Subcontracting installations for a national network means the network owns the customer, the hardware decision and the standard you work to — you supply licensed labour, local presence and evidence. Whether that trade serves your business is decided by the agreement, not the volume: read the scope, the sign-off evidence, the payment trigger and the fault split before the first job. Those clauses are the job.
Key Takeaways
- The agreement is the job: scope, sign-off evidence, payment trigger and fault split decide whether volume pays.
- Networks own the customer, hardware and standard; you own installation quality and the records.
- Run the fit test both ways — volume that fills gaps and trains crews helps; volume that owns your diary traps.
- Keep a direct supply channel in your own name alongside any network work.
The Agreement, Clause by Clause
| Clause | What it decides | The question to close before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and exclusions | Which tasks are yours — survey, civils, install, commissioning — and which are not | When a site needs work outside the listed scope, who authorises it and at whose rate? |
| Sign-off evidence | The photos, records and test results that count as a finished job | Can your current job-record routine produce that pack without a second system? |
| Payment trigger | The event that starts the payment clock; the disputed-job route | Is payment per site, per batch or per milestone — and who judges completion? |
| Fault and callback split | Which failures return to you, which to the hardware warranty, and how each is evidenced | What proof separates a workmanship fault from a product fault, and who sees the unit first? |
| Branding and the customer | Whose name is on the van, the paperwork and the follow-up relationship | May you keep a direct relationship with sites you fitted, or is contact routed through them? |
| Insurance and indemnity | The cover you must hold; the liabilities you accept on their sites | Do the required limits match your current policy, and has your insurer seen this work? |
Whose Standard, Whose Hardware
Network work follows the network’s specification, with hardware it has already chosen — sometimes a platform built to program standards such as the NEVI rules in 23 CFR Part 680 — at least 150 kW per DC port and uptime above 97% for corridor stations. Your judgement sits in the site work: surveys catching problems early, records passing review first time, honest escalation when a site differs from its paper. Treat the evidence pack as bureaucracy and you feel it in rejected sign-offs; build it into the day and it is the payment trigger. Permit handling follows the map in our guide to charging station permits and approvals; whose name the filings sit in is one more scope line to close, and the exit clause gets the same read.
The Fit Test: When Volume Helps, When It Traps
- It helps when the volume fills gaps your own pipeline leaves, the evidence routine matches the records you already keep, and the payment trigger is objective enough that finished work pays without argument — and when it trains your crew on commercial shapes your own sales have not reached yet.
- It traps when the agreement makes you the unpaid first responder for product faults, or reserves the customer relationship so completely that years of sites build the network’s name, not yours.
- It traps when rollout volume crowds out your own work, leaving no room for customers whose referrals and repeat work compound.
Keep One Foot in Your Own Name
The healthiest subcontractors treat network work as one channel among several, with their own supply line beside it — the route through the reseller and distributor programme and the commercial range it serves, from suppliers such as EVDANCE — Shenzhen manufacturer, founded 2011, exports to more than 30 countries, 3-year standard warranty. The EV-ACT3204PE wallbox or the EV-AC03201T dual-connector station reaches you either way; the difference is whose customer you fitted it for. Direct-supply questions go to contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do subcontract installers choose the hardware?
Usually not — the network specifies the models and often supplies them; that is part of what you trade for volume. What remains yours is the installation standard and the evidence, so judge the agreement on those clauses, not the hardware list.
Who handles maintenance after a rollout install?
Whoever the agreement says — service is a separate clause from installation, held by the network or offered back to the fitting installer. The client’s routine follows the shape of our commercial maintenance checklist; close who owns it before pricing your part.
Can we do network work and our own installs at the same time?
Yes — most do. The constraint is diary capacity and the branding clause. Keep channels separate in your records so sign-off evidence and ownership never blur.
Related Reading
- How to Get an EV Charging Station License: Permits and Approvals
- Commercial EV Charger Maintenance Checklist
- How to Find EV Charger Distributors and Installers to Sell To
