Taking on Bona Fide Sub Contractors

[MJH]

Hi there

 

We are a small family business serving mainly domestic customers. Due to high volume of work and also ill health we are looking into contracting out a bit of work to bona fide sub contractors. I have looked into this a bit and as I understand it bona fide subcontractors need to have their own vehicles and equipment and public liability insurance to at least match ours. We give them the work and they carry it out on their own time using all their own equipment. This is as opposed to a subcontractor who works along side us and is covered by our insurance on the day they work with us.

 

Due to lack of experience in this field I would really appreciate some help with the following:

 

* anyone know of a template agreement to draw up with bona fide contractors

* how best to go about finding bona fide contractors who will uphold our reputation of carrying out top quality tree work

* How are prices with bona fide contractors usually worked out

*Any other advice would be much appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

See the sub-contractor section on the AA website at Help becoming an ARB Approved Contractor , and the attached, as a start point.

 

Good luck..

Paul

SubContractorChecklist(v1).doc

[MJH]

Hi Paul

 

Thanks for the link. The attached forms will definately be of use.

 

Still have a few questions, as I said in my first post, especially with regards to pricing and finding reputable bona fide contractors. Will be really grateful for any more advice from those in the know. Thanks guys.

[timtree81]

Sounds good , IMO it will not work out this is just my opinion tho , why don't you try taking on another crew / break your crew into 2 and split your time

Between the 2 crews

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Hi Paul

 

Thanks for the link. The attached forms will definately be of use.

 

Still have a few questions, as I said in my first post, especially with regards to pricing and finding reputable bona fide contractors. Will be really grateful for any more advice from those in the know. Thanks guys.

 

Pricing I can't help with I'm afraid but 'reputable' bf contractors...you could consider ARB Approved Contractors or other accreditation scheme memberships.

 

Paul

[MJH]

Hi Tim Tree. We have to do it this way due to being a very small business (only two arborists) and me in the office. Our main man is undergoing medical surgery and will be off for at least 3 months. He won't be up to overseeing a new team or labour only subbies whilst recuperating (Doctors orders). However, we do have work coming in so the only option I can see is to sub it out to bona fide contractors. I would be genuinely interested to know the reason for your reservations.

[Peter]

I used to run a team as a labour only subbie, find the right subbie and the team will run itself.

 

If you want bona fide subcontractors, get them to price the work then add your cut on top.

[MJH]

Thanks for the advice. So if you get the bona fide subcontractors to price the work, do they then write up the job description and price and give it to you, and you add your cut and sent the quote off? What would be a reasonable cut on top?

 

Thanks

[Ian Flatters]

I used to run a team as a labour only subbie, find the right subbie and the team will run itself.

 

If you want bona fide subcontractors, get them to price the work then add your cut on top.

 

Totally agree with this, the problem i had was if someone turned up asking for a quote they would price it for themselves i found. But thats just business, i prefer Peters top option, if you already have another van thats great and if you can hire in a chipper that will cost a bit but then at least they are working under your brand name as such.

[Peter]

Either way you need someone you trust. As for new enquiries while on site, you need to be specific about that kind of thing from the start, if you dont make it clear what you want then you cant expect anything else.