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How do I onboard a subcontractor to my site?

The full process of inviting a subcontractor and collecting their required documents.

Onboarding a subcontractor means getting their safety documents, such as SWMS and SDS, uploaded and approved before their crew starts on site. You send one invite email, the subcontractor uploads what you need, and you review it. This article walks through the whole process.

Send invites as soon as a subcontractor is awarded work, not the week before they start. That gives everyone time to fix anything that gets rejected.

Before you start

  • Access: You need to be a Company Host or Site Host with Supplier Management and Modify Site permissions. If you don't have access, contact your Breadcrumb administrator.
  • Company set-up: Your administrator sets the invite email wording and the document types subcontractors are asked for. You can tweak the email for each invite, but the defaults apply across all your sites.

Step 1: Check the subcontractor is on your site

  1. Click Sites in the left-hand menu and open your site.
  2. Click the Companies tab.
  3. Search for the subcontractor.

If your site is connected to Procore, companies from your Procore directory appear here automatically. If the subcontractor isn't listed, ask your administrator to add them to the site.

Step 2: Send the invite

  1. On the Companies tab, find the subcontractor and click Invite.
  2. Check the recipients. Add or change email addresses so the invite reaches the person who manages their safety paperwork.
  3. Review the email. It's pre-filled from your company's template, so you only need to edit it if something is specific to this site.
  4. Click Send.

Offsite inductions

If your company uses offsite inductions, the induction link and QR code are usually included in the invite email, so workers can complete their induction before they arrive. If you don't want this subcontractor to receive it, delete the offsite induction section from the email before you send.

Step 3: The subcontractor uploads their documents

The subcontractor gets an email with a link to an upload page. They don't need a Breadcrumb account. The page shows only the document types you require, and they upload each file and submit.

Step 4: Track who has submitted

The Companies tab shows where each subcontractor is up to:

  • Green: Uploaded and accepted.
  • Amber: Uploaded and waiting for review.
  • Red: Uploaded but expired.

Hover over Last Invite to see when the last invite was sent and who it went to. Click View to jump to that subcontractor's documents on the Company Docs tab.

If a subcontractor hasn't responded, send the invite again. If they can't upload the files themselves, you can upload documents for them from the same row.

Step 5: Review and accept the documents

When a subcontractor submits, the documents appear in your approvals. You'll see pending company docs on the site overview page, or you can find them on the Company Docs tab.

  1. Open the document to read it.
  2. Complete the review checklist, if your company uses one.
  3. Accept or reject the document.

If you reject a document, the subcontractor is emailed your comments and a link to upload a fixed version. Once a document is accepted, it's available on site, and workers sign it at check-in if your company requires it.

Step 6: The crew checks in

With their documents accepted, the subcontractor's workers can complete their induction and check in to your site. Their accepted SWMS and SDS are available to them in the Breadcrumb app.

Good to know

  • Automatic reminders: Your company can set up reminder emails for subcontractors who haven't uploaded their documents. Ask your administrator if this is turned on.
  • Procore: If your site is connected to Procore, accepted documents sync to Procore Documents automatically.
  • Mobile app: Sending invites isn't available in the mobile app. Use the web portal.