[Your company name] · Agreement # [Number]
Before you use this agreement: it’s a starting point, not legal advice. Check your state’s rules and have a local attorney review it.
Fixed price, unit prices, or time and materials with a not-to-exceed amount.
Retainage of [__]% until [the Work is complete and accepted]. Lien waivers with each payment.
Subcontractor controls its own workers, tools and methods, and pays its own payroll taxes and workers’ comp.
What’s in it
Your company and the sub with license numbers, the project, owner and address, and the owner-contract terms that apply.
Work included and excluded, a fixed price, unit prices or time and materials, a payment schedule, invoice terms and retainage.
Conditional and unconditional waivers with each payment and at the end, and changes only by signed change order.
Start and completion dates, delay notice, minimum insurance with additional insured, and safety duties including OSHA rules.
Trade licenses and permits, a workmanship warranty with your term, and cleanup and protection of finished work.
Independent contractor status, termination with notice, placeholders for your attorney’s indemnity and dispute language, and signatures.
How to fill it in
FAQ
At least the parties, the scope of work, price and payment terms, schedule, change orders, insurance, lien waivers, safety, warranty, termination, independent contractor status and signatures. Your attorney may add indemnity and dispute language for your state.
Part of each payment held back until the work is complete, so punch list items get done. Some states limit how much can be held and how soon it must be paid out. See retainage in the glossary.
Wording that ties paying the sub to the owner paying the general contractor. Some states limit these clauses or won’t enforce them, and the exact wording matters. Ask your attorney before you use one.
Not by itself. Whether a worker counts as an independent contractor depends on how the work is actually done, and federal and state tests differ. The agreement records what you both intend; how you work together has to match it.
Some contractors sign one master agreement with each sub and a short scope for each job. Others sign a new agreement per project. Either way, put the scope, price and schedule for each job in writing and get it signed.
A subcontractor agreement is the contract between a general contractor and a sub that sets the sub’s scope, price, payment terms, schedule, insurance, lien waivers and how changes and disputes are handled. It sits under your contract with the owner and should line up with it. This template is a starting point, not legal advice; rules vary by state, so check your state’s license guide and an attorney.
Often a sub can still have lien rights without a signed written contract, but the rules differ a lot by state: many require notices sent early in the job, all set deadlines, and some limit subs’ liens on homes. This isn’t legal advice; ask a local attorney. A signed subcontractor agreement plus lien waivers with every payment keeps everyone’s rights and payments clear.
Yes. The preview at the top of this page shows sample sections: the parties with license numbers, price options, a payment table with retainage and lien waivers, and independent contractor terms. The free download is a three-page PDF plus a Word file to adapt with your attorney. In ECHOPS, you can send the finished agreement for e-signature, and subs see their scope, change orders and payments on their portal sheet.
Related
A residential contract skeleton to review with your attorney.
Get the template →Conditional or unconditional, progress or final, with a state notice.
Get the template →Contractor license rules for all 50 states and DC, with official sources.
Find your state →See all free contractor templates
Try ECHOPS free for 14 days with your own leads and jobs. No credit card, and your workspace is ready in minutes.
Special price: your first 2 months from $49/mo. Limited spots, so sign up today.