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Subcontract Agreement Review Checklist
Read an install subcontract against 28 clauses. Mark each one Covered, Unclear or Silent, and see which gaps are open-ended exposure rather than housekeeping.
What should a solar install subcontract cover?
Five areas. Scope and standard of work, defined by reference to the approved plan set rather than in general terms, with exclusions stated. Licence and permits, naming the exact legal entity performing the work and the permit applicant of record. Insurance, indemnity and liability- named limits, additional-insured status, workers' compensation for everyone on site, and responsibility for roof penetrations. Payment and schedule, including milestone triggers, any pay-when-paid condition, retainage release and the lien waiver process. And warranty, term and exit, including which obligations survive termination.
The clauses that hurt are rarely the ones drafted badly. They are the ones not there at all, which is why marking a clause "Silent" is more useful than marking it "Covered."
Review an agreement clause by clause
Work through with the agreement open. High-exposure clauses are flagged, and anything you mark Unclear or Silent is collected at the bottom as your list for counsel.
14 high-exposure clauses have not been looked at yet. Mark each one Covered, Unclear or Silent.
Scope and standard of work
0/5What is being bought, to what standard, and who decides whether it was met.
Scope of work defined by reference to the approved plan setHigh exposure
'Install the system' is not a scope. Tying scope to the stamped set is what makes a dispute resolvable.
Exclusions stated explicitly: adders, roof work, panel upgrades, trenchingHigh exposure
Silence on exclusions means every adder becomes a negotiation on the day it is discovered, at the worst possible moment.
Standard of work referenced to code and manufacturer instructions
Without a stated standard, 'workmanlike' is whatever each party believes it means.
Field change and substitution procedure defined
Undocumented equipment substitutions are a routine inspection failure and an as-built problem with the utility.
Site condition, debris removal and property protection addressed
Small money, frequent disputes, and the thing homeowners actually complain about.
Licence, permits and compliance
0/5Who is the contractor of record, and who answers to the jurisdiction.
The licensed entity performing the work is named exactlyHigh exposure
A licence held by an affiliate or an individual does not cover the contracting business. Name the entity, not the brand.
Permit applicant of record identifiedHigh exposure
The permit applicant answers to the authority having jurisdiction for the installation. That party has to be unambiguous.
Obligation to maintain licensure for the term, with notice of any changeHigh exposure
A licence that lapses mid-term is your problem the moment an inspector notices.
Responsibility for clearing inspection corrections and re-inspection cost
The classic unowned task. If the agreement is silent, expect it to sit for weeks.
Whether the subcontractor may further subcontract, and on what terms
Unrestricted onward subcontracting quietly moves the crew, and the insurance question, somewhere you have not vetted.
Insurance, indemnity and liability
0/6The clauses that decide what happens on the bad day.
General liability limits specified, with you as additional insuredHigh exposure
Named limits and additional-insured status are the difference between coverage and a certificate.
Workers' compensation required for everyone on site, including any sub-tier crewHigh exposure
An injury to an uninsured worker on a job you sourced can reach further up the chain than most sales organisations expect.
Certificates required before mobilisation and on each renewal
Coverage verified once at signing is coverage verified for one day.
Indemnity scope and any cap stated clearlyHigh exposure
An uncapped or a mutually contradictory indemnity is a clause nobody reads until it is the only clause that matters.
Roof and property damage responsibility, including penetrationsHigh exposure
Penetrations are the most common and most expensive workmanship claim in residential solar.
Risk of loss for materials on site before installation
Staged material that is stolen or weather-damaged belongs to somebody. Decide who before it happens.
Payment and schedule
0/6When money moves, what happens when it does not, and who absorbs delay.
Rate basis stated: per watt, per job, or time and materials
Mixed bases across projects is where margin disputes start.
Payment triggers and terms tied to defined milestonesHigh exposure
'On completion' is ambiguous in a project with an inspection, a correction cycle and a utility close-out.
Any pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid condition identified and understoodHigh exposure
These shift funding risk down the chain, and their enforceability varies by state. Know which one you have signed.
Retainage amount and release conditions
Retainage with no defined release event is retainage that is never released.
Delay responsibility: permitting, material lead time, homeowner access
Most delay in residential solar is nobody's fault in particular. Say who carries it anyway.
Lien waiver process and conditional versus unconditional waiversHigh exposure
Waivers exchanged at the wrong stage are one of the more expensive administrative mistakes available.
Warranty, term and exit
0/6The clauses that matter in year three, agreed in year zero.
Workmanship warranty term and scope, distinct from manufacturer warrantiesHigh exposure
Module and inverter warranties are somebody else's obligation. The workmanship warranty is the one the homeowner will call about.
Warranty service response time and who receives the call
A covered claim with no route to a technician is a warranty on paper only.
Which obligations survive termination: warranty, indemnity, confidentialityHigh exposure
If warranty does not survive termination, ending the relationship ends the warranty.
Termination rights, notice period and treatment of work in progress
Half-finished installations and open permits need a defined path, not a negotiation during a breakdown.
Assignment on acquisition or change of control
A warranty obligation is only as durable as the entity holding it. Acquisitions are when that gets tested.
Governing law, venue and dispute resolution
Cheap to agree while everyone is friendly, expensive to argue about later.
A structured reading aid, not legal advice. Contract law, lien procedure and the enforceability of payment-conditioning clauses vary by state, have counsel review the actual wording before signature.
Informational use only, please verify before you rely on it
A structured reading aid, not legal advice. It identifies which topics an agreement addresses, not whether the wording achieves what it appears to. Contract law, lien procedure and the enforceability of payment-conditioning clauses vary by state, have counsel review actual wording before signature.
This tool is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. Its output is an illustrative estimate generated from the values you enter and from general assumptions that will not match every deal, market, lender, or homeowner. It is not tax, legal, accounting, financial, or professional advice, and it is not a quote, an offer, a credit decision, or a guarantee of pricing, approval, timing, savings, or eligibility.
You are solely responsible for independently confirming all information presented here including any figures, rates, fees, margins, timelines, tax treatment, and federal, state, local, or utility incentives, with the applicable lender, authority having jurisdiction, and your own qualified tax, legal, and financial advisors before acting on it, relying on it, or presenting it to a homeowner or any third party. Incentive programs, lender terms, and permitting requirements change frequently and vary by jurisdiction.
Seamless Home is not a tax advisor, law firm, lender, or licensed installing contractor, and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the information produced by this tool. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Seamless Home accepts no liability for any decision made or action taken in reliance on it.
Silence is the finding
Most subcontract review is a read-through looking for bad clauses. That misses the actual risk, because a badly drafted clause is at least visible, someone will argue about it. A missing clause produces no argument at all until an incident, at which point both parties describe what they always assumed was true and neither can point to anything.
Which is why this checklist has three states rather than a tick box. "Covered" means the agreement addresses it. "Unclear" means it appears to and you cannot tell. "Silent" is the answer that matters, and it is the one a read-through never records, because absence does not catch the eye.
A gap you have consciously accepted is a commercial decision. A gap you never saw is not.
Where Seamless Home fits. Seamless Home routes closed deals to installing partners in its network and runs design, permitting, engineering and project management as inside operations, so a sales organisation is not negotiating install subcontracts market by market. The licensed installing contractor remains the contractor of record, and coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a solar install subcontract cover?+
Five areas. Scope and standard of work, defined by reference to the approved plan set rather than in general terms. Licence and permit responsibility, naming the exact legal entity performing the work and the permit applicant of record. Insurance, indemnity and liability, including general liability limits with additional-insured status, workers' compensation for every person on site, and responsibility for roof penetrations. Payment and schedule, including milestone triggers, any pay-when-paid condition, retainage release and lien waiver process. And warranty, term and exit, including which obligations survive termination.
Which subcontract clauses create the most exposure if they are missing?+
The ones whose absence is open-ended rather than merely inconvenient. Undefined scope and unstated exclusions, because every adder then becomes a negotiation at the worst moment. An unnamed licensed entity or an ambiguous permit applicant, which breaks the accountability chain. Insurance without named limits or additional-insured status. An uncapped or contradictory indemnity. Undefined responsibility for roof and penetration damage. Payment triggers that are not tied to defined milestones. And a workmanship warranty that does not survive termination.
What is a pay-when-paid clause and why does it matter?+
It conditions payment to the subcontractor on the upstream party first being paid, shifting funding risk down the chain. A related and stronger form, often called pay-if-paid, can make upstream payment a true condition precedent rather than a timing provision. Their enforceability varies by state and the drafting distinction is subtle, which is why it is worth identifying precisely which one an agreement contains rather than noting that the topic is addressed.
Why does the exact legal entity on a subcontract matter?+
Because the licence holder is normally the contractor of record. The party that pulls the permit, answers to the authority having jurisdiction, and owes the workmanship warranty. A licence held by an affiliated company, a predecessor entity or an individual does not cover the business you are contracting with. If the agreement names a brand rather than an entity, or names an entity whose licence you have not verified, the accountability chain has a gap in it from day one.
What is the difference between conditional and unconditional lien waivers?+
A conditional waiver takes effect only when the payment it references actually clears; an unconditional waiver takes effect on signature regardless. Exchanging an unconditional waiver before funds have cleared gives up rights against a payment that may not arrive. Waiver forms, required content and timing are governed by state statute in many places, which makes this an area where the process matters as much as the clause and where counsel is genuinely worth the fee.
Should the workmanship warranty survive termination?+
Yes, and this needs saying explicitly. If warranty obligations do not survive termination, ending the relationship ends the warranty, which means the homeowner has an installation nobody owes anything on. Survival should be stated alongside indemnity and confidentiality, and it is worth also addressing assignment on acquisition or change of control, since a warranty is only as durable as the entity that holds it.
Does this checklist replace legal review?+
No. It is a structured reading aid that tells you which topics an agreement addresses and which it is silent on. It cannot tell you whether the wording of a clause achieves what it appears to, and that is where most contract disputes actually live. Contract law, lien procedure and the enforceability of payment-conditioning clauses all vary by state. Use this to arrive at legal review with a specific list of questions rather than a general request to look it over.
Related resources
Solar subcontractor agreements: what to cover
The long-form companion to this checklist, clause area by clause area.
Learn more →Installer vetting scorecard
Verify licence, insurance, capacity and warranty before you get as far as an agreement.
Learn more →Install subcontract rate calculator
Whether the per-watt rate in the agreement actually works for the crew performing it.
Learn more →One accountable fulfillment layer, not a stack of agreements
Seamless Home connects closed deals to installing partners and runs design, permitting and project management as inside operations, so the accountability chain is established once, not renegotiated per market.
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