Sub-contracting

The regulations provide new tools which will help councils control sub-contracting. This will enable councils to guard against the involvement of sub-contractors with a history of persistent poor performance or offences which should bar them from working on public sector contracts.


What is this about?

The regulations provide new tools which will help councils control sub-contracting.

This will enable councils to guard against the involvement of sub-contractors with a history of persistent poor performance or offences which should bar them from working on public sector contracts.

What is new?

In the procurement documents the council can ask tenderers to indicate any share of the contract that they intend to sub-contract and the proposed sub-contractors.

Once the contract has been awarded (and at the latest when the contract commences), the council must require the main contractor to notify it of the name, contact details and legal representatives of its sub-contractors (to the extent this is known at the time).

This applies only to contracts for services and works to be provided at a facility under the direct oversight of the council and to sub-contractors involved in those services or works.

The council must require the main contractor to notify it of any changes to the information and to provide the same information on any new sub-contractors.

Councils have the choice to extend this further. The regulations give examples (e.g. to services not provided at a council facility or further along the supply chain).



Councils can require European Single Procurement Documents (ESPDs) to be provided for sub-contractors.

If the council finds that there are mandatory grounds for exclusion it must require the main contractor to replace the supplier. If there are discretionary grounds then the council can choose whether to require exclusion (see selection).

The discretionary exclusion grounds include failure to comply with social, environmental and labour law obligations (see cross-cutting social clause).