How to Build an Approved Contractor List

An approved contractor list is the difference between procurement and improvisation. With one, every new job starts from a set of businesses already checked for insurance, competence and coverage. Without one, every job restarts the search from zero — usually under time pressure, which is where bad appointments come from.

Step 1: Map what the list needs to cover

Start from demand, not supply. For each building or portfolio area, list the trades actually required — typically electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire safety, roofing and general maintenance as the core, plus the specialists your stock demands — and the geography each must cover. The gaps in that grid are your sourcing targets.

Step 2: Set the entry criteria

Write down what 'approved' means before assessing anyone, so the bar cannot quietly move per candidate. A workable baseline:

• Insurance — public liability at a level appropriate to your properties, plus employer's liability where applicable, with certificates on file
• Competence — qualifications, scheme memberships or third-party certifications relevant to the trade, plus evidence of comparable commercial work
• Health and safety — policy documentation and sample risk assessments and method statements
• Business standing — trading history, references from comparable clients, and financial stability proportionate to contract size
• Capacity and coverage — honest answers about service area and availability, not aspiration

Our guide to contractor documents details the paperwork behind each line.

Step 3: Source candidates

Candidates come from referrals, incumbent suppliers, trade bodies and networks. The practical constraint is time: verifying a single contractor properly takes real effort, which is why pre-vetted networks earn their place. Regency Contractors Network reviews contractors before listing and structures their profiles — services, coverage, credentials — so the selection stage starts from organised information rather than a cold search.

Step 4: Onboard properly

1. Collect and file the documentation from your criteria — with expiry dates recorded, not just PDFs saved
2. Agree commercial terms in calm conditions — rates, call-out charges, payment terms
3. Set documentation expectations — what reports and certificates each job must produce
4. Start with contained work — a first job that tests reliability before anything critical depends on the relationship

Step 5: Keep the list alive

Approved lists rot quietly: insurance lapses, key staff leave, coverage changes. Diarise document expiry chasing, review performance annually — attendance, first-fix rate, documentation quality, pricing drift — and prune. A list nobody maintains converges back to improvisation with extra steps. The definitional questions behind all this are covered in what is an approved contractor?