Checklist
Printable checklist
Vendor onboarding checklist
Print this and work down it for every new maintenance vendor, whatever trade they offer. A vendor file that is complete before the first visit is far easier to defend afterward.
How to use this checklist
The list applies to any vendor, large or small, direct employer or subcontractor. Collect each item before the first visit, tick it off and file the page with the documents. If a vendor cannot supply an item, write down why and decide whether the gap is acceptable for that trade and that building.
Most of the list comes down to two questions: is the cover real, and who is actually coming through the door. Our articles on the vendor onboarding packet, on reading a certificate of insurance, on a certificate that lapses mid-contract and on vetting the technicians who enter tenant space explain the reasoning behind each line. TrionX can supply its own documents on request, and the same list is fair to put to us.
The checklist
Vendor onboarding checklist
Certificate of insurance
- Named insured matches the entity that will actually attend
- Policy dates cover the whole period of the work
- General liability limits meet your requirement, per occurrence and aggregate
- Workers' compensation is shown, or an exemption is on file with its own expiry date
- Auto liability is shown if vehicles come on site
- Umbrella or excess limit meets the building minimum, where one is specified
- Your entity is named as certificate holder
- Your entity is also named as additional insured where your lease or contract requires it
- Certificate was sent by the vendor's agent or broker, not retyped or forwarded
- Read the policy dates, not the issue date
W-9 and business records
- Signed W-9 with legal name, entity type and taxpayer identification number
- Legal name matches the certificate of insurance and the invoice
- Business tax receipt or local business license for the entity
- Remittance address and an accounts contact
Contractor license, where the trade requires one
- Confirm whether the trade needs a Florida contractor license at any job size
- License number recorded, in the correct category
- License verified directly with the state licensing board, with the date checked
- License is held by the entity that attends, not borrowed from another company
- No license claimed for a trade that does not require one
Who will actually attend
- For each trade, a written statement of employee or subcontractor
- If subcontracted, how the subcontractor's workers' compensation is covered
- Written statement that every technician sent has passed a background check
- How often the background check is repeated
- Technician's name sent ahead with each work order
- Photo identification shown on arrival and matched to the work order
- A visit with an unexpected name waits until the vendor confirms
Access and key rules
- Which areas need an escort, and which are closed to outside staff
- Rules for after-hours visits, roof, tenant suites, records and server rooms
- Sign-in log with name, company, time in, time out, areas entered and work order number
- Keys signed out, kept on the person and returned at the end of the visit
- Master keys and access cards stay on site unless agreed in writing
- Vendor credentials are named, time-limited and removed when the work ends
- Shared codes avoided, or changed when the vendor relationship ends
Contacts, rates and records
- Emergency contact that works at two in the morning, plus who to call next
- Rate schedule agreed in advance, including after-hours rates
- Example of a completed closeout report, with photographs
- What each visit record will contain: who attended, when, where and what was done
- How long visit records are kept
Keep it alive
- One named person owns the vendor list
- General liability and workers' compensation expiry dates diaried separately
- Renewal requested about thirty days before each expiry
- Old and new certificates filed together, with the date received and who checked them
- Any lapse and the decision taken is written down
- A repeat lapse goes into the annual vendor review
Common questions
Questions about this checklist
Does every vendor need a contractor license?
No. Florida licenses specific trades, such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC and refrigeration. Others, including locks, doors and hardware, glass repair on existing openings, carpentry, painting and general maintenance, need none. Ask for a license number only where the trade requires one, and verify it with the state rather than accepting a photograph.
What is the difference between certificate holder and additional insured?
A certificate holder receives a copy of the certificate and notice of cancellation. Additional insured status extends the vendor policy to you for liability arising from their work. If your lease or management agreement asks for the second, a certificate naming you only as holder will be rejected.
How often should the file be reviewed?
Diary the general liability and workers' compensation expiry dates separately, since policies rarely renew together, and ask for the renewal about thirty days ahead. Review the whole file once a year alongside the vendor review.
More to print
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Vacant unit check sheet
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Job closeout sheet
Want our documents for your file?
TrionX carries general liability and workers' compensation and can send its certificate, a W-9 and a written statement of which trades our own technicians perform and which licensed contractors carry out. Tell us the property and the certificate wording your building requires.