how to get commercial contracts trades
How to Move from Domestic Jobs to Commercial Contracts
To win commercial work you need five things site managers actually check: RAMS, the right cards, higher insurance (often £5m public liability), CIS registration and clean, formal invoicing. Skill is assumed - paperwork is what gets you through the gate. Get those five in order and you're ahead of most domestic trades who enquire; ignore them and your quote never gets read.
What site managers actually look for
- RAMS - risk assessments and method statements for the work you propose to do
- Relevant cards: CSCS as a baseline, ECS or JIB for electrical trades
- Public liability at commercial levels - £5m is a common minimum, against the £1m-£2m typical for domestic
- CIS registration if you're subcontracting in construction - without it you'll suffer higher deductions
- Formal invoices with payment terms, references and VAT handled properly
- Reliability: turning up when booked matters more than being the cheapest line on the tender
RAMS without the mystery
RAMS sound corporate but they're just written common sense: what the job is, what could go wrong, and how you'll do it safely, step by step. Write one properly for each type of work you do - first fix, second fix, working at height - and you can reuse and adapt them for years. Templates are everywhere; what site managers spot instantly is a generic one that doesn't match the actual job, so tailor the site name, access and hazards every time.
Cards, cover and CIS
Sort these before you approach anyone: the CSCS or trade-specific card for site access, an insurance upgrade to the level the contracts demand (ring your broker - the jump to £5m usually costs less than people expect), and CIS registration so you're deducted 20% rather than 30%. Have PDF copies of everything ready to send within the hour when a contracts manager asks - speed of paperwork is your first audition.
Get used to 30-60 day terms and retentions
This is where domestic habits get punished. Commercial clients commonly pay on 30 to 60 day terms, and main contractors often hold a retention of 3-5% for months after completion - sometimes until the end of a defects period. That means you fund materials and wages long before the money lands. Before you take the first contract, build a cash buffer, agree terms in writing, invoice the moment you're entitled to, and chase the day a payment goes overdue. Cash-flow discipline, not workmanship, is what kills trades who go commercial too fast.
From the tools: my brother's tiler mate made the jump in 2023, subbing on a shopfit after years of bathrooms. The work was fine; the money nearly broke him. First invoice paid at 60 days on the nose, £600 of a £12k package held as a 5% retention he didn't see for almost a year, and meanwhile adhesive and labour went out weekly. He got through it on an overdraft and now keeps roughly three months of running costs in the business account before taking any commercial package. His rule since: read the payment terms before the drawings, and price the retention like money you may never see.
How to land the first one
Start with small local main contractors and fit-out firms rather than the giants - they decide faster and always need reliable subbies. Send a short email with your trade, your cards, your insurance level and two photos of relevant work, and offer availability at short notice; gaps in their programme are how new subbies get in. Deliver the first job clean - on time, tidy paperwork, no drama - and the phone tends to keep ringing, because a reliable subcontractor is genuinely hard to find.
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