Which documents to request from a contractor in Italy

Three different sets, often confused

The documents of a contract are not a single list. They are three distinct groups, with different logic and different expiry dates, and treating them as one pile is the first cause of incomplete files.

1. Company documents

They concern the company as such and apply to every job it does for you: the Chamber of Commerce extract (visura camerale), proof of contribution compliance (DURC), the risk assessment, the average annual workforce, insurance cover.

They have a useful feature: once collected and checked, they apply to all of that company's active contracts for as long as they remain valid. This is the set worth managing once, at supplier level, instead of requesting it for every contract.

2. Documents of the people entering the site

This is where most of the non-conformities we find are concentrated, because these documents change most often and concern people who rotate.

• general and specific health and safety training certificates, matched to the risk of the activity
• specific authorisations where needed: equipment, work at height, confined spaces, electrical risk
• the fitness-for-work assessment issued by the company doctor (medico competente)
• the appointment of the on-site supervisor (preposto), when the organisation of the work requires one
• proof that personal protective equipment has been issued

The critical point is not collecting them: it is knowing, on the day a person shows up at the gate, whether that person still has everything valid. Crews rotate, certificates expire, and the list updated two months ago is of no use.

3. Documents of the activity

They depend on the specific job: the contractor's operational safety plan (POS) where required, the documentation of the equipment that will be brought on site, any authorisation to subcontract, the safety data sheets of the substances used.

These are the documents that give meaning to the words “in relation to the work entrusted”. An identical document list for a cleaning company and for a team working on a plant at height is, in practice, the wrong list for both.

The practical rule: decide before, not during

The list must be defined when the contract is set up, not while the company is uploading files. That is the only difference that matters between collecting documents and piling up attachments.

Decided beforehand, the list becomes a question with a clear answer — is anything missing, yes or no. Decided along the way, it becomes the subjective judgement of whoever is looking at the folder at that moment, and it changes from person to person.

A rule that saves real time

Separate what belongs to the company from what belongs to the individual contract. Company documents are checked once and apply everywhere; only those tied to the specific job need to be requested each time.

Companies that do not make this distinction ask the same supplier for the same Chamber of Commerce extract four times a year. The supplier gets tired, answers late, and the quality of the relationship drops exactly where you need punctuality.