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Contractor prequalification checklist
Contractor prequalification checks that a contractor can work safely before they start: their insurances, licences, safety system and injury history. Businesses sharing a workplace must consult, cooperate and coordinate on safety, so collect the evidence rather than take it on trust.
Pick the work the contractor will do for a checklist you can copy or download.
What work will the contractor do?
Your checklist (17 items)
Business and insurance
- Business details. Legal name, ABN or NZBN, address, a contact for safety matters
- Public liability insurance. Certificate of currency at the cover you require (often $10M or $20M) (record the expiry date)
- Workers compensation insurance. Certificate of currency, or a reason they don't need it (e.g. a sole trader with no workers) (record the expiry date)
- Professional indemnity. Certificate of currency, if they design, certify or give advice (record the expiry date)
Safety management
- Safety policy. A current policy signed by a senior person
- Safety management system or plan. How they identify hazards, control risks, consult workers and report incidents, in proportion to their size
- Injury history. Lost time and recordable injuries with hours worked for the last 3 years (LTIFR and TRIFR)
- Regulator action. Any notices, enforceable undertakings or prosecutions in the last 3 years, and what changed
- Subcontractors. Whether they will subcontract, and how they check their own subcontractors
People
- Competency and training. Training records for the people who will do the work
- Site induction. Your induction completed by every worker before they start
Construction
- General construction induction. A construction induction card (white card) for every worker on site
- Safe work method statements. A SWMS for each high-risk construction work activity, specific to your site
- Licences and tickets. High risk work and trade licences for the tasks in scope (record the expiry date)
Work at height
- Fall prevention method. How falls will be prevented: edge protection, platforms, then fall arrest
- Equipment inspections. Inspection records for harnesses, lanyards, anchors and ladders (record the expiry date)
- Rescue plan. How someone suspended in a harness will be rescued, and who is trained to do it
General guidance, not legal advice. Licence classes, thresholds and insurance levels differ by state, country and contract: check them against your regulator and your own requirements.
How to use it
Running prequalification without a portal
Send the checklist before you engage
Ask for every item as a document, not a tick. A certificate of currency, not "yes, we're insured".
Record expiry dates as the documents arrive
Insurances and licences lapse. A date column is what lets you ask for renewals before a contractor is on site uncovered.
Compare injury rates on the same basis
Raw injury counts mean little without hours. Put them through the LTIFR and TRIFR calculator.
Review the SWMS against the actual job
A generic SWMS is a common gap. Check it names your site, its hazards and the controls the crew will really use.
Questions
Common questions
What is contractor prequalification?
Prequalification is checking that a contractor can do the work safely before they are engaged: who they are, their insurances, licences, safety system and track record. It happens once and is refreshed when documents expire, before any site induction.
Is prequalification a legal requirement?
The laws don't name a prequalification process, but they do require businesses that share a workplace to consult, cooperate and coordinate on safety, and to make sure work is done safely as far as is reasonably practicable. Prequalification is how most organisations show they checked, rather than assumed.
What is the difference between prequalification and induction?
Prequalification checks the contractor business before you engage it. Induction briefs each of their workers on your site's hazards, rules and emergency procedures before they start. You need both.
How often should contractors be re-checked?
Whenever a document expires (insurances usually yearly, licences on their own cycle), when the scope of work changes, and after any serious incident. Recording expiry dates is what makes this possible without re-asking for everything.
Should I ask contractors for their injury rates?
Yes, with the hours worked so you can compare like with like. Ask for lost time and total recordable injuries over the last three years, and use the LTIFR and TRIFR calculator to put them on the same basis.
Next step, free
Contractor SWMS and JSA review
Check a contractor's safe work method statement against the job before they start. A prompt you run in your own ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot.
Prequalification that keeps itself current
Umbrella holds each contractor's documents with their expiry dates, asks for renewals before they lapse, and shows who is cleared to work at every site.
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