What do general contractors check when they prequalify a subcontractor?

The nine categories on a subcontractor prequalification form

A subcontractor prequalification form is how a general contractor or public owner decides whether to let you bid, and for how much. The industry-standard form, ConsensusDocs 221, collects nine categories: project experience, current capacity and backlog, business structure, bonding and insurance, key personnel, references, financial information, licensing and compliance, and safety record including the experience modification rate (EMR). The AIA's A305-2020 qualification statement covers the same ground as a sworn, notarized statement with exhibits.

Real GC forms follow that skeleton and are signed under oath. Most state that a misrepresentation is grounds for disqualification, so every number should match a document you can produce.

Your experience modification rate (EMR) and the 1.00 line

Your EMR is a factor your workers' compensation rating bureau (NCCI in Missouri and most states) calculates from your own claims history compared with businesses of similar class and size. A mod of 1.00 means your losses match what is expected; below 1.00 lowers your premium and above 1.00 raises it. The experience period is three years, excluding the most recent policy year, so the number lags.

Owners use it as a cutoff. A California State University subcontractor questionnaire requires small firms to have an EMR of 1.00 or less to prequalify, and a national GC's manual enters 1.00 for firms not eligible for one. Owners want the figure on your carrier's letterhead with an effective date within 12 months; the South Carolina DOT will not process an application without it. If you are too new or too small to have a mod, get a carrier letter saying so. OSHA itself cautions:

Care should be taken in using EMRs, because some are workplace-specific, while others are employer-specific and involve multiple worksites. This makes direct comparisons of employers' EMRs difficult.

TRIR and DART: the two rates computed from your 300A

The total recordable incident rate (TRIR) and the days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) rate come straight off your OSHA 300A summary. OSHA's formula:

(Number of injuries and illnesses X 200,000) / Employee hours worked = Incidence rate.

The 200,000 is the hours 100 employees work in a year. TRIR counts every case on the log (columns H, I, and J of the 300A). DART counts only the column H and column I cases: days away, plus restricted or transferred. Hours worked exclude vacation and sick leave. The 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmark for construction is a TRIR of 2.2 and a DART rate of 1.3 per 100 full-time workers; specialty trade contractors run 2.3 and 1.4. Forms ask for three years of both rates with the 300 and 300A logs. One injury swings a small crew's rate hard; OSHA says pooling three years of cases and hours in the formula is legitimate.

The certificate of insurance and the three endorsements GCs want

A certificate of insurance is the one-page ACORD 25 form your agent issues showing your general liability, auto, workers' compensation, and umbrella policies with limits and dates. It is evidence, not coverage: a certificate confers no rights on the GC. Protection comes from endorsements on your policies, and three are standard asks: additional insured status for the GC, including completed operations; primary and non-contributory wording, so your policy pays first; and a waiver of subrogation, so your insurer will not chase the GC.

The failure list on one GC's form shows what its insurance spec contains: general liability above $1 million per occurrence through an umbrella, a per-project aggregate, additional insured coverage including completed operations with primary wording, and pollution or mold coverage. Have your agent attach the endorsement forms by number.

Bonding capacity and the surety letter

The Federal Acquisition Regulation, 48 CFR 28.001, defines the two bonds a GC cares about:

A payment bond assures payments as required by law to all persons supplying labor or material in the prosecution of the work provided for in the contract.

A performance bond secures performance and fulfillment of the contractor's obligations under the contract.

A prequalification form asks whether you are bondable, who your surety is, your single-project and aggregate capacity, your rate, and how much is under bond. A bonding letter from your surety dated within the last year answers all of it. One national GC prequalifies a sub with no bond letter at a $250,000 ceiling and requires CPA-prepared financial statements to go higher. Surety underwriters judge character, capacity, and capital, and treat the bond as credit you repay, which is why financial statements are the gate. If a commercial surety will not write you, the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee program backs bonds on contracts up to $9 million for a fee of 0.6% of the contract price on performance and payment bonds.

Licensing in Missouri and Illinois, and the three documents that expire

In the prequal's compliance section, license means whatever the city or trade requires where the job sits. Missouri issues no statewide general contractor license; its only statewide contractor license is electrical, under RSMo 324.900. Illinois issues none either: the state licenses roofing and plumbing contractors, and Chicago licenses general contractors in five classes with general liability minimums from $1 million to $5 million per occurrence; subs on a Chicago job work under the GC's license.

Prequalification expires. Renew it with the three dated documents: the EMR letter, the certificate of insurance, and financial statements dated within six months.