A builder's workforce changes with every project and most of it is not on the payroll. Here is how to run the people side across sites and subcontractors.
A builder or general contractor runs projects, each with a site team of engineers, supervisors and storekeepers, plus gangs of skilled and unskilled workers who are mostly engaged through subcontractors. The head office handles tendering, planning, procurement, accounts and a small HR function. Teams form at mobilisation and disperse at completion, and people move between sites with the work. The company is responsible for what happens on its site, including the safety of people it does not employ. Cash flow is tied to certification and client payment, which affects what can be paid and when. See also HR for construction.
Who does the work
Mobilisation is rushed
A project needs a full team at the start and gets whoever is available, with authorisation and induction squeezed.
Subcontractor workers are not on your list
The business cannot say how many people are on site or who employs them without asking each contractor.
Wages and certification run on different clocks
Workers expect pay weekly while the contractor is paid after measurement, and a delay in one becomes a stoppage in the other.
Safety rests on one officer
When the safety officer is away, nobody else checks, and short briefings are forgotten by day five.
Engineers are held in supporting roles
Capable engineers are kept checking others' work for years and leave for a project that gives them responsibility.
Project end scatters records
As-built drawings, snag lists and warranties leave with the team, and a defect two months later has no owner.
Each site improvises HR
Offer letters, leave rules and attendance methods differ from project to project.
Plan mobilisation from the programme
Roles and dates by phase, with the lead time for each, so people arrive when needed. The workforce plan holds it.
Keep a register of everyone on site
Employees, subcontractors' workers and visitors in one list with employer, trade and dates, matched to gate entry. The employee information management holds it.
Link wage dates to the payment calendar
A written calendar of measurement, certification and wage dates, with a route to pay workers directly if a contractor is late. The payroll process covers it.
Spread safety checking
Supervisors and engineers do daily walks, with a repeating briefing and a proper induction for each new gang. The health, safety and wellbeing work builds it.
Give engineers real responsibility early
A section or package to run in the second year, with a mentor.
Close each project properly
A demobilisation plan with a named owner for records and a closing review. The exit and offboarding process holds the steps.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
A plan for mobilisation by phase, so each stage starts with the right people on site.
A site register that covers subcontractors' workers, with certificates and expiry.
Induction, daily checks and a briefing routine that does not depend on one person.
A look at why engineers and supervisors leave, and what a responsibility ladder would change.
Every engagement starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes. Start with the free HR Health Check, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in construction and real estate, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
A civil phase completed, a crew was released, and three weeks later the finishing phase started short. How construction and real estate businesses run HR for a workforce that moves between sites, projects and payrolls.
Read the articleHiring decisions made one request at a time, in the month the pain is worst. What a workforce plan contains and why a twelve-month view changes what you hire.
Read the articlePayroll says one joining date, the personal file says another and the manager remembers a third. How to establish a single trustworthy employee record and keep it that way.
Read the articleA laminated notice, an annual drill, and an incident register with three entries in two years. What workplace health and safety looks like when it is real.
Read the articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Often more than builders assume, particularly for safety and for what happens on the site you control. The position depends on your arrangements, so confirm it with a qualified professional and write the terms into the contract.
Agree payment dates in the contract, track them and have a route to pay workers directly if a contractor is late. Most stoppages follow a delay that could be seen coming.
On the hazards of their area, the permits they need and who supervises them, with a walk of the site, before they start. A single day-one briefing is not enough.
Give them responsibility early, a mentor and a visible next step. Many leave because they are kept in a supporting role.
A planned release of people and equipment, a named owner for drawings, snag lists and warranties, and a closing review.
A free HR Health Check first, then a defined piece of work if you want one. Confirm statutory obligations with a qualified professional.
Issue a standard site pack of letters, rules, registers and an induction checklist, name one owner for each journey and review each site against the pack after the first month.
See all HR topics for construction and real estate, or another industry.
Identify critical compliance gaps, payroll leaks, and hiring bottlenecks with a free HR Health Check. Get each area scored, with the fixes ranked by cost and impact.
Want the full picture? See the paid HR Diagnostic.
