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Job Contractors

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Procurement Process for Job Contractors

This section provides an overview of setting up and working with job contractors.

A job contractor is a worker who is contracted to perform a specific job or set of jobs. A job contractor is normally used for a short period of time, for example, for the duration of a shutdown.Work planned for a job contractor is subject to the normal procurement approval, RFQ, and PO processes. Job contractors are planned using trade resources. APM employees are not created for job contractors.

Setting up Job Contractors

Work can be planned for job contractors using trades. The trade must have the available source set to either Purchasing only or Both maintenance and purchasing. You can set up purchasing rules on trades that are used for contractors.

Trades that are available for purchasing can be:

•	linked to suppliers

•	used to create supplier resources and prices

•	included on an RFQ

•	included on purchase order lines

Job contractors are not linked to APM employee records.

Resource Categories for Contractor Trades

When creating trades for use with contractors, you will need to select a resource category that can be used with trades, and that includes appropriate default cost types for both expensed and capital costs for job and on-site contractors.

See **Setting up Resource Categories.

Procurement Process

A job contractor's services are planned and procured in the same manner as a service resource:

•	The requirement is identified on a work order task. The requirement refers to a trade resource and has a fulfillment method of purchase.

•	If required, the work order task and purchase requirement are approved (optional)

•	A RFQ is issued to solicit bids from possible suppliers (optional)

•	The supplier's bids are analyzed and the winning bid is selected (optional)

•	A contract is optionally created along with a set of supplier-resource prices (optional)

•	A purchase order is sent to the supplier

•	The job contractor's time is recorded on a service acknowledgment.

•	The supplier's invoice is matched to the service acknowledgments (optional)

RFQs

The RFQ process for a job contractor requirement is the same as with other purchase requirements. An RFQ is required if the requirement exceeds the limits defined for your site. Job contractor requirements use the same RFQ business rules as service resources.

Work Planning, and Reporting

Work for job contractors is planned in a similar way as for regular employees: using trade requirements. However, job contractor trade requirements use the fulfillment method of “purchasing” and a purchase type of “service order”. When the work order task is marked as “planned”, the requirement enters the procurement cycle.

Time is recorded using service acknowledgments.

Scheduling Job Contractors

Trade requirements for job contractors can be scheduled, the same as internal labor requirements. However, job contractor availability must be manually entered on the schedule. The only exception is when the child schedule availability is being summed to a parent schedule. In this case all availability, including job contractor availability, on the schedule's children is summed.

Invoicing

Job contractors are paid out of accounts payable, not payroll. The supplier's invoice is entered, and the invoice lines are matched to the contractor’s service acknowledgments. Differences between the invoice line and purchase order line are subject to the regular line tolerances and rules.