NZ Quality & Compliance Hub

Independent contractor preparation guide

Preparing your evidence before a SiteWise Contractor NZ assessment

If you've been asked to complete SiteWise, the assessment itself is not the ideal place to discover that your H&S records are scattered, old or incomplete. Organise the underlying evidence first.

Independence notice: NZ Quality & Compliance Hub is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an assessment provider for SiteWise or Site Safe. SiteWise requirements can change; always use SiteWise's current official assessment guidance as the source of truth.

What SiteWise currently says

SiteWise's Contractor NZ assessment guidance currently covers evidence areas including insurance, health and safety management, worker involvement, incidents and near misses, subcontractor management, training and competency, hazard and risk management, inspections, high-risk work, health monitoring and hazardous substances. SiteWise states that evidence submitted in its assessment generally needs to be less than 12 months old.

Its assessment process requires contractors to answer questions and upload evidence supporting those answers. That makes evidence organisation a practical preparation task even before you begin uploading.

Before you start the assessment

1. Download/read the current official questions.
Use SiteWise's own current guidance rather than relying on an old checklist or a third-party summary.
2. Create one evidence folder and index.
Map each assessment area to the evidence you intend to use, its file location and its date.
3. Check evidence currency.
Identify records that fall outside the current evidence period or no longer reflect how the business operates.
4. Prefer completed evidence where requested.
A procedure describes a process; a completed inspection, meeting record, training record or incident investigation can help demonstrate implementation.
5. Separate 'not applicable' from 'missing'.
If an area genuinely does not apply to your business, follow the official assessment instructions. Do not invent evidence merely to fill a gap.
6. Review the actual official guidance before submission.
NZQC can help with organisation, but only the assessment provider can define its current scoring and submission requirements.

Start with a free evidence-readiness check

Before working through an assessment, use NZQC's free checklist to identify which core contractor evidence areas you can already produce and which need attention.

Run the free readiness check →

What NZQC does — and doesn't — do

Our tools are designed to help small contractors organise practical workplace evidence. They do not calculate a SiteWise score, certify your business, guarantee a grading or replace SiteWise's official guidance.

For broader context, read our NZ contractor prequalification guide and contractor H&S evidence guide.

SiteWise and Site Safe are names belonging to their respective owners. References here are descriptive only.