Two trades on one site means somebody is the prime contractor. Know if it is you.
WorkSafeBC expects a written agreement naming who coordinates safety when more than one employer works at the same place. Taking that role adds a duty over everybody on the site, and it is often accepted without anyone realizing it has been accepted. Your liability cover should know about it.
Build the contractor file Read the short answer firstThe agreement should name the prime.
The prime coordinates everyone on site.
Your own crew stays your responsibility.
Who is the prime contractor on a job in BC?
Whoever the written agreement says it is. WorkSafeBC puts it plainly: “In a workplace where there are two or more employers working at the same time, a written agreement should identify a prime contractor.” If nothing is written down, the question is already answered. Section 13 of the Workers Compensation Act is blunt about it. Where there is no written agreement, the owner of the workplace is the prime contractor.
The prime contractor’s job is to “coordinate the occupational health and safety activities of all employers, workers, and anyone else at the workplace”. That is a duty over people who do not work for you. It does not replace your own duty either. WorkSafeBC is explicit that employers still keep responsibility for the health and safety of their own workers.
Small renovation jobs are where this catches people. A homeowner hires three trades directly and nobody signs anything. Because there is no written agreement, the homeowner is the prime contractor. Each trade still keeps its own duty to its own workers. If something happens, the question of who was coordinating gets asked, and the answer shapes both the WorkSafeBC file and the liability claim that follows it. Read the contract before you accept the role, and tell us when you have. Read WorkSafeBC on roles and responsibilities (opens in a new tab).
Four things to settle before the first trade arrives.
Whether you agreed to be prime
Read the contract for it by name. Some general contracts hand the role over in a single line, and accepting it changes what you are answering for on that site.
What the role actually requires
Coordination is a real activity, not a title. Orientation, hazard communication, and a record of both. If you hold the role, it needs to be visible in how the site runs.
Who else is insured
Collect certificates from every trade before they start, and check the dates. A subtrade with lapsed cover becomes your problem the moment something goes wrong.
What your policy was told
Acting as prime on larger sites is a change in what you do. Tell us, because a policy written for one trade on small jobs is not the same as one written for a site coordinator.
Three sites, three ordinary arrangements. All three are illustrations, not client files.
The renovation with no paperwork
An owner hired the trades directly and nothing was signed. With no written agreement the owner holds the prime contractor role, and nobody on site had been told.
The clause nobody read
One line in the subcontract handed the prime role over. It was signed to get the job started, and it changed the duty before a single tool came out of the van.
The certificate that had expired
The subtrade had cover when they were hired and none by the time of the incident. Nobody had checked the renewal date, and the claim came looking upstream.
The questions contractors ask about prime.
Can I refuse to be the prime contractor?
It is an agreement, so it can be negotiated before you sign. What you should not do is accept it without noticing. And refusing does not leave the role empty. Where nothing is signed, the Workers Compensation Act treats the owner of the workplace as the prime contractor.
Does being prime change my insurance?
It changes what you are exposed to, so it should be part of the conversation. Tell us and we will read the policy against the sites you actually run, and say where it falls short.
Am I responsible for a subtrade’s worker?
WorkSafeBC says employers keep responsibility for their own workers. The prime coordinates the whole site. Both duties exist at once, which is why the written agreement matters.
What should I collect from every subtrade?
A certificate of insurance with current dates, and their WorkSafeBC standing. Check both at the start of the job and again if the job runs long.
It is a small job. Does any of this apply?
The test is two or more employers on site at the same time, not the size of the job. A two-day renovation with three trades on it is a multiple-employer workplace.
Two that sit next to this on the same site: a clearance letter or a certificate, and when a subtrade causes damage.
Not the question you had? Tell us how your sites are set up and a licensed person will answer it. Use the short contact form.
Know which role you signed for before the site opens.
Send us the contract wording and the kind of sites you run, and we will tell you what the cover has to carry.
Checked for technical accuracy by Amrit Sidhu of S&S Insurance Services Ltd. Last checked 28 September 2026.