, CIS status, health and safety documents, accreditation and recent similar work. Then price their enquiries well and on time. Approval only gets you invited; your first few jobs keep you on.

Why does an approved list matter?

Because main contractors rarely tender packages to firms they haven't checked. Approval puts you on the list their estimators and buyers pick from when a job comes in. It's the route into steady subcontract work, and often into public sector jobs the main contractor has won on a framework.

A list place doesn't promise work. It means you'll be asked to price, and the work goes to whoever prices well and delivers.

What will a main contractor check?

That you're legal, insured, safe and able to do the size of package they let. Each contractor sets its own requirements, but most ask for the same core set.

Which accreditation should you get?

Whichever the contractors you want to work for use. Some ask for a particular scheme; others accept several. Ask the supply chain team before you pay, because the schemes differ in cost and in what they assess, and some contractors run their own questionnaire instead.

For example, a firm paying £1,600 a year plus £140 a month for an accreditation, with its paperwork three months overdue, is paying for a badge it can't use. An accreditation is only worth it if you keep the documents behind it current. For a side-by-side, see Constructionline, CHAS, SafeContractor and SMAS compared.

How do you get in front of the right person?

Write to the supply chain or procurement manager, and separately to an estimator or package manager who buys your trade. Big contractors often have a supplier portal: register there, then email to say you have. Smaller regional contractors usually respond better to a short email and a phone call.

Find the right people on the contractor's website, on LinkedIn, or by asking on site if you already work near one of their jobs. Keep it short: what you do, where, at what size, and that your documents are ready.

Subject: Trade subcontractor, area: request to join your supply chain

Hello name,

I run company name, a trade firm based in town with number people on the tools. We work across area or counties on packages from about £smallest to £largest.

Recent work includes:
- Job 1: type, value, client type, year
- Job 2: type, value, client type, year

We'd like to be considered for your approved subcontractor list for trade packages. We hold:
- Employer's and public liability insurance (£EL cover / £PL cover)
- CIS registration (gross / net payment status)
- Accreditation, e.g. Constructionline Silver, valid to date
- Health and safety policy, RAMS and CSCS cards for the team

I've registered on your supplier portal / attached our approval pack. If there's a questionnaire to complete, please send it and I'll return it within number working days.

I'd also welcome the chance to price a current package so you can see our rates.

Kind regards,
Name
Phone

What happens after you're approved?

You'll get tender enquiries, sometimes with short deadlines. How you handle the first few decides whether the next ones come.

1. Reply to every enquiry.

   Price it, or decline politely with a reason. Silence is how firms drop off lists.

2. Read the pack before pricing.

   Check scope, programme, payment and retention first: see reading a tender pack in 10 minutes.

3. Send a clear price with qualifications.

   List drawings, assumptions and exclusions: see tender qualifications and exclusions.

4. Ask for feedback when you lose.

   A main contractor will often tell you where you were on price.

5. Deliver the first job well.

   Turn up on the start date, keep RAMS current, submit applications on time.

6. Keep your documents in date.

   Insurance and accreditation renewals are the commonest reason for being suspended from a list.

That roofer does mostly domestic work with some subcontract work for builders, and pricing from drawings was the gap between him and more of it. Main contractor enquiries arrive as drawings and specifications, so it's worth learning to measure PDF drawings and do a quantity take-off before the first one lands.

What will it change in your business?

Payment, mainly. Main contractors pay monthly in arrears after an application, often hold back retention, deduct CIS and use the VAT domestic reverse charge. One national groundworks firm we spoke to, seven staff plus subbies on mainly commercial subcontract work, was still deducting CIS by hand and running the office on pen and paper. Set your invoicing and job costing up before the work grows. See moving from domestic to commercial work for the cash-flow effect.

Common questions