Contractor management

Contractor management is the managing of outsourced work performed for an individual company. Contractor management implements a system that manages contractors' health and safety information, insurance information, training programs and specific documents that pertain to the contractor and the owner client. Most modern contracts require the effective use of contract management software to aid administration between multiple parties.

Risk increases with the loss of control from outsourcing work. Keeping work in-house gives an Owner Client complete control over the production or services provided including quality, durability, and consistency. Outsourcing the work reduces the amount of control held over these aspects. While contracts and agreements can be set in place to control the end product, the Owner Client cannot have complete assurance that their requirements are being met.

With the continuing outsourcing of production, companies struggle to standardize their contractor management processes. Requirements and regulations from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other governing bodies are constantly changing. Companies need to have full visibility into the quality of work their hired contractors have performed in the past and are performing now, and this often proves difficult.

There are tools which may measure the contractor's level of performance. For example, many large refineries have integrated their gate access control system to a contractor management software. This provides real-time access to the performance of the contractor workforce within the refinery.

Effective contractor management relies first on a standardized prequalification form (PQF). A quality prequalification form will also allow for customized functionality, as needed. The prequalification form ensures that the necessary steps are in place for a contractor to work safely and sustainably, prior to establishing an agreement, or allowing a vendor to come on-site.

A pre-qualification form (or an explanation of the requirements) is provided before bidding or quoting to assure and include the requirements in workplans and budgets.

Specifically, the prequalification form will allow the organization to track the most importance aspect of contractor management – contractor prequalification across these essential dynamics:

A thorough prequalification form with each of these components is used to verify incidence rates and ensures that the contractor’s insurance certification is in line with company requirements.

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