Subcontractor scheduling for solar and roofing companies

Solar and roofing have a lot in common on the schedule. Both sell work through a sales process that runs ahead of the install calendar. Both install in crew-days, not hour-long visits. Both get pushed around by weather and inspections. And both lean on subcontracted crews when sales outrun the in-house crews.

They also need each other. A reroof under an existing solar array means the panels come off first and go back on after. A solar install on an old roof may need the roof done first. One company subs the other, and two schedules have to line up on the same address.

This page covers how to schedule subcontracted crews in both trades, with the arithmetic for how many sub crew-days you need. For the in-house side, see solar installation scheduling and roofing scheduling.

Why subcontracted crew-days slip

The work itself is rarely the problem. A good sub crew installs as well as yours. The schedule breaks in three places:

1. You can't see their open time. You text the crew lead, wait for an answer, and by the time the answer comes the homeowner has asked twice. The sub was free Thursday when you asked. By the time you confirm, Thursday is gone.
2. They can't see your sequence. The sub doesn't know the permit came through, the materials land Tuesday, or the inspector is booked for Friday. They show up when they were told, which may no longer be the right day.
3. Pay terms are agreed per job, in a text thread. When the job is done, nobody is quite sure whether it was the per-watt rate, the per-square rate or the flat number from the call. That turns into slow payment and a sub who is less available next time.

None of these are about trust. They are about information that lives in different places.

Plan sub capacity in crew-days

Before you call a sub, know how many crew-days you need. Use these letters:

• B = jobs in the backlog for the period
• C = average crew-days per job, including drive days for far-out sites
• K = in-house crews
• W = working days in the period, after a realistic weather allowance

Crew-days needed from subs: B × C − K × W. If the answer is negative, you don't need subs this period.

These numbers are invented. The point is the range: weather turns a 7-crew-day gap into an 11-crew-day gap. Line up sub capacity for the bad case, and send the far-out jobs to subs first. A crew whose base is closer to a rural site spends fewer paid hours driving to it. That cost is easy to miss; the windshield time cost calculator puts a number on it.

Whether to keep adding subs or hire another crew is its own calculation. Our guide on when to subcontract vs hire works through the break-even.

How to schedule subs well, with any tool

• Ask for open time, not yes or no. "When are you free next week near this address?" gets a better answer than "Can you do Thursday?"
• Book the crew-day where the crew will be. A sub finishing a job 40 minutes from your site Wednesday afternoon can start your job Thursday morning more easily than one coming from 2 hours away.
• Agree pay terms before the job, in writing, every time. Rate, what it covers, and when it is due after completion.
• Share the sequence, not your whole board. The sub needs the address, the scope, the date and what has to happen before they arrive. They don't need your other customers.
• Check credentials before the date, not on it. License, insurance and any certification your customer or AHJ requires. A lapsed insurance certificate found on the morning of the job costs you the day.

Solar and roofing on the same address

When a reroof and a solar job share an address, there are usually three visits in sequence: panel removal (detach), the roof, and panel reinstall (reset), often with an inspection in between. Each visit may belong to a different company.

The scheduling rule is simple: book the chain from the back. Know the inspection date and the reinstall crew's open days first, then fit the roof into the gap, then the detach. A roof finished on Tuesday with a reset crew that is booked until next Friday leaves a homeowner without solar production for ten days.

How CrewLink handles subcontractor scheduling

CrewLink's CrewConnect is in early access. It is built for the first and third problems above: seeing a sub's open time and agreeing pay terms before the work goes out.

• Open time, not phone tag. Companies and 1099 contractors connect. When you send a job, you see the partner's open times at that address only. You never see their other jobs, customers, addresses, drive times, working hours or prices. The partner chooses whether you see capacity only or first names.
• Pay terms agreed up front. Work goes straight into the partner's schedule with agreed pay terms: a percent of the partner's list price or a flat amount, due a set number of days (0 to 90) after the job is done. Both owners agree to the exact terms. What you owe partners and what partners owe you is recorded in a payouts ledger with due dates; the companies settle it directly.
• Credentials checks. You can require license, insurance, certification or a background check. A person whose credential lapses before the job date isn't offered.
• Your name or theirs. You choose whose name the homeowner sees on texts.
• Pass-on control. A partner can pass a job to its own partner only if you allowed it on that job.

On the dispatch board, your own crews' days are booked with the drive from the previous job counted, so you know which jobs your crews can reach and which to send out. More on the CrewConnect page.

CrewLink doesn't handle design, permitting, roof measurement, material ordering or a sales pipeline. Those stay in the tools you use for them.

Common questions

How do solar companies schedule subcontracted install crews?

Work out the crew-days the backlog needs, subtract in-house crew-days after a weather allowance, and line up subs for the gap. Ask subs for their open time near each address, agree pay terms in writing before the job, and share only the sequence they need.

How do roofing companies manage subcontractors?

The same way as any crew, with three additions: see the sub's open time before you promise a date, agree the rate and what it covers before the job, and confirm insurance and licensing ahead of the job date. Keep your customer list and other jobs off the sub's view.

How do you coordinate a reroof with solar panel removal and reinstall?

Book from the back of the chain. Confirm the inspection and the reinstall crew's dates first, fit the roof into the gap, then schedule the detach. That keeps the homeowner's system offline for as few days as possible.

What can I see of a partner's schedule in CrewConnect?

When you send work, you see only the partner's open times at that address, never their other jobs, customers, addresses or prices. The same rule applies when a partner sends work to you.