A contracting business does not fail in the office — it fails on a job site, in a truck, or at the license board. HandbookHQ writes a handbook for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, construction and remodeling crews: safety, vehicles, tools, timekeeping across sites, and conduct in a customer's home, with a signature page for every hire.
The trades combine the highest physical risk of any small business with the most scattered workforce: crews on different sites, hours in trucks, tools worth thousands riding in beds and trailers. A handbook here is less about office etiquette and more about the rules that keep people whole and jobs profitable — written plainly enough that a first-year apprentice actually reads it.
This is the backbone. Cover PPE by task — eye and ear protection, hard hats, gloves, fall protection at height — ladder rules, lockout/tagout and electrical safety in general terms, trenching and confined-space awareness where relevant, housekeeping so the site itself is not the hazard, and immediate injury and near-miss reporting. State the culture in one line: no schedule pressure ever justifies skipping a safety step, and anyone can stop work over a hazard without retaliation.
Trucks are rolling billboards and rolling liability. The handbook should cover driver eligibility and license checks, seat belts, an absolute no-phone rule while driving, personal use limits, fuel cards, accident and ticket reporting, and daily walk-arounds. Pair it with a plain statement of how travel and drive time are paid under your practice — described generally, deferring to state law — because pay-for-drive-time is one of the most common wage disputes in the trades.
Write down what the company issues and what the tradesperson provides, sign-out for specialty tools, care and storage expectations (locked vehicles, not overnight in an open bed), loss and damage reporting, and return on separation. A tool policy signed on day one prevents the ugliest kind of last-day argument.
Licensed trades live and die by paperwork. Require employees to keep trade licenses and certifications current and to report any lapse, cover who pulls permits, and set expectations for dealing with inspectors and general contractors — professional, honest, and never signing or covering work that was not done to code.
On a roof or in a panel, impairment is not a personnel issue, it is a life-safety issue. The handbook should match the strictness you choose — including post-accident and reasonable-suspicion testing, and random testing if your work warrants it — while noting that state marijuana and testing laws vary and the company follows them. Include help resources so the policy reads as safety, not ambush.
Clocking in from the yard versus the site, recording time by job for costing, meal breaks away from any office, and no off-the-clock work — put it in writing. Accurate job-costed time is also how you find out which bids make money, so frame timekeeping as protecting both paycheck and business.
The Complete Handbook section list HandbookHQ actually generates for a contracting business — every section 400–900 words, written around your answers, with a cover page and table of contents.
Yes — trades businesses automatically get a Company Vehicles & Driving section in the Complete pack: driver eligibility, seat belts and no phone use, personal use, fuel cards, accidents and tickets, inspections, and what happens if someone loses driving privileges.
Yes. The form asks how strict you want it — from basic no-impairment through zero-tolerance with testing. The generated policy matches your choice, covers post-accident and reasonable-suspicion testing, and notes that state marijuana and testing laws vary and control.
The safety section sets responsibilities, PPE, hazard and injury reporting, emergency procedures and a no-retaliation stop-work norm, and notes that OSHA standards may apply to your work. It describes practice rather than reciting regulations, and tells you where to confirm requirements.
The handbook governs your employees. It can note that subcontractors work under their own agreements — keeping that line clear matters for misclassification. Your subcontractor agreements themselves are a job for your attorney.
It describes timekeeping and travel-time practice generally — recording time by job, no off-the-clock work — and defers to your state labor department for current rules, since travel-pay requirements are state-specific and change.
Five minutes of questions about your contracting business, one payment, a handbook written for your business — with the signature page ready to print. Not legal advice; have it reviewed before use.
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