A construction subcontractor agreement is the contract between a general contractor and a trade (framing, drywall, plumbing, concrete, whatever the job needs) for one piece of a larger project. It sets the sub’s scope, price and schedule, and it passes down the parts of the owner’s contract that the sub has to live with. This free template is written for small and mid-size jobs, in plain English, in Word and PDF.

When does a general contractor need a written subcontract?

Any time you hand part of a job you’re responsible for to another company, you need one. Picture a hypothetical GC in Ohio who has signed a $410,000 contract to build out a dental office and brings in a drywall sub for $38,500. The owner’s contract has a schedule, a retainage rule and an insurance requirement. If the drywall sub never agreed to any of that in writing, the GC is carrying promises it can’t pass along.

Pick a different document if the relationship isn’t a trade on a construction project. A homeowner hiring a builder directly should use a construction contract. A business hiring a freelancer for non-construction work (bookkeeping, design, IT) fits an independent contractor agreement. And once the subcontract is signed, changes in scope go on a change order form, not in a text message.

What’s in this subcontract, section by section?

Scope and the contract documents

The scope section says exactly which work the sub is doing and, just as useful, what it isn’t. “Hang, tape and finish drywall to Level 4 in all rooms shown on sheets A-201 to A-204, excluding the ceiling in the server room” beats “drywall per plans.” The template also lists the documents that make up the deal: the subcontract itself, the drawings and specs, and the relevant parts of the prime contract.

Flow-down

A flow-down clause says the sub owes the GC, for its part of the work, the same duties the GC owes the owner. It’s standard, and it’s fair only if the sub actually gets to read what’s flowing down. Our template requires the GC to attach or provide the relevant prime contract terms before signing, with pricing redacted if the GC wants.

Price, retainage and when the sub gets paid

You fill in a lump sum or unit prices, the billing date each month, and any retainage percentage (usually matched to what the owner holds back from the GC). Then there’s the part that causes the most arguments, covered in its own section below.

Lien waivers

Most GCs won’t release a payment without a lien waiver from the sub, and most owners won’t pay the GC without them. The template ties each payment to a conditional waiver for that payment and a final waiver at the end. If your state prescribes a lien waiver form, use its wording exactly.

Insurance and additional insured

The sub carries general liability, auto and workers’ compensation at the limits you fill in, and names the GC (and the owner, if the prime contract requires it) as additional insured. Collect the certificate before the sub starts, not after the first incident.

Changes, schedule, warranty and default

Changes happen only through signed change orders. The sub keeps pace with the GC’s schedule, fixes defective work, and gets written notice and a cure period before the GC can terminate for default.

Pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid: which one are you signing?

This is the single clause subs should read twice. A pay-when-paid clause is about timing: the GC pays the sub within a set number of days after the owner pays the GC. A pay-if-paid clause goes further and tries to make the owner’s payment a condition, so if the owner never pays, the sub may never be paid either.

State law on this varies, and courts don’t all read these clauses the same way. We haven’t written a state-by-state summary because the answer depends on the state, the wording and the project type. The template gives you a checkbox for each approach plus a fallback that pays the sub within a reasonable time regardless, and you should check your state’s law before ticking pay-if-paid.

Who is responsible for safety on a shared jobsite?

Both of you. OSHA’s construction rules at 29 CFR 1926.16 say a subcontractor that agrees to perform part of a contract also takes on responsibility for complying with the standards for that part, and that the prime contractor can’t shed its own obligations just by subcontracting. OSHA’s multi-employer citation policy adds that the employer who created a hazard, the employer whose workers are exposed, the employer responsible for fixing it, and the employer with general supervisory authority over the site can each be cited, depending on the facts.

So the template has the sub follow OSHA standards and the GC’s site safety plan, supervise its own crew, report injuries and near misses, and stop work that’s unsafe. It doesn’t pretend the GC can hand all safety responsibility downstream, because it can’t.

How do you fill in a subcontract and get it signed?

  1. Attach the drawings, specs and the prime contract terms that flow down.
  2. Write the scope with inclusions and exclusions, and match the schedule to the GC’s master schedule.
  3. Fill in price, billing date, retainage and the payment timing option.
  4. Set the insurance limits the owner requires and collect certificates.
  5. Both sides sign before the sub mobilizes.

E-signing a subcontract works for most jobs. The ESIGN Act says a contract can’t be denied legal effect solely because it’s electronic; see are electronic signatures legally binding. Just follow your state’s own rules for statutory lien waiver forms and any notices with a set delivery method.

Download the template, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (We’re building SignWren for exactly this; join the waitlist.)

This template and guide are general information, not legal advice. For a specific project or dispute, talk to a construction lawyer licensed in your state.