A subcontractor network — also called a job network — is a company that sells, scopes, and manages jobs under its own brand, then pays vetted independent trade contractors a fixed, pre-agreed price to perform the work. The contractor pays no fees and buys no leads; the network earns its money on the spread between what the customer pays and what the contractor is paid. It is the inverse of lead generation: the contractor is the paid partner, not the paying customer.
A subcontractor network (synonym: job network) is a company that sells, scopes, and manages jobs under its own brand, then pays vetted independent trade contractors a fixed, pre-agreed price to perform the work. The contractor pays nothing to participate — no lead fees, no membership, no commission out of their side — because the network makes its money on the customer side of the transaction. That one sentence separates it from every model it gets confused with.
The definition, unpacked
- The network sells the job. Marketing, quoting, closing, scheduling, collections — the customer-facing half of the business belongs to the network, and so does the customer.
- The job arrives scoped and priced. The contractor sees a written scope and a fixed payout before accepting. No estimating on your own dime, no bidding against other trucks for the same house.
- The contractor stays an independent business. Licensed, insured, running their own truck and their own book on the side. This is not employment and it's not temp labor — the network is a customer of the contractor's business, one that happens to show up with the work pre-sold.
- Money flows one direction: toward the contractor. If money flows the other way — fees, credits, subscriptions — it isn't a subcontractor network, whatever the sign says.
What it is not
Four models get mixed up with job networks. The money flow and the customer relationship tell them apart every time:
| Model | Who pays whom | Who owns the customer | Your status | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subcontractor / job network | Network pays you a fixed price per job | The network | Independent business | You give up the customer relationship |
| Lead generation | You pay per homeowner inquiry | You, if you win the race | Independent business | You pay whether or not you book the job |
| Staffing / temp agency | Agency pays you hourly, usually W-2 | The agency's client | Labor | No business, no upside, no book |
| GC subcontracting | GC pays you per contract, often slowly | The GC | Independent business | Thin margins, retainage, pay-when-paid |
| Franchise | You pay royalties and fees for the brand | You, minus the brand | Franchisee | Permanent tax on every job you ever do |
Note what the network model uniquely trades: the lead-gen comparison is the sharpest one, because both models feed work to independent contractors — but in one you're the paying customer and in the other you're the paid partner.
Who runs job networks — and why the model exists
Usually an established contractor or home-services brand whose marketing machine generates more sold work than its own crews can reach. The operator has three options: let the overflow die on the phone, hire and manage more W-2 crews, or route the jobs to vetted independents at a fixed price. The network model is the third option, industrialized.
The economics work because customer acquisition is the expensive, specialized half of a trades business — the part with websites, rankings, ad budgets, call handling, and thirty years of reviews behind it. The network monetizes that machine. The contractor monetizes wrench time without carrying any of the machine's costs. The spread the network keeps on the customer sale is what pays for the machine, and it's the honest price of never buying a lead. (Our longer argument for why we'd rather pay electricians than sell to them.)
Before you join one: the buyer's checklist
The model is sound; a given operator may not be. These questions expose the difference in one phone call:
- Who is the contractor of record on permits? The answer should be written into every scope before you accept. An operator who shrugs at this question is asking you to find out at the county counter.
- Is the payout fixed and in writing before I accept? "We'll work it out" is not a number. Also ask how change orders and scope creep are handled — mid-job is the wrong time to learn.
- Are there any fees, ever? Application, membership, "technology," per-job deductions. A real subcontractor network charges the contractor nothing, by definition. A fee is a lead-gen company in a network costume.
- How fast do I get paid, and what triggers it? Days, in writing, tied to completion — not to when the network gets paid.
- Can I decline jobs without penalty? Independence that punishes you for exercising it isn't independence.
- Do you verify licensing and insurance — including mine? A network that doesn't check yours didn't check the last guy's either, and his callbacks are now the brand you're working under.
- Is there an exclusivity or non-compete clause? You should remain free to run your own customers and build your own book. Anything else converts a partner into a captive.
- Who eats the callback? Warranty terms in writing — a fair network expects you to fix your own work, and says so up front.
Where Loadside fits
Stated plainly, because this is our model: Loadside is a subcontractor network for licensed electricians in Northern Virginia. We sell and scope residential electrical jobs under our brand, hand them to vetted partners at a fixed price approved before anyone rolls a truck, and never charge the electrician a dime — the mechanics are here, and every checklist question above has a written answer in our scopes. Where the model sits against every other way to fill a calendar: 7 ways electricians get work in 2026, ranked.
If the model fits how you want to run: apply here — takes about three minutes.