Definition

1. Noun:

   • A secondary contract: A "subcontract" is a legal agreement in which one party (the subcontractor) agrees to perform some or all of the obligations of another party's (the contractor's) primary contract with a client.

2. Verb:

   • To hire another party to do work under a primary contract: To "subcontract" means to assign part of the work from a main contract to another company or individual.
   • To work as a subcontractor: To "subcontract" also means to undertake work under the terms of a subcontract.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:

  • The general contractor awarded the electrical work to a subcontract. (The electrical portion of the job was given to another company via a separate agreement.)
  • Our firm is named in the subcontract for plumbing services. (Our company is officially listed as the provider in the secondary contract.)

• Verb (transitive - to hire another):

  • The construction company will subcontract the roofing to a specialized firm. (The main company will hire a different company to do the roofing work.)
  • We decided to subcontract the software development to reduce costs. (We chose to have an external party handle the coding part of our project.)

• Verb (intransitive - to work as a subcontractor):

  • Many small businesses subcontract for larger corporations. (Many small companies perform work under agreements with bigger primary contractors.)

Advanced Usage

• "To subcontract out": This phrasal verb emphasizes the act of delegating work externally.
  • The manufacturer subcontracts out all its packaging operations. (The company hires other firms to handle its packaging.)

Variants and Related Words

• Subcontractor (n): The person or company that performs work under a subcontract.

  • The subcontractor completed the foundation work on schedule.

• Subcontracted (adj): Describes work that has been assigned via a subcontract.

  • All subcontracted labor must meet our safety standards.

Synonyms

• Farm out (verb, phrasal): To send work to be done by another.
• Outsource (verb): To obtain goods or services from an outside supplier.
• Secondary contract (noun): A formal synonym for the noun form.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Subcontract out: To delegate specific tasks or portions of a contract to another party.
  • They had to subcontract out the design phase due to a lack of in-house expertise.

Related Idioms

• : This describes a company whose primary model is to work as a subcontractor for others.
  • They don't seek direct clients; they're in the subcontracting business.

Noun

1. a contract assigning to another party some obligations of a prior contract

Verb

1. work under a subcontract; engage in a subcontract
2. arranged for contracted work to be done by others