Subcontractor Performance Checklist

Request the most recent posted OSHA 300A summary and the carrier's EMR letter. Compare TRIR and DART against the trade benchmark — an EMR above 1.0 or a TRIR above the BLS rate for the NAICS code is a flag for the next OAC.

Federal projects and most large commercial owners require OSHA 10 for workers and OSHA 30 for foremen and supervisors, dated within the last 5 years. Cross-check the sub's roster in the badge system against cards on file — anyone without a current card gets pulled from the gate today, not next week.

Pull the sub's pre-task plans and weekly toolbox talk sign-in sheets from the period. Confirm a JHA exists for every high-risk task performed (hot work, confined space, scaffold over 6 ft, excavation, energized work) and that the workers on the JHA match the foreman's daily roster.

Reconcile the sub's incident log against the site superintendent's daily reports and HammerTech / SafetyCulture entries. A near-miss reported by the GC but missing from the sub's log is the warning sign — it usually means the sub is suppressing reports rather than learning from them.

Field-walk a representative area with the foreman and the approved submittal package in hand. The common gotcha: submittal returned 'approved as noted' but the sub ordered the unrevised version — verify the model number on the installed product matches the revision shown on the stamped submittal, not the original.

Total non-conformance reports issued, NCRs still open past 14 days, and labor hours back-charged for rework. Recurring NCRs against the same scope (e.g., three drywall corner-bead deficiencies in one month) signal a foreman or training problem, not a one-off.

Spot-check the sub's redline set in Procore / ACC against actual installed conditions in two areas. Subs that wait until closeout to draw as-builts from memory and phone photos always produce gaps; pull this back monthly so the record set is real.

Pull punch items assigned to the sub in the last 30 days. Closure rate under 70% with retainage approaching release is the failure pattern — the last 5% never finishes and final payment hangs. Anything older than 30 days gets named owner and target date today.

Pull badge-in counts from ExakTime / busybusy and compare against the manpower the sub committed in the three-week look-ahead. Chronic under-staffing against commitment — even when activities aren't yet on the critical path — is the leading indicator of a sub that will fall behind in 60 days.

Confirm the sub's foreman attended every weekly pull-plan / Touchplan session and committed to dated activities. A foreman who shows up but won't commit to specific deliverables is signaling either capacity issues or unresolved RFIs blocking work — either way it's a PM conversation this week.

Calculate Percent Plan Complete from the last 4 weekly commitments. PPC under 70% over a rolling month is the threshold most lean-construction GCs use to require a recovery plan from the sub.

Pull the sub's open RFIs and submittals from Procore. Subs that sit on submittals for two weeks before transmitting to the GC are the ones whose long-lead equipment shows up late — measure their internal cycle time, not just the designer's response time.

Pull the sub's certificate of insurance from ISNetworld / Avetta. Confirm GL, WC, Auto, and Umbrella limits meet the contract, that the GC and owner are listed as additional insured with waiver of subrogation, and that the policy doesn't expire within the next 30 days.

If COI is expired or non-compliant, the sub is working uninsured — issue a written cure notice today, copy the risk manager, and pull badges at the gate until a compliant cert is on file. A loss event during a coverage gap exposes the GC's policy and the parent under most subcontract indemnity provisions.

On Davis-Bacon and state prevailing-wage projects, sample the sub's WH-347 against the wage determination. Common errors: laborer paid at apprentice scale without registered apprenticeship, fringe paid as cash without documenting the offset, missing employee Social Security on the form. Errors compound into back-pay liability for the GC under the contract.

Walk the percent-complete claimed on the AIA G703 against actual installed quantities verified in the field walk. Front-loaded line items (mobilization billed at 100% in month 1, finish work understated) are the standard pattern when a sub is short on cash flow — flag and back-bill if needed.

For every claimant who served a preliminary notice on the project, confirm a conditional partial waiver matched to the prior pay period and an unconditional partial for the period before that. Missing waivers from a lower-tier supplier is the most common path to a double-payment claim against the owner at retention release.

The PM and superintendent agree on a rating across the four pillars and capture the rationale. The notes here become the record cited in the next prequalification cycle and in any termination-for-default proceeding — be specific about events, dates, and contract clauses, not generalities.

Issue the written cure notice per the subcontract — typically 48 or 72 hours to respond with a corrective plan, 7 to 14 days to demonstrate cure. Notify the surety in writing on bonded subs; sureties that learn of default after the GC self-performs routinely deny the claim. Copy the contracts manager and risk.

Push the rating and rationale into the company's subcontractor prequalification system (BuildingConnected, ISNetworld, or internal). This is the data the chief estimator pulls when deciding whether to invite this sub on the next bid — if it's not logged, it didn't happen.