# Contractor contact list for facilities managers

> A contractor contact list is only useful if it is right when you need it. Here is how facilities managers keep every site's contacts current.

Guides | Published 2026-10-18 | 6 min read
Source: https://properlex.com/resources/contractor-contact-list-for-facilities-managers

A contractor contact list is one record of every contractor and service partner at each site, with named people, direct numbers, after-hours lines and the services they cover. Keep it current by making each contractor responsible for their own details, asking them to confirm on a schedule, and fixing failures the moment a call or message does not land.

This guide sets out what to include, why lists go stale, a step-by-step way to keep them right and a checklist you can use each month.

## What should a contractor contact list include?

A name and a company number are not enough. When something fails at 2am, you need to know who to call, who is next if they do not answer and what that contractor is authorised to do. Capture these fields for every contractor at every site:

| Field | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| Company and trade | Tells you who covers lifts, fire systems, plumbing, electrical, security or cleaning |
| Named primary contact | A person is easier to reach than a switchboard |
| Direct mobile and email | Avoids call centres and shared inboxes during an urgent job |
| After-hours number | Often different from the office line, and the one you need most |
| Backup contact | Covers leave, shift changes and unanswered calls |
| Sites and services covered | Stops you ringing a contractor who does not service that building |
| Last confirmed date | Shows how much to trust the entry |

## Why do contractor contact lists go out of date?

Contractor details change constantly, and most of the changes happen on the contractor's side where you cannot see them.

- Technicians move jobs, take leave or change rosters
- After-hours phones are handed from person to person
- Companies merge, rebrand or change their email domain
- Copies of the list sit in spreadsheets, inboxes and personal phones, and each copy drifts
- Nobody is assigned to check, so the list is only tested when it is needed

The common thread is that the person holding the list is not the person who knows when it changes. The fix is to move the responsibility to the source.

## How do you keep a contractor contact list current?

Follow these steps. They work with a spreadsheet, and they work much better with a system that does the chasing for you.

1. **Keep one record.** Choose a single home for contractor details and retire the copies. Everyone on your team should look in the same place.
2. **Assign an owner for each site.** One named person is accountable for that site's contacts being right.
3. **Let contractors maintain their own people.** Ask each contractor to keep their team's names, numbers and roles up to date, rather than relying on you to hear about each change.
4. **Ask for confirmation on a schedule.** A regular request to confirm or correct details catches the changes nobody thought to report.
5. **Fix failures straight away.** A bounced email, an undelivered SMS or an unanswered after-hours call is a sign the entry is wrong. Correct it that day.
6. **Record the date.** Show when each entry was last confirmed, so out-of-date records are visible.

## How often should contractor contacts be confirmed?

There is no standard interval, so base it on risk. As a practical rule, confirm contractors who cover life-safety and building-critical services more often than those who do routine or occasional work.

- **Critical services** such as fire systems, lifts, security, gas and plumbing: confirm often, and test the after-hours number as well.
- **Regular services** such as cleaning, grounds and general maintenance: confirm on a regular schedule.
- **Occasional contractors:** confirm when you engage them, and again before any urgent job.

Pick intervals your team can sustain. A schedule that is followed beats a stricter one that is not.

## Who should own the contractor contact list?

Split the ownership. The facilities manager owns the process, meaning the schedule, the checks and the standard for what a good entry looks like. Each contractor owns the accuracy of their own people, because they are the first to know when something changes.

In Properlex, the relationship platform for property, you invite one primary contact at each contractor. They then manage their own team and permissions in a free portal, and you keep a single clean record on your side. Accounts created from your invitation are free for the contractor.

## Monthly contractor contact checklist

- Every site has a primary and a backup contact for each critical service
- Every critical service has an after-hours number that has been tested
- No contractor entry is missing a mobile number or email
- Bounced emails and undelivered SMS from the last month have been fixed
- Contractors who have not confirmed their details have been chased
- Contractors who no longer service a site have been removed from it
- New contractors engaged this month have been added with all fields complete

## What about contractors who are on site?

A contact list tells you who to call. It does not tell you who is in the building right now. Both matter in an incident, because contractors on site are occupants too.

Under the [Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2018/0096/18.0/LMS46332.html), an evacuation procedure must provide for occupants to be evacuated to a place or places of safety. [Fire and Emergency New Zealand](https://www.fireandemergency.nz/building-fire-safety/evacuation-schemes/) publishes guidance on evacuation schemes for building owners. Check the current wording for your own buildings.

With Properlex, vendors sign in from their portal and visitors sign in at a kiosk link or QR code, so you have a live, timestamped list of who is at each site. See [vendor and visitor sign-in](https://properlex.com/features/vendor-visitor-sign-in).

## How should you contact contractors in an emergency?

Do not ring down the list one by one. If a site has an incident, flag a broadcast as an emergency, choose the affected sites and the contractor contact types, and send SMS and email together. Then read the delivery status to see who has the message and who needs a phone call.

WorkSafe New Zealand's guidance on [workplace emergency plans](https://registers.worksafe.govt.nz/dmsdocument/3894-workplace-emergency-plans) says plans should cover communication during the response and how procedures will be tested. A contact list that has been confirmed recently is what makes that communication possible. For the tenant side of an incident, see our guide to [emergency notification for tenants](https://properlex.com/resources/emergency-notification-for-tenants).

## How Properlex helps

Properlex gives facilities managers one record of the tenants, contractors and service partners at every site. Each party maintains its own people, scheduled confirm-your-details messages catch the rest, and after-hours contacts can be [published for each property](https://properlex.com/features/property-contacts). Read more about [contact management](https://properlex.com/features/contact-management) or the [facilities managers solution](https://properlex.com/solutions/facilities-managers).

To see what keeping contacts current costs your team in time, use the free [contact admin cost calculator](https://properlex.com/contact-admin-cost-calculator), or read how the formula works in [how to calculate the cost of contact admin](https://properlex.com/resources/how-to-calculate-the-cost-of-contact-admin-in-property-management).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a contractor contact list?

It is a single record of the contractors and service partners at each site, with named people, direct numbers, after-hours lines, backup contacts and the services they cover. Its purpose is to let you reach the right person quickly when a job or incident arises.

### How often should I update my contractor contact list?

There is no fixed standard. Confirm life-safety and building-critical contractors most often, routine contractors on a regular schedule, and occasional contractors when you engage them. Fix any bounced message or unanswered call as soon as it happens.

### Who is responsible for keeping contractor details accurate?

Both sides. The facilities manager owns the process and the standard. Each contractor owns the accuracy of their own people, because they know first when a technician or number changes.

### Do contractors have to pay to use Properlex?

No. Accounts created from your invitation are free for the contractor. You pay for Properlex, with plans from $49 per month, and there is nothing for the contractor to install.

### Can I message only the contractors at one site?

Yes. Choose the properties, contact types and positions for each message, from a single site to your whole portfolio, and see delivery status for every recipient.

[Book a demo](https://properlex.com/get-started)