What should you agree before an event supplier subcontracts the work?

You've booked a production supplier, agreed the price and worked through the schedule. Then a different company calls to ask where it should unload. Your supplier says it's a trusted partner. That may be true. But you still need to know who is turning up, what they're delivering and who will put things right if the arrangement fails.

Before an event supplier subcontracts work, agree which company may do which part, what evidence you need, who supervises it, and whether anything changes in the price or delivery plan. Make the original supplier's continuing obligations explicit in your agreement. Permission to bring in another company should have a defined scope, rather than becoming permission to change the whole booking.

Subcontracting can be a sensible way to get specialist people or equipment into your event. You don't need every business you hire to own every truck, employ every technician and produce every item itself. You do need a clear arrangement before another business starts making decisions that affect your audience, budget or site.

This guide walks through that arrangement, including a worked example and an approval brief you can adapt. The commercial recommendations are questions to settle with your supplier. Your signed contract and local law determine your actual rights. The regulatory examples below identify the countries and activities they concern, because a security booking and an equipment delivery can involve very different requirements.

Find out what the supplier is actually proposing

The first thing you want to do is ask what the other company will do. "We're using a partner" could mean a truck delivering equipment, another business taking responsibility for the sound package, or temporary workers joining the supplier's own crew. Those arrangements need different checks. Start with the work and supervision before discussing what everybody calls the relationship.

Ask your supplier to explain the proposed arrangement in ordinary terms. Who employs or engages the people? Who tells them what to do? Who provides the equipment? Who checks the finished work? Who answers your call during the show? You should be able to follow those answers without knowing the supplier's internal structure.

Imagine you've bought sound and lighting from one production company. It hires an additional mixing desk but still designs, installs and operates the sound itself. Compare that with handing the complete sound service to another company whose own manager controls the crew and equipment. Both involve another business. The second changes who is delivering a substantial part of your event.

Security provides a useful, specific example. The UK's Security Industry Authority distinguishes subcontracting from labour provision. Its guidance separates another business delivering the customer contract from another business supplying workers to help the original provider deliver it. It also sets out different responsibilities for staff checks and management. Use the applicable security rules to assess that booking, rather than assuming that "agency staff" answers the question.

Ask about arrangements further down the chain too. If your approved sound company plans to delegate installation to a third company, you need that information before deciding. A list containing only the business you already know doesn't describe who will carry out the work. Keep the enquiry proportionate, but follow it far enough to identify the businesses responsible for important delivery tasks.

There's no need to begin by accusing anyone of hiding something. A better opening is, "Can you explain exactly what they're providing and who will manage it?" A supplier that routinely works with specialists should be able to answer. If it can't, you have an unresolved delivery question, regardless of how long you've known the account manager.

Set the permission rules before you book

Read the subcontracting provisions before accepting the quote. Some agreements give broad permission. Others name approved businesses or require approval for particular work. Check any conditions about consent, notice and replacement personnel. Don't assume you have a veto simply because you expected the supplier's own team to attend.

When negotiating a new booking, define what needs individual approval and what can operate under an agreed general arrangement. You might accept routine equipment hire without reviewing every hire company, while requiring your approval of the particular business before it delivers rigging, security or attendee-data services. Choose the distinction because of the work and its risks. Calling a purchase "small" doesn't make its consequences small.

Make approval useful to both sides. Tell the supplier what information to send, who decides and when you can realistically respond. A rule requiring approval but providing no contact or response process encourages frantic calls close to load-in. If specialist review is needed, allow time to obtain it before the supplier has committed to an arrangement you haven't assessed.

A public procurement example shows how these decisions can be separated. CanadaBuys' subcontracting guidance describes buyer consent and says a subcontract award doesn't transfer the contractor's main-contract obligations to Canada. That is guidance for the procurement arrangements it covers, not a universal rule for private events. When negotiating your own terms, ask explicitly how consent affects the original supplier's obligations and your remedies.

Keep commercial approval separate from venue permission. Your supplier may have your consent to use a specialist but still need to satisfy the venue's contractor rules. Equally, a venue accepting a company onto its site doesn't settle the commercial agreement between you and your supplier. Identify each approval and its owner so nobody mistakes one person's response for every permission the work needs.

Agree what silence means under the actual contract. Operationally, an unanswered email is a poor basis for preparing a critical service. If the proposed decision date passes, ask the supplier to escalate to the named deputy. Avoid inventing a new consent rule in an email when the contract already says something different.

For an existing booking, start by establishing the rights you already agreed. You can request information, discuss safeguards and negotiate a change where needed. If the supplier has already committed work in a way you dispute, get the facts and follow the contract's process. Telling it that your new policy applies retrospectively won't resolve the legal or practical problem.

Name the work, the company and the limits

An approval should identify the actual legal business doing the work. A trading name on a van may differ from the company entering the subcontract. Ask for the business name, relevant registration details, contact and role. Use that information to check you are reviewing the right organisation, especially when several related businesses have similar names.

Then describe the part of the job it may deliver. For the sound package, that might include specified equipment, installation, operation, testing and removal. State the relevant event dates and location. If approval concerns one performance, it shouldn't quietly become standing permission for every date in your series.

Describe exclusions where they prevent misunderstanding. A company approved to deliver equipment hasn't necessarily been approved to operate it. A badge business approved to print your specified fields hasn't been approved to contact attendees for its own marketing. Useful boundaries tell people which action requires another decision; vague statements about doing "anything necessary" don't help much during a busy build.

Ask whether the subcontractor may subcontract again. Your commercial agreement should say what notice or consent applies to another change in the delivery chain. The original supplier needs to pass the relevant requirements to its subcontractor and check that it can meet them. Otherwise your careful limits may never reach the people whose work you're approving.

Keep key people identifiable without treating every staffing adjustment as identical. Replacing the person responsible for technical delivery may require more review than replacing a driver who performs the same approved delivery under the same controls. Define the roles that matter, the evidence needed for replacements, and the notification route. Don't let a named-person promise disappear inside a generic right to substitute anyone.

For repeat events, put an end date or review point on the approval. A company that was suitable for an indoor talk may be proposing very different work at an outdoor concert. Previous acceptance is useful history. It doesn't establish competence, availability or suitability for a changed job.

Check capability against the job they will perform

Your supplier's confidence in its partner is a starting point. Ask what supports it. Which comparable work has the subcontractor delivered? Who will supervise this job? What people, equipment and time has it actually committed? You are checking whether this proposed team can perform this proposed service under your event's conditions.

For work in Great Britain, HSE's guide to using contractors recommends enquiries about competence proportionate to the risk and complexity. It specifically includes asking whether subcontractors will be used and how their competence will be checked. That supports a practical approach: ask focused questions and review relevant evidence, rather than collecting a large folder nobody understands.

A photograph of a larger event doesn't answer every question about yours. Perhaps the subcontractor supplied equipment there but didn't operate it. Perhaps the supervisor who handled that show is unavailable on your date. Ask what its actual contribution was and which part demonstrates the capability you need. Relevant experience is more useful than an impressive client list without context.

Check the proposed method with the people qualified to assess it. Your production manager may need to review technical compatibility and staffing. The venue may need to review access and working arrangements. Your safety adviser may need to assess how the activity fits the site. Approving the budget doesn't qualify you to approve structural design or electrical work.

Don't turn a badge, membership or certificate into a substitute for those questions. Check what it covers, whether it belongs to the named business or individual, and whether it remains valid for the event dates where that matters. If a role requires a licence, have the appropriate check performed for that role and jurisdiction. Keep a record of who checked it and what they verified.

Security needs particular care. The SIA guidance linked earlier says an SIA approved contractor may subcontract only to another approved contractor unless the SIA gives permission otherwise. It also addresses screening, vetting and shift management. Those are specific requirements for that security arrangement. They aren't evidence that every event supplier needs SIA approval or that a business approval replaces checks on deployed operatives.

Ask what happens when the planned supervisor becomes unavailable. A credible answer identifies who can replace them, what the substitute must demonstrate and when you will hear about it. "We'll send someone good" leaves the most consequential staffing decision undefined. If the proposal depends on one person, make the dependency visible while you can still plan around it.

Keep supervision and your supplier's obligations clear

You want a named person who remains answerable for the service you bought. Ask your original supplier who that person is, how they can be reached and what authority they have to resolve a problem. An account manager who leaves at five may be fine for routine administration, but someone needs to manage delivery when your show is still running.

Agree how instructions reach the subcontractor. Your event team may need to coordinate access or tell a crew that an area is closed. That doesn't mean every team member should direct technical work or order additional services. Explain who can give operational information, who can approve spending and who supervises the specialist's work.

This matters when something goes wrong. If the stage manager asks a sound operator to change a cue, the operator should know the agreed route. If a sponsor asks for an extra microphone position, the supplier should know whether that is included or needs a priced change. You don't want the subcontractor taking instructions from several people who believe somebody else will pay.

Ask for the main agreement to preserve the original supplier's delivery obligations when you approve the subcontract. Have the wording and any liability limits reviewed for your situation. You may also need provisions covering failures, replacement, delay and assistance with claims. A promise to remain responsible has limited practical value if the rest of the contract makes the remedy unclear or the business cannot meet it.

Responsibility also has a safety dimension. HSE's event-management guidance addresses organisers' overall safety and coordination duties in Great Britain. It distinguishes coordinating the event from becoming responsible for every technical task performed by third parties. Check the duties that apply to your event. A commercial agreement about who pays doesn't remove statutory responsibilities.

Keep the two conversations connected. The supplier's supervisor needs the current programme, relevant hazards and contact arrangements. Your event lead needs confirmation that the supplier has briefed and is supervising its subcontractor. Agree how issues are reported and checked during delivery. A contract stored in the office cannot manage a crew that has never received the instructions.

You can speak directly with the specialist where that helps coordination. Avoid making the original supplier disappear from the decision. If you start hiring the specialist directly, paying it independently or agreeing new terms, you may be creating a different commercial arrangement. Recognise that change and have it properly documented rather than assuming it is covered by the subcontracting approval.

Ask how the insurance applies to the actual arrangement

"They're insured" doesn't tell you enough to approve the work. Ask which business is insured, for which activities, during which period and under what relevant conditions. Discuss the proposed subcontracting arrangement with your broker or insurance adviser where appropriate. They need the facts of the work, rather than a description that omits who will perform it.

Request the evidence required by your contract and venue, and have qualified people assess material questions about cover. Check the subcontractor's legal name against that evidence. If the policy concerns equipment delivery while the proposal includes installation and operation, ask for clarification. Don't resolve an insurance question by deciding that the descriptions sound close enough.

Ask the original supplier how its own cover treats subcontracted work. Also ask what insurance it requires its subcontractor to hold and how it verifies that requirement. Those are related enquiries, rather than interchangeable answers. A certificate for one company doesn't establish what protection another company has or how a particular claim would be handled.

The right checks depend on the work and local requirements. Public liability, professional advice, hired equipment and workers can raise different questions. Don't invent a universal insurance limit from another event's contract. Establish what this venue, activity, agreement and your own adviser require, then document the evidence and any unresolved exceptions.

Keep insurance review separate from acceptance of the finished service. A company may supply the requested insurance evidence and still need to prove that its equipment is compatible or its supervisor is suitable. Equally, technical competence doesn't answer an insurance gap. If either question remains unresolved, make it explicit in the decision and don't describe the whole arrangement as approved.

Agree how a relevant change gets reported before the work, including a replacement business or changed activity. Tell the person maintaining the supplier record what must be rechecked. Our guide to checking event supplier insurance develops that review in more detail. Use it to organise the questions, with your adviser resolving what the actual policy does and doesn't cover.

Separate permission from the price decision

A supplier proposing another delivery company may say the price stays the same. Get that confirmed with the scope and conditions. If it says the price changes, ask why, what amount changes and which agreed provision or new work supports the request. Subcontracting approval and acceptance of another charge should be clear, separate decisions.

You don't automatically need to know the supplier's margin or what it pays every subcontractor. With a fixed-price service, your main commercial question is whether it will deliver what you agreed at the agreed price. Where your contract uses disclosed costs, agreed markups or reimbursable expenses, review against those terms. Don't casually turn one pricing arrangement into another because a new company appears.

Look beyond the subcontractor's quoted amount. Does its proposed arrival require another venue access period? Does it need equipment your original supplier was meant to provide? Will a rehearsal change extend other crew bookings? Ask who carries each consequence. A promise of "no extra charge" from one supplier can leave an event with costs somewhere else.

Labour pricing deserves scrutiny too. Australia's Fair Work Ombudsman guidance on managing labour contracting recommends understanding employment costs when assessing contractor pricing and notes that some states regulate labour hire. For an Australian booking, check the applicable workplace and licensing arrangements. A very cheap crew proposal needs an explanation that accounts for lawful delivery.

Here is a fictional example in US dollars. These are invented amounts for the calculation, not market rates or a real supplier dispute. A ticketed show forecasts $30,000 revenue and $26,000 total costs, including a $6,000 production package. Forecast profit is therefore $4,000 before financing costs and business income tax. Assume the figures include relevant transaction costs and nonrecoverable taxes, with no sales tax included as event income.

The production supplier proposes a specialist sound company at no change to its $6,000 package. But the specialist can initially arrive only after the booked access period. The venue quotes $300 for extra access, another crew would incur $240 waiting time, and an extra delivery would cost $160. If you accept those additional costs, the event spends another $700 and forecast profit falls to $3,300.

The supplier's package price hasn't increased. Your complete event cost has. Ask whether the specialist can attend within the original access period, whether the supplier can absorb the consequences, or whether another suitable arrangement can meet the accepted schedule. Work through any dispute using the actual contract. You aren't automatically entitled to shift every consequence to the supplier, nor obliged to accept an unexplained extra bill.

Suppose the parties agree that the supplier will meet the extra delivery cost and the subcontractor can use the original access period, eliminating the venue and waiting charges. Your event then retains the original $26,000 cost forecast and $4,000 profit forecast, assuming nothing else changes. Record the accepted solution so the discarded $700 proposal doesn't later reappear as an invoice.

If the work itself has changed, use the process for event supplier scope changes. A different company performing the same service and an added service are different questions. They can arrive in the same email, but you need to decide each one with its own facts.

Make the approval work at the loading door

Now follow the arrangement onto the site. Which company name is on the access list? Which vehicle is expected? Who meets the crew? Where do they report before starting work? A production manager approving the specialist doesn't help a gate team holding a list that names only the original supplier.

Send the relevant site information through the original supplier and confirm that it reaches the subcontractor's working lead. Include the current access window, reporting point, route, unloading arrangements and restrictions that affect the job. Ask the lead to confirm the practical plan. A forwarded attachment is less useful than confirmation that the crew can deliver under those conditions.

The venue needs enough information to coordinate the work. That might include vehicle and equipment dimensions, equipment movement, supervision or tasks affecting other teams. Ask for the information the venue actually requires. Don't promise access on its behalf, or tell a subcontractor to arrive whenever suits it and expect the duty manager to rearrange everything.

Give the gate team a clear route for an unexpected company. They should be able to contact the event lead or deputy and hold the arrival safely while it is checked. They shouldn't have to decide technical competence, insurance or contractual permission from a driver's explanation. That review belongs to the people assigned to it.

Check the crew against the approved roles at the start of work. If the expected supervisor hasn't arrived, establish who is supervising before assuming the arrangement is unchanged. A substitute might be entirely suitable, but it still needs the review required by your agreement and the work. Keep that check practical and respectful. Workers shouldn't be blamed for a missing message between companies.

Walk through connections between suppliers before the build. Your sound specialist may depend on power, stage access and a clear rehearsal period supplied by others. Identify who confirms each connection is ready and who gets called if it isn't. If the specialist discovers a problem, the supplier should know whether to stop, seek clarification or use a preapproved alternative.

At the end of the shift, make sure responsibility continues through removal and handback. A subcontractor that leaves before its equipment is collected can leave your event team managing a task it never agreed to perform. Confirm who handles breakdown, what can remain overnight, who secures it and when the venue accepts the area back. Include these responsibilities when approving the service, while everyone is still discussing the whole job.

Treat attendee information as a separate permission

A company approved to work at your event doesn't automatically need access to attendee records. Ask what information is necessary for its task. The sound specialist in the worked example may need production contacts and timings. It has no obvious reason to receive the ticket-buyer database.

A registration supplier delegating badge production is different. Establish which organisation will handle which information, under what instructions and in which location. Don't let a commercial approval become an accidental permission to send a file elsewhere. Read the existing data agreement and have the proposed onward use assessed before the new business receives access.

In a UK GDPR processor arrangement, the ICO's guidance for processors says another processor needs the controller's prior specific or general written authorisation. With general authorisation, proposed changes require notice and an opportunity to object. It also requires an onward contract with equivalent protection for the relevant obligations. The ICO flags this guidance as under review following the Data Use and Access Act, so check the current position for your arrangement.

A controller decides why and the essential way personal information is used. A processor handles it on a controller's behalf. Those roles depend on what the businesses actually do. Get the arrangement assessed if the supplier or subcontractor wants to use the data for its own purposes. Describing every business as a processor won't make the instructions or legal obligations correct.

Operationally, name the approved recipient, permitted fields, purpose, access period and incident contact. Agree how corrections reach that company and how access ends. Our guide to sharing attendee data with event suppliers explains the broader handoff. Here, the added question is whether your accepted arrangement properly covers this additional business.

Sometimes you can remove the need for a handoff. If a delivery change affects arrival instructions, your event team can send the update to ticket holders using Loopyah's attendee email tools. Keep responsibility for composing and checking the message with the event team. Sending an operational update doesn't require giving the subcontractor your customer list.

What if the supplier has already subcontracted without telling you?

First establish what has happened, rather than responding to the company name alone. Ask when the subcontract was agreed, which work it covers, whether anyone has started and whether any event information has already been shared. Preserve the accepted quote, relevant correspondence and current delivery proposal. You need a reliable account before deciding whether the problem is late notice, a contractual breach, a suitability concern or several issues together.

Tell your supplier which questions remain unresolved and when you need its response. If your agreement required consent, identify the relevant provision and ask why the process wasn't followed. If it allowed the arrangement, focus on the information and controls you still need. Don't describe a permitted subcontract as a breach because it surprised you. Equally, don't let a friendly explanation substitute for evidence where the proposed work needs checking.

Separate your immediate delivery decision from the dispute about how the supplier acted. You might be able to accept a suitable specialist after completing the necessary review, while still addressing the failure to notify you. In another situation, the specialist may be unable to meet an essential condition and the supplier needs to propose an alternative. Record what you are accepting, what remains disputed and the effect of that acceptance using advice appropriate to the contract.

Be careful about taking over the subcontract yourself. Suppose the sound company asks you to pay it directly because your production supplier hasn't paid a deposit. Before sending money, establish who owes what, which payments you've already made and how any direct payment would change those obligations. Agree the treatment with the relevant parties and obtain advice where needed. A payment made to rescue delivery can otherwise leave you arguing about whether the original invoice is still payable.

Ask your original supplier to provide the recovery plan. You can help by giving accurate venue and schedule information, but you shouldn't have to guess what its subcontractor has promised. Get the proposed service, named supervisor, completion time and agreement about who pays confirmed. If replacement or termination is being considered, review the actual rights, notice requirements and practical consequences before acting. The existence of a subcontract doesn't itself tell you which remedy is available.

Keep the working team informed of the decision they need to follow. If review is still underway, say which activity is on hold and who can release it. If the arrangement is accepted, circulate the accepted details through the normal site process. The crew should receive one clear instruction, rather than overhearing a commercial argument and trying to work out whether they're allowed to start.

Use a short approval brief that people can act on

A useful brief brings the decisions together without replacing the contract. Refer to the accepted supplier booking and the documents it changes or supplements. Follow the notice and acceptance method your agreement requires. If the arrangement needs a formal variation or legal review, complete that step rather than assuming a handy form is enough.

You can adapt the following fields for your own booking. Fill them with decisions and document references, rather than a row of boxes saying "checked".

• Event and booking: identify the event date, site, original supplier and accepted quote or agreement version.

• Proposed business: record its legal name, relevant registration details, event contact and supervisor.

• Approved service: describe the specific tasks, equipment, dates, working periods and exclusions.

• Evidence reviewed: identify the competence, insurance, licensing and technical checks, with the reviewer and any conditions.

• Supervision and instructions: name the supplier's accountable lead, the subcontractor's supervisor and your operational contact.

• Price and consequences: state the accepted supplier price, any approved extra event costs, who pays them and the relevant proposal references.

• Access and other services: identify venue permissions, arrival arrangements and services that must be ready before work begins.

• Information access: state what records or systems are permitted, or record that no attendee-data access is authorised by this approval.

• Further changes: identify the notice or approval route for another company, supervisor, method or materially changed activity.

• Decision and completion: name who approved the arrangement, any conditions still outstanding, the response deadline and the delivery checks needed before completion.

For the fictional sound booking, the brief would name the specialist, describe the approved sound service and retain the original production supplier as the accountable service contact. It would identify the agreed supervisor and the relevant evidence. It would also confirm the original access period and record the supplier's accepted responsibility for the $160 additional delivery cost.

Be precise about conditions. If evidence is missing, say the proposal is awaiting that evidence and identify who must review it before the relevant activity can start. "Approved subject to paperwork" can be misunderstood as permission to start now. Distinguish permission to prepare from permission to enter, access information or perform the work.

Send the accepted outcome to the people who need to act on it. The supplier's working lead needs the service and supervision decisions. The venue needs the access arrangements. Finance needs the accepted price and approved adjustments. Each should receive enough context to perform its job without needing the entire commercial file.

Finally, ask the original supplier to confirm that its subcontractor has accepted the relevant instructions. You don't need to run the supplier's whole business. You do need evidence that your conditions have reached the company expected to meet them. If the subcontractor contradicts the accepted plan, resolve the difference before treating the service as ready.

Have a route for a substitution on event morning

Even a clear plan needs an exception process. A supplier might call because a vehicle failed, a supervisor is ill or a specialist can no longer attend. Start with the immediate facts. What part of the service is affected? What remains deliverable? Who is proposing the substitute? When must you decide to preserve a workable event?

Use the same core questions at the level the change requires. Check the replacement's role, competence, supervision, access and relevant permissions. Bring in the qualified reviewer for technical or safety matters. Commercial urgency doesn't make an unsuitable company suitable, and the fact that guests are travelling doesn't answer a missing licence or unsafe working method.

Ask the supplier to offer feasible options, including a safe reduced service or changed schedule where appropriate. Check those options against the experience you sold, venue constraints and other supplier commitments. Don't describe an inferior substitute as equivalent because admitting the difference is uncomfortable. If the promise to buyers changes materially, assess the applicable terms and consumer obligations before choosing the response.

Make urgent safety decisions through the event's established safety arrangements. Staff need authority to stop or restrict unsafe activity without waiting for someone to approve a quote. Once the immediate risk is controlled, record the facts and settle the continuing service and cost decisions through the agreed route. An emergency response shouldn't become undocumented approval of an unlimited replacement package.

Record the decision while everyone can still describe what happened. Note the proposed change, evidence reviewed, people consulted, accepted limits and any cost left disputed. Confirm the instructions to the working team and update affected schedules. If a person isn't reachable, use the named deputy. Don't allow several unanswered calls to become a decision nobody can later explain.

Close the booking against what was approved

After delivery, check the actual service against the accepted arrangement. Did the approved company and supervisor attend? Were the tasks completed? Did another business appear? Were there delays, additional instructions or information-access changes? Ask the original supplier to explain discrepancies using the delivery records, rather than letting the final invoice become the first account of what happened.

Check charges against the agreed price and accepted changes. In the fictional example, the supplier's $160 delivery cost should receive the treatment the parties agreed. The discarded venue and waiting charges shouldn't appear as event costs unless a later accepted change created them. Resolve any difference through the contract's payment and dispute process, with the relevant evidence and deadlines.

Confirm handback, return of equipment and any required information cleanup. Keep responsibility assigned until those tasks finish. The audience going home doesn't end every supplier obligation, and an open collection or access issue still needs a named person to resolve it.

Before the next booking, update the specific part of the process that failed. If the venue never received the approved company name, fix that handoff. If your supplier used a capable specialist but disclosed it late, agree earlier notice. If the specialist couldn't meet the service, reconsider the approval with evidence of the shortfall. Begin the next conversation with the accepted work and the actual delivery record, so both sides know what must change.