Check subcontractor competence before mobilisation in Ireland

A subcontractor may have a strong company profile yet send a crew that lacks the experience, training or supervision needed for this site and task. Before mobilisation, an Irish construction client or principal contractor needs evidence that the people and organisation selected can carry out the proposed work safely. The review should be proportionate to the work and should end with a practical decision: proceed, proceed with specific controls, or defer the activity until a gap is resolved.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) client guidance says clients must employ competent designers and contractors. Its construction-regulations guidance describes contractor cooperation, relevant safety information and site induction. This guide addresses the pre-start evidence decision, separate from a generic contractor-management software page or a general account of the 2013 Regulations.

Define the work before requesting evidence

Describe the contract package, location, sequence, likely interfaces and safety-critical activities. A subcontractor's past scaffold work does not automatically qualify it for complex temporary works or an unfamiliar system. Ask what the team will actually do, the plant it will use and who will supervise. A request for “all certificates” without a task definition creates noise and may still miss the important evidence.

Use a risk-based evidence list. For routine work, relevant experience, a current method and named supervision may be central. For crane operations, scaffolding, electrical isolation or excavation, specialist competence, plant documentation and technical control arrangements matter more. Identify any design, permit or inspection dependency that must exist before a workfront is released. A commercial contract award is not itself a health and safety approval.

Check company capability and named people separately

At company level, examine similar work, resources, management arrangements, subcontracting chain and how incidents or defects are handled. Ask who will make decisions when the nominated supervisor is absent. Where a qualification is relevant, verify the issuing body and scope rather than relying on a logo in a tender pack. Keep a record of the evidence checked, its date and any conditions attached to acceptance.

At worker level, match the named person to the proposed task. The HSA Safe Pass FAQ explains the relevant categories for construction safety awareness and stresses that Safe Pass does not replace an employer's duty to provide task-appropriate information, instruction and training. The HSA CSCS guidance lists certain safety-critical tasks for which CSCS training is required. Do not demand one card for every person regardless of role, and do not treat a general awareness card as proof of specialist ability.

Check expiry and identity carefully, but avoid storing more personal data than necessary. A record might show that a designated reviewer verified a relevant credential against its holder and task, rather than copying every personal document into an unrestricted project folder. If a new worker replaces the person assessed, repeat the relevant check.

Test the proposed method against the site

Request a task-specific risk assessment method statement (RAMS) or other appropriate safe system of work. Compare it with actual site constraints and the construction-stage safety plan. The HSA RAMS guidance emphasises site information, work methods, training and sign-off. A generic document with the wrong address or plant should be returned for correction before it becomes the operative method.

Ask the subcontractor to explain how it will manage interfaces: deliveries, pedestrian routes, simultaneous trades, temporary works and emergency arrangements. This discussion can expose a gap that no certificate reveals. Record who agreed the control and how it will be communicated. Where the Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS) must coordinate contractors, make sure the site process brings the subcontractor's information to the right person.

Close gaps before people arrive

Give every missing item an owner and a decision date. “Training to follow” is not a release condition if the person is due to perform a safety-critical task tomorrow. A revised RAMS, verified card, competent supervisor or planned plant inspection may all be prerequisites. The reviewer should distinguish a document that can be completed during routine onboarding from evidence that must be available before the activity starts.

Record an explicit outcome and scope. Approval for groundworks should not be interpreted as approval for roofing added later. If the subcontractor changes its crew, equipment or method, reassess the relevant part. Evidence checked once at tender stage becomes stale when the work changes.

Example: a scaffold package

A specialist subcontractor is selected for a small scaffold installation. The buyer checks similar work, the proposed system, a named supervisor and task-relevant CSCS evidence. The RAMS identifies erection and handover arrangements, but the planned delivery conflicts with a school access route. The project team changes the delivery window, records the traffic control and briefs both the scaffold crew and site supervisor. Mobilisation is accepted only for the agreed package and crew. If an altered design or replacement erector appears later, the earlier check is revisited.

The point is not to accumulate a thick supplier file. It is to show why a particular team was accepted for particular work under particular controls.

Keep a defensible decision trail

Retain the task definition, evidence requested, verification, gaps, conditions, decision maker and date. Make the result accessible to the team that controls access and permits. Reconcile this pre-start decision with induction and ongoing supervision; neither replaces the other. A site can have perfect onboarding records yet fail to notice that the operative work differs from the work reviewed.

For a product discussion, use the Complys Ireland construction safety page to ask how current records and named owners can support this evidence workflow. Verify the present implementation before making any feature claim. This page does not say that Complys verifies cards against an issuing body, determines legal competence, grants site access or automatically approves a subcontractor.