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    All templatesCompliance · 3 pages · Updated 17 October 2026

    Contractor Compliance Record Template

    Three-page contractor compliance record, one per contractor company: company details and approval status, the scope of work and who engaged the contractor, a table of documents requested and received with dates, expiry and outcome, the workers sent with their qualifications and induction dates, the site induction, permits issued, monitoring visits, incidents and changes, and an end-of-job review with a decision and sign-off. Which documents you ask for is for you, your contract and the rules that apply to decide, and a document that arrives does not show that a contractor is competent.

    What's inside

    Page 1: the contractor, the work and the documents

    1. Contractor company — name, registration or tax number, address, contact, trade, subcontractors used, number of workers expected, approval status (not yet assessed, approved, approved with conditions, on hold, not approved or removed) and the sites or work types it is approved for
    2. The work and who engaged the contractor — scope of work, who engaged it, the contractor's site contact, contract or order number, start and end dates, main hazards, and flags for high-risk work (hot work, confined space, work at height, electrical, lifting, excavation, hazardous substances)
    3. Documents requested and received — eight example documents and four blank lines, each with asked for, date asked, received, issue date, expiry, outcome (accepted, queried, rejected), next check, and who reviewed it. The examples are a safety policy, a risk assessment for the job, a method statement, licences or competence evidence, training records, an insurance certificate (only if your contract or host asks), safety performance information and inspection records for equipment brought on site

    Page 2: people, induction, permits and checks

    1. Workers and subcontractors sent to site — eight lines: name, role, qualification relied on and its expiry, induction date, who gave it, and dates on site
    2. Site induction — topics covered, how understanding was checked, who gave it and when
    3. Permits issued — permit number, type, work and location, who issued it, date issued, closed date and who closed it
    4. Monitoring visits and checks on site — date, who, what was checked, findings and action number

    Page 3: incidents, changes, review and sign-off

    1. Incidents, near misses and changes — what happened, report reference, injury or damage and action taken; changes of scope, personnel, method or timing and whether a recheck was needed
    2. End-of-job review — planning, the contractor's performance, how the job went, how well a check was kept, lessons and open items
    3. Decision and sign-off — approve again, approve with conditions, restrict, remove or needs review; the site contact, reviewer and contractor representative sign; the next review date and where the record is kept

    The document names, the status choices and the induction topics are examples to change.

    What requires or shapes this record

    No source opened for this page makes a particular contractor document, such as an insurance certificate, a duty of the host, and this record does not say that one is. What the sources do set are duties to check and to control. In Great Britain, regulation 8 of CDM 2015 says whoever appoints a contractor must take reasonable steps to check its skills, knowledge, experience and, for an organisation, its organisational capability, and regulation 15 gives every contractor its own duties to plan, manage and monitor its work, to appoint only workers who have or are getting the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience, and to give a suitable site induction unless the principal contractor has. HSE's guide sets out five steps for a host. In the US, OSHA's multi-employer policy expects a controlling employer to use reasonable care to prevent and detect violations, and where the process safety standard applies, 29 CFR 1910.119(h) lists what a host must do about contractors. Which of these applies depends on your country, the work and your role. This page is general information, not legal advice.

    • HSE, Managing contractors: a guide for employers (HSG159, second edition 2011, free web version)

      HSE's guide was written for small and medium chemical companies and says it is useful elsewhere. Its five steps are planning, choosing a contractor, contractors working on site, keeping a check and reviewing the work, and it says to return to planning if the job changes. It lists questions to put to a contractor about experience, risk assessments or method statements, training programmes and records, and current certificates of competence, and says competence is not only technical qualifications or training. On site it covers arrival and sign-in, site rules, site hazards, an induction that is checked for understanding, a named site contact, and a check for changes of workers and scope. It says the amount of checking should follow the hazards of the job, that contractors supervise their own work, and that the review should look at the plan, the contractor, the job and how the check was kept, and record the lessons. The guide does not list insurance as a duty and was written before CDM 2015, so check what has changed. The record's sections follow these steps.

    • Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/51), regulations 8 and 15

      Regulation 8 (General duties) says a contractor appointed to a project must have the skills, knowledge and experience for the role and, for an organisation, the organisational capability, must not accept an appointment otherwise, and that whoever appoints must take reasonable steps to check. Regulation 15 (Duties of contractors) says a contractor must plan, manage and monitor its work, give workers supervision, instructions and information including a suitable site induction unless the principal contractor has provided one, and not appoint anyone to work on site who lacks, or is not obtaining, the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience. These regulations cover construction projects in Great Britain. They give the reason for the worker qualification, induction and monitoring sections, and they leave the contractor's own duties with the contractor.

    • OSHA directive CPL 02-00-124, Multi-Employer Citation Policy (effective 10 December 1999), section 10.5

      OSHA's policy says that on a worksite with more than one employer, more than one may be cited. It names creating, exposing, correcting and controlling employers. A controlling employer, with general supervisory authority over the site by contract or in practice, must use reasonable care to prevent and detect violations. The directive says this is less than an employer owes its own workers, and that the frequency of inspections depends on the size and pace of the work and on what the controlling employer knows of the other employer's safety history, so more checking is expected with a poor record or no history. It asks whether the controlling employer inspected often enough, had an effective way of correcting hazards and enforced compliance. That is why the form has monitoring visits with findings and an action number, and a decision to restrict or remove a contractor. The directive covers citations in the US and is not law about contracts.

    • 29 CFR 1910.119(h), Process safety management: Contractors (US OSHA)

      Applies only where the process safety standard does, to contractors doing maintenance, repair, turnaround, renovation or specialty work on or next to a covered process, and not to incidental services such as janitorial or delivery work. The host (employer) must get and review the contractor's safety performance and programmes before hiring, tell contractors about the known fire, explosion and toxic release hazards and the emergency action plan, set safe work practices for entering, working in and leaving process areas, evaluate contractor performance periodically and keep a log of contract employee injuries and illnesses in process areas. The contract employer must train its workers, make sure they know the hazards and emergency plan, document each worker's identity, training date and how understanding was checked, and tell the host about unique or newly found hazards. The paragraph is one example of a specific duty and does not set a general list of documents. The standard's own text is not reproduced here.

    Each source checked on 17 October 2026. Not legal advice; check the text in force for your site.

    Field by field

    Complete one record per contractor company. The document list, the outcome codes and the induction topics are examples: replace them with what your contract and your own procedure ask for, and say in your procedure who decides. Dates matter more than boxes. A record with an expiry date and a next-check date can be acted on before the document lapses; one with a tick cannot. Keep to the personal data you need and say how long you keep it.

    Company, registration, trade and address
    Why: Identifies the legal entity you are dealing with and its main trade, so a record is not confused with another company of a similar name.
    Common mistake: Recording a trading name only, so the document or insurance cover belongs to a company you have not recorded.
    Subcontractors used
    Why: HSG159 asks how a contractor ensures its own subcontractors are competent and prepared. Each subcontractor needs to be known to you and its people listed in section 4.
    Common mistake: A contractor sends a subcontractor's crew who are never recorded or inducted.
    Approval status and what it is approved for
    Why: A company status is one decision. Permission for a particular job, and readiness of a particular worker, are two others. Writing the sites or work types it is approved for keeps them apart.
    Common mistake: Treating "approved" as permission to start any job at any site.
    Scope of work, who engaged the contractor and site contact
    Why: HSG159 expects a named site contact in a managerial position who goes over the job with the contractor and agrees contact and supervision. The scope sets the boundary for later checks on whether the work has changed.
    Common mistake: A scope of "maintenance work", so nobody can tell when the contractor goes beyond it.
    Main hazards and high-risk work flags
    Why: HSG159 relates the amount of contact with the contractor to the hazards and risks of the job, and OSHA's policy relates inspection frequency to the nature of the work. The flags show where a permit or more checking is likely.
    Common mistake: Leaving the hazards blank, then setting visits by habit instead of by risk.
    Document, asked for, dates, issue and expiry
    Why: Shows what you asked for and when, what arrived and when it expires, so the record can show a document that has lapsed. The list is yours to choose; none of the sources opened lists a particular document, insurance included, as a duty of the host.
    Common mistake: Writing "received" with no issue or expiry date, so the record cannot warn you.
    Outcome (accepted, queried, rejected) and next check
    Why: Accepted, queried and rejected keep a document that has arrived apart from one that has been reviewed. The next check should fall before any expiry within the job's dates.
    Common mistake: Filing a method statement as accepted because it arrived, when it describes a method that does not match your site.
    Insurance certificate row
    Why: Included only where your contract or host asks for cover. It records the cover and expiry; it is not a safety control and none of the sources opened lists it as a duty.
    Common mistake: Treating a current certificate as evidence that the contractor can do the work safely.
    Workers, qualification relied on and expiry
    Why: CDM 2015 regulation 15 expects only workers with, or getting, the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience; HSG159 asks for current certificates. The expiry date lets you see a lapse during the job.
    Common mistake: Recording that a worker has a ticket but not what the ticket covers or when it ends.
    Site induction topics and how understanding was checked
    Why: HSG159 says an induction is the usual way to pass on site rules, hazards and emergency arrangements, and that you should check essential points were understood. 1910.119(h)(3) asks contract employers to record how understanding was checked.
    Common mistake: A signature on a sign-in sheet as the only evidence that anything was understood.
    Permits issued
    Why: A company approval does not authorise a high-hazard job; HSG159 describes a permit as a separate authorisation. The line links each permit to its work and its closing.
    Common mistake: Starting work under a contractor's own permit that your site has not seen.
    Monitoring visits and checks
    Why: HSG159 and OSHA's policy both tie checking to hazards and history. The record shows what was checked, what was found and what action followed.
    Common mistake: A note that says "visited, all fine" with nothing about what was looked at.
    Incidents, near misses and changes
    Why: HSG159 encourages contractors to report incidents and near misses, even minor ones, and says a change in the job means returning to planning. A change of scope, workers or method may need a fresh assessment, permit or induction.
    Common mistake: Adding people or scope with a phone call and no recheck.
    End-of-job review
    Why: HSG159's last step looks at how well the job was planned, how the contractor performed, how the job went and how well you kept a check, and records the lessons for next time.
    Common mistake: Reviewing only the contractor, so lessons about your own planning are lost.
    Decision and sign-off
    Why: The decision (approve again, approve with conditions, restrict, remove or needs review) is the record's output. The signatures show who decided.
    Common mistake: Approving a contractor again from habit, with no look at the findings.

    Worked example

    IllustrativeA pump replacement by a mechanical contractor (invented companies, people and references)

    SectionEntry
    1 ContractorNorthgate Mechanical, a mechanical contractor with six workers expected, no subcontractors. Status: approved with conditions, for planned maintenance at the main plant only.
    2 The workReplace a cooling water pump in the boiler house over five days, engaged by the maintenance manager, with a named site contact. High-risk work flagged: hot work (welding) and lifting.
    3 DocumentsRisk assessment and method statement received eight days before the start. The method statement did not say how the pump would be isolated, so it was queried and the contractor sent a revision, accepted three days later. The welder's certificate expires on day 3 of the job, so it is queried. The next check is set before day 3. The insurance certificate is requested because the contract asks for it, and its expiry is after the job.
    4 and 5 Workers and inductionFive of the six workers are inducted on day 1 (site rules, emergency arrangements, boiler house hazards, how to report) and the induction was checked by asking each to point out the assembly point and the isolation tagging. The sixth arrives on day 2 and is inducted before starting.
    6 and 7 Permits and visitsA hot work permit is issued on day 3 after the welder's certificate is replaced, and closed that afternoon. The site contact visits at the start and end of each day. On day 2 they find the crew moving a section of pipe outside the scope; work stops, the change is agreed and the permit and assessment are rechecked.
    8 Incidents and changesOne near miss on day 4 (a hand tool dropped from a platform, no one near). Reported by the contractor the same day and logged with an action to rope tools used at height.
    9 and 10 Review and decisionPlanned well but the documents arrived late. Decision: approve with conditions again, with the condition that documents arrive five working days before the start. Signed by the site contact, a safety reviewer and the contractor's supervisor.

    The record shows what evidence arrived and when. It does not make the contractor competent or take over its own duties, and a late or lapsed document is a prompt to ask, not a verdict. The names and figures are invented to show the method.

    When a spreadsheet stops being enough

    A paper record or a spreadsheet works for a few contractors and one person who owns the dates. It stops working when many contractors, workers and expiry dates are tracked at once, when documents must be requested, chased and reviewed by several people, when induction and permits are issued on different systems, and when you need to see all the contractors on site today and whose documents lapse this month.

    A software record can send a request to the contractor, hold each document with its issue date, expiry and reviewer, hold worker records with qualifications and expiry, link induction, sign-in, permits, visits and incidents to the contractor and to the job, remind before an expiry and keep a history of decisions. Ask what personal data it stores about contractor workers and for how long, and what the contractor sees. The list below applies the rule used by the contractor management software guide. Nothing in it shows that a product checks a given document type, so ask to load your own document list in a demonstration.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Contractor Management”, with a sourced contractor qualification or onboarding capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 13 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.