Property manager vendor onboarding checklist

Step 1: Set your requirements before you invite anyone

Onboarding goes faster when vendors know exactly what you need. Before inviting a new vendor, decide what each category of vendor must provide. Many property managers keep a standard list and a short set of additions for higher-risk trades.

• Insurance minimums by trade, for example $2M commercial general liability for most vendors and $5M for roofing, fire protection, restoration, demolition or elevator work.
• Whether your company, the owner and the condo corporation or landlord must be named as additional insured.
• Which licences and training records apply to each trade.
• How often each document must be renewed.

Step 2: Collect the vendor's details and documents

Ask for everything in a single request so the vendor can respond once. A typical package includes:

1. Legal business name, operating name, address and business number.
2. A primary contact and a contact for insurance or compliance questions.
3. Certificate of insurance with insurer, policy number, limits, and effective and expiry dates.
4. Workers' compensation clearance, such as a WSIB clearance certificate in Ontario.
5. Trade licences, for example an ESA Electrical Contractor Licence for electrical contractors.
6. Training records where relevant, such as Working at Heights certificates.
7. Payment details and tax information for your accounts payable team.
8. A signed service agreement or master services agreement.

For a fuller list by document type, see what documents to collect from contractors.

Step 3: Verify, don't just file

Receiving a document is not the same as checking it. A short review at onboarding catches most problems before they reach a site.

• Confirm the insured name on the certificate matches the legal name on your agreement.
• Check that limits meet your minimums and that additional insured wording is included where required.
• Verify the WSIB clearance online through WSIB. A contractor whose account is not up to date cannot be issued one.
• Look at every expiry date and note any that fall within the next 30 days.

Step 4: Approve with conditions and record the dates

Once documents check out, mark the vendor approved and record every expiry date. Some managers approve a vendor for specific properties or work types only, which is useful when one building has stricter requirements than another. If something is missing, a conditional approval with a deadline is clearer than an informal promise to send it later.

Remember that WSIB clearances last up to 90 days and most expire on February 20, May 20, August 20 and November 20. In construction, the clearance must be valid before work begins and for the full duration of the work, and records should be kept for at least three years.

Common onboarding gaps

• Vendors approved at head office but never added to a building's approved list, or the reverse.
• Subcontractors who never go through onboarding at all.
• Documents stored in personal inboxes, so no one else can find them when a site team asks.
• No owner for renewals, so expired certificates are only noticed after an incident.

Keeping it current

Onboarding is a starting point. Plan a quarterly WSIB request, a reminder 30 days before each insurance expiry, and an annual review of every active vendor's record. Our contractor compliance checklist can help you define requirements by trade, and Vendorpass lets vendors keep one current record they can share with you instead of resending the same documents each year.