Snow removal subcontractors: what it means when someone else plows your property

Why do snow companies use subcontractors?

Snow work comes in bursts. A company needs enough trucks for the night of a big storm and far fewer for the rest of the winter. Subcontracting lets it add capacity on storm nights without owning equipment that sits idle most of the season.

A sub might be an owner-operator with one plow truck who runs part of the route, a smaller company that takes a whole area, or a specialist that only salts, only shovels walks or only hauls snow. None of that is a problem in itself. A well-run sub on a well-run route can be indistinguishable from the prime's own crew. The problems come from the gaps: insurance nobody checked, notes nobody passed along, visits nobody recorded.

Who is responsible if a subcontractor damages something?

Start with your contract. Your agreement is with the prime company, not the sub, so the prime is the one you report damage to and the one whose contract terms you are relying on. Read the contract for three things:

1. Whether it allows subcontracting at all, or only with your consent.
2. Whether the prime stays responsible for subcontracted work.
3. Whether it requires subs to carry the same insurance as the prime.

Commercial owners can go further and require that subs name the property owner as additional insured, the same as the prime. How those terms apply to a specific claim is a question for your insurer or attorney; this is general information, not legal advice.

What insurance should a subcontractor carry?

The same coverage you would expect from the prime: general liability, commercial auto on the trucks, and workers' compensation where Michigan law requires it. What insurance a snow contractor should carry covers the details and how to read a certificate.

What matters with subs is the chain. The prime should hold a current certificate for every sub on its routes and be able to show you one. Michigan's workers' compensation act gives it good reason to. Under MCL 418.171, an employer that contracts work to a contractor who is not covered as the act requires can be liable to pay compensation to that contractor's injured workers, and the statute counts subcontractors as contractors when the principal allowed the work to be subcontracted. The principal can then seek repayment from the contractor. The state's workers' compensation agency says private employers must carry coverage if they regularly employ three or more people at one time, or one person working 35 or more hours a week for 13 weeks or longer in the past 52 weeks.

Do subcontractors get your notes and markers?

They should, and it is fair to ask how. Everything you told the company in the fall, a 6:30 departure, a paver driveway, a buried septic riser, a hedge that must not be buried, only helps if the driver at your property sees it at 4 a.m.

Ask whether subs work from the same route board or app as the prime's crews, with your notes attached to your stop, or whether they get a printed list, a phone call or nothing. Driveway markers help any driver find the edges, but they cannot tell a sub that you leave at 6:30.

How are subcontractor visits recorded?

The same way as everyone else's, or not at all. If the prime's own trucks mark each stop done with a recorded time, but subs text a photo at the end of the night, your record depends on who drew your street. Ask whether sub visits land in the same system, with the same completion times and skip reasons. Proof of service explains why that record matters, especially for businesses.

Consistency matters too. A different driver every storm means learning your property over again each time: where the drive ends, where the snow goes, which corner hides the hydrant. Ask whether the same crew or sub keeps your area all season.

What should you ask, and what are the red flags?

1. Do you use subcontractors, and for what? Plowing, salting, walks, hauling?
2. Who will most likely be at my property? Your own crew, a sub, or it depends on the storm?
3. Do you hold a current insurance certificate for every sub? Can I see one?
4. Do subs see my notes, and on what system?
5. Are sub visits recorded the same way as yours, with times and skip reasons?
6. Who do I call if a sub misses my property or damages something? The answer should be the prime company.
7. Does the same crew keep my area all season?

Red flags:

• The company cannot or will not say who will show up.
• "Our subs carry their own insurance," with no certificates on file.
• Notes passed along from memory or by phone.
• Different rules for sub visits: no times, no records.
• A contract that says nothing about subcontracting.

More questions for any snow company are in 15 questions to ask a snow removal company.