Most businesses find subcontractors the same way: they ring someone they used before, and if that person is busy they ask them who else is any good. It works right up until it doesn’t, which is usually the week you need someone at short notice.
Here is how the options actually compare, and what to check before you let anyone start.
Where businesses look now
Your own contacts. The best option when it works, because you already know the standard of the work. The limit is obvious. Your list is only as deep as the last few years, and everyone on it is subject to the same seasonal crunch you are.
Word of mouth. A recommendation carries real information, but it carries someone else’s judgement rather than yours, and it rarely comes with any evidence of licensing or insurance.
Group chats and industry contacts. Fast, and genuinely how a lot of work gets handed out. The problem is that you only reach people already in the chat, which is a small and self-selecting group.
Lead-selling directories. The model is that the subcontractor pays to reach you, often per enquiry. That shapes who you hear from. You get people willing to buy leads, which is not the same set as people best suited to the job, and the same lead is frequently sold several times.
What to check before you engage anyone
The check matters more than where you found them. At minimum:
- ABN. Confirm it is current and matches the entity you are engaging. If they cannot quote one, you are legally obliged to withhold 47% of the payment.
- Licences. Verify against the relevant state regulator’s public register, and check the licence class actually covers the work you are asking for. A licence in the wrong class is as much a problem as no licence.
- Insurance. Request the certificate of currency, check the expiry date, check the entity name matches, and check the cover amount meets what your contract requires.
- Capacity. Not whether they can do the work, but whether they can do it in your window.
- Past work. Ideally on jobs comparable to yours in scale and type.
Two of these expire. A licence and a certificate that were valid when you last engaged someone may not be valid now, which is why “we’ve used them before” is not a substitute for checking.
Writing a job that attracts the right applicants
Vague scope attracts vague quotes, and then you are comparing numbers that were never comparable.
- Be specific about the work. Location, access, what is already done, what you are supplying.
- State the payment structure up front. Fixed price, hourly, daily, quoted, or split into milestones. Good subcontractors price differently depending on which it is.
- Give the real timeframe. Including the constraints, because that is what determines who can actually take it.
- Say what qualifications you require. It saves both sides the applications that were never going to work.
Red flags worth taking seriously
- Reluctance to provide a certificate of currency, or one that has expired
- A quote well under everyone else’s with no explanation of why
- Pressure to agree the scope verbally and sort the paperwork later
- An entity name on the paperwork that does not match who you are dealing with
- Wanting to be paid off-platform or in cash on a commercial job
Build a pool, not a phone list
The real fix is not finding one subcontractor. It is having several you have already vetted, so the next job starts from a shortlist instead of from scratch.
That is what Workforce Marketplace is built around. You post the job, review everyone who applies, and see what each of them has had verified before you engage anyone. Reviews and job history stay on the profile, so the second job is faster to fill than the first.
It also spans 42 sectors, so the same account works whether you need electrical, IT, allied health, logistics or strata.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Licensing and insurance requirements differ by state, trade and contract. Verify licences with the relevant regulator and insurance with the insurer before engaging anyone.
