Contract Labour for Industrial Plants: Common Questions
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Contract labour means bringing skilled people into a plant for the length of a job instead of taking them on permanently. Plant managers who have not done it before tend to ask the same questions, so here are the answers, with the points to settle before anyone arrives. For the wider picture, see our article on industrial labour supply.
What is contract labour in an industrial plant?
It is welders, pipe fitters, boilermakers, fitters or maintenance technicians who work in your plant for as long as a job lasts: a shutdown, an extension, a vessel to repair. You set the work and the dates, and they bring the trade. When the job ends, the extra people go.
Which trades can you bring in?
- Welders in TIG, MIG and manual metal arc, on carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium and titanium
- Boilermakers, for vessels, tanks and heat exchangers
- Pipe fitters and pipe welders, for industrial pipework
- Mechanical fitters and erectors, for equipment and steelwork
- Maintenance technicians, for keeping the plant running
The more exactly you name the trade, the better the match. “A welder” is not a brief. “A TIG welder on stainless pipework” is.
Is it the same as using a recruitment agency?
The difference that matters on site is knowledge of the trade. A general agency matches people to a job title. For industrial work you need a supplier that can tell a TIG pipe welder from a MIG structural welder, and a fitter from a technician, because a wrong match shows up on your site on the first morning.
How the arrangement is set up between you, the supplier and the workers is a separate question. Have it written down, and have your own legal or HR team read it before you sign.
Do you have to be a large plant?
No. The shape of the work decides it, not the size of the plant. A job with a start and an end date, a peak your own team cannot absorb, or a skill you need once a year are all good candidates. Continuous, permanent work is usually a case for hiring your own people.
How quickly can people start?
It depends on the profile and on the notice you give. A welder for a common job is easier to find at short notice than one qualified for a narrow range, such as stainless pipework in a fixed position. The site paperwork, induction and safety documents often take longer than finding the person.
Send the dates and the scope as early as you can, and say at once if the job needs something unusual.
Who directs the work?
Settle it before the first day, and in writing. The rules on who may direct another company’s workers are strict. In Spain, for instance, only a licensed temporary work agency may place people under your own supervisor; under a services contract, the contractor’s supervisor directs the crew. Agree which of the two you are buying, and name one contact on each side for day-to-day questions.
What happens if someone is not right for the job?
It happens, and the cost is the time lost while you work it out. Before you sign, ask how a replacement is handled and how quickly, and get the answer in writing.
Are the welders’ certificates checked?
They should be, by someone, before the welder reaches your site. A welder’s qualification covers a process, a material, a thickness range and a position, and it belongs to the person, not to the company. Ask for a copy in the welder’s name ahead of time and compare it with your job. Our article on coded welders lists what to look for, and mistakes when hiring welders and technicians covers the rest of the checks before a start.
Is it cheaper than hiring directly?
It depends on how long you need the people. For a job with an end date, you carry nobody afterwards and you do not spend weeks on a search. For work that never stops, a permanent hire usually makes more sense. Compare like with like: what is included, such as supervision, tools and cover for someone who is not right, matters more than the headline rate.
Where do you work?
Across Spain and Portugal. We supply welders and technicians to plants in both countries.
What do we need to quote?
Which trades and how many people, the dates, where the plant is and what safety documents or induction your site requires. With that, we can reply with a proposal.
If you have a job in mind, tell us about it. You can also read about our welding contractors service.