Create a Subcontractor Agreement Online Free
🚀 Build Your Subcontractor Agreement
Fill in the details below — the preview on the right updates live. Nothing leaves your device.
🏢 General Contractor
🔧 Subcontractor
📍 Project Details
☑️ Scope of Work
💰 Contract Sum & Payment Schedule
🦺 Insurance & Licensing Requirements
📋 Additional Terms
General Contractor Name
Subcontractor
Subcontractor Name
Project
Project Name
| Milestone | % of Sum | Net Due |
|---|---|---|
| Total (Net of Retention) | $0.00 |
Additional Terms
General Contractor
Subcontractor
Quick answer: Enter the general contractor's and subcontractor's details, define the project, and toggle the relevant scope of work items for the trade involved. Set the total contract sum and a retention percentage - then add payment milestones by percentage, and each milestone's net amount due after retention calculates automatically. Toggle required insurance and licensing items, add any indemnification terms, and click Download PDF for a signature-ready agreement. Everything happens locally in your browser using jsPDF and jsPDF-AutoTable - not a screenshot image. This is a general template, not legal advice.
- Cost: Free, unlimited agreements, no signup.
- Where it runs: 100% in your browser — no upload, no server storage.
- Output: A real text-based PDF (selectable, searchable, small file size).
- Retention-aware: Automatically calculates the amount held back per milestone.
- Customizable scope: Toggle trade tasks specific to the subcontracted work.
- Insurance checklist: Confirm liability, workers' comp, and licensing requirements upfront.
⚖️ General Template, Not Legal Advice: This tool fills in a general-purpose subcontractor agreement template. Have a construction attorney review it before relying on it for a significant project.
💰 Retention Applies Uniformly: The retention percentage you set is applied to every milestone equally - adjust individual milestone amounts manually if your contract requires a different structure.
🖨️ Real Text, Not a Screenshot: The PDF is built from actual vector text using jsPDF, so it stays sharp at any zoom, the text is selectable/searchable, and the file stays small.
✅ Privacy: Your project and payment data, including any logo you upload, is processed locally — it is never uploaded, transmitted, or stored anywhere.
✅ 100% Private: Your agreement, including your logo, is generated locally in your browser using JavaScript. No data is ever uploaded to a server or stored anywhere.
Note: Your agreement data will be cleared once your session ends or you clear the app.
How to Create a Subcontractor Agreement PDF
Fill in GC & Subcontractor Details
Enter the general contractor's and subcontractor's details.
Define Project & Scope of Work
Add the project details and toggle the relevant scope items.
Set the Payment Schedule & Retention
Add milestones, the contract sum, and a retention percentage.
Download the PDF
Click Download PDF to save a signature-ready agreement.
🔒 Your Project Data Never Leaves Your Device
This tool builds the entire agreement — including your logo — using jsPDF and jsPDF-AutoTable running entirely inside your browser tab. There is no upload step, no server-side processing, and no network request that contains your project or payment data.
Common Uses for a Subcontractor Agreement Generator
Electrical & Plumbing Trades
Define scope, licensing, and payment terms for specialized trade subcontracts.
Residential Construction
Formalize framing, drywall, or finishing subcontracts on a home build.
Commercial Build-Outs
Manage multiple trade subcontractors on a larger commercial project.
Finishing & Painting Crews
Set milestone-based payments tied to specific finishing stages.
Site Work & Excavation
Cover early-stage site preparation subcontracts with clear scope definitions.
General Contractors Managing Multiple Trades
Standardize subcontract documentation across every trade on a project.
Why Use This Subcontractor Agreement Generator?
- Fully Client-Side: jsPDF and jsPDF-AutoTable both run in your browser — no upload.
- Real Vector Text: Sharp, selectable, searchable PDF output — not a flattened screenshot.
- Side-by-Side Preview: Check your agreement next to the form as you build it.
- Retention Built In: Automatic per-milestone retention calculation, not manual math.
- Trade-Specific Scope: Toggle the exact scope items relevant to your subcontract.
- Insurance & Licensing Checklist: Confirm requirements are met before work begins.
- Two-Party Sign-Off: Signature lines for both the GC and subcontractor.
- 100% Free & Private: No account, no watermark, no server storing your data.
Subcontractor Agreement Generator – Complete Guide
Every general contractor juggling multiple trades on one job faces the same recurring paperwork - the same scope, payment, and insurance questions, over and over, for every electrician, plumber, and framer on the crew list. A consistent subcontract template turns that into a five-minute task instead of a fresh negotiation each time.
What Makes a Good Subcontractor Agreement?
A useful subcontract names the specific scope of work rather than a vague description, ties payment to real milestones instead of arbitrary dates, and states the retention terms clearly upfront rather than as a surprise at payout time. This tool covers all of that, calculating each milestone's net-due amount automatically once you set a retention percentage - the math that normally happens in a spreadsheet on the side.
How This Generator Actually Works
As you toggle scope items and add payment milestones, a live preview beside the form re-renders instantly, calculating each milestone's percentage-based amount and then subtracting the retention percentage to show what's actually due at that stage. When you click Download PDF, that same data is handed to jsPDF, which draws the party and project details as genuine vector text - not a picture of text - directly onto a PDF page. The payment schedule table is built with jsPDF-AutoTable, which handles column widths, totals rows, and pagination automatically. At no point does any of this data leave your device or touch a server.
Subcontractor Agreement vs General Service Agreement vs Purchase Order
| Aspect | Subcontractor Agreement (this tool) | General Service Agreement | Purchase Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry focus | Construction & trades | Any service industry | Goods procurement |
| Includes retention? | Yes, standard practice | Rarely | No |
How Retention Reduces Each Payment
| Milestone | Gross Amount | 10% Retention Held | Net Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rough-In Complete | $10,000 | $1,000 | $9,000 |
| Final Inspection Passed | $5,000 | $500 | $4,500 |
Illustrative example only - actual retention rates and release conditions depend on your specific contract terms.
Security and Privacy Considerations
- No Data Upload: Every field you fill in, and any logo you upload, stays on your device.
- No Server Processing: PDF generation runs entirely as client-side JavaScript.
- No Storage: Nothing about your agreement is saved once you close or refresh the tab.
- No Account Needed: There is no login, tracking of your project data, or usage cap.
Browser Compatibility and Technical Requirements
This Subcontractor Agreement Generator works in modern browsers that support:
- File API / FileReader: To read an uploaded logo image locally.
- JavaScript PDF generation (jsPDF): For building the actual downloadable document.
- Blob downloads: For saving the finished PDF to your device.
Supported Browsers:
- ✅ Chrome/Edge 76+
- ✅ Firefox 55+
- ✅ Safari 13.1+
- ✅ Mobile Chrome (Android), Mobile Safari (iOS) — download supported
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Explanation: The PDF needs at least one payment milestone filled in to be worth generating. Solution: Add at least one milestone with a name and percentage, then try downloading again.
Explanation: Only PNG and JPG logo files are supported; other image formats or corrupted files may fail to embed. Solution: Re-save your logo as a PNG or JPG and upload it again.
Explanation: This tool applies one retention percentage uniformly across all milestones for simplicity. Solution: Manually adjust the net-due figures for any milestone that needs a different retention rate before finalizing.
Explanation: The starting scope list is a general starting point covering common construction trades. Solution: Toggle off irrelevant items and add custom scope items specific to your subcontract.
Frequently Asked Technical Questions
Question 1: What actually builds the PDF - is it a known library?
Answer: This tool uses jsPDF, a widely used open-source JavaScript library for generating PDF documents in the browser, together with its jsPDF-AutoTable plugin for the payment schedule table - both loaded directly in your browser.
Question 2: How is each milestone's net-due amount calculated?
Answer: The tool multiplies the total contract sum by the milestone's percentage to get the gross amount, then multiplies that figure by one minus the retention percentage (expressed as a decimal) to arrive at the net amount actually due at that milestone.
Question 3: How are the scope of work and insurance checklists rendered?
Answer: Every checked item from each list is joined into a single wrapped line of text drawn beneath its section heading, so the layout stays compact regardless of how many items are toggled on.
Question 4: How is my logo embedded in the PDF?
Answer: The uploaded image is read as a Base64 data URL using the FileReader API, then passed directly to jsPDF's image-embedding function, which places it at a fixed position and size in the top-left of the document.
Question 5: Does this tool need an account, server, or API key?
Answer: No. jsPDF, jsPDF-AutoTable, and the live preview all run as ordinary JavaScript already loaded by this page — you never need an account or any API key to use it.
Glossary of Terms
- Subcontractor Agreement
- A contract between a general contractor and a specialized trade contractor defining the scope, payment, and terms for a portion of a construction project.
- Retention / Retainage
- A percentage of each payment withheld until the subcontractor's work is fully completed and accepted.
- Scope of Work
- The specific tasks and trade work a subcontractor is responsible for completing under the agreement.
- Draw / Progress Payment
- A payment made to a subcontractor as work progresses, tied to completing a specific milestone.
- General Contractor (GC)
- The primary contractor responsible for a construction project, who hires and manages subcontractors for specialized trade work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, completely free with no watermark, no signup, and no limit on how many agreements you create.
No. The entire agreement, including your logo if you add one, is built and turned into a PDF entirely inside your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is transmitted over the network.
Retention (also called retainage) is a percentage of each payment withheld by the general contractor until the subcontractor's work is fully completed and accepted, used as an incentive to finish the job properly and address any defects.
Common retention rates range from 5% to 10% of each payment, though the exact rate and rules for release vary by contract, project size, and local industry practice or regulation.
A subcontractor agreement is specific to construction and trades work, typically including a defined scope of work by trade, milestone-based draws, retention, and insurance/licensing requirements - details a general service agreement usually doesn't cover.
Most general contractors require subcontractors to carry their own general liability and workers' compensation insurance before starting work, to protect against claims arising from the subcontractor's own operations.
This depends on the specific contract terms - retention is typically released once work is inspected and accepted, so unresolved defects or disputes can delay release. State your specific release conditions clearly in the agreement.
Yes. Toggle default trade tasks on or off, and add your own custom scope items, so the agreement matches the specific work being subcontracted, whether that's electrical, plumbing, framing, or another trade.
This tool fills in a general-purpose template - whether any resulting agreement is fully enforceable depends on your jurisdiction and specific terms. Have a construction attorney review significant contracts before relying on them.
Final Thoughts
A clear subcontract - with a defined scope, real payment milestones, and retention handled automatically - keeps every trade on a project working from the same understanding. This tool builds that agreement with a live preview and a real vector-text PDF using jsPDF and jsPDF-AutoTable — all without your project or payment data ever leaving your device.
Define your scope above and download your first subcontractor agreement!