Prime contractor (occupational health and safety)

A buyer of a construction business, or any business working on shared sites, meets the term when asking who answers for site-wide safety. The two provinces covered here define the role differently. For related inheritance questions see What employment liabilities do I inherit when I buy a business?.

British Columbia

The Workers Compensation Act defines a multiple-employer workplace as one where workers of two or more employers work at the same time. The prime contractor is the directing contractor, employer or other person who enters a written agreement with the owner to take the role, or the owner if there is no such agreement. Section 24 requires the prime contractor to ensure health and safety activities are coordinated.

Alberta

Under s. 10 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, a construction or oil and gas work site, or a site a Director designates, must have a prime contractor if two or more employers are involved in work there. The person in control of the site designates one in writing, and is deemed to be the prime contractor if they do not; under s. 10(4), those two rules do not apply to a private dwelling occupied by the person in control.

What to ask

• Whether the business is, or has been, the prime contractor on any site
• The written agreement or designation, if there is one
• Whether inspections or orders have named the business as prime contractor

This entry covers British Columbia and Alberta only; check the rules where you work.