Prime and Subcontractor Teaming on State Contracts

Short answer: Yes. A prime can usually add a subcontractor to a state IT or web contract, but the prime stays fully responsible for that subcontractor's work and remains the state's only point of contact. The contract language below comes from 2 Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) contracts, and your own solicitation may differ.

Sources: Washington DES Contract No. 00224 for Audio-Visual Solutions, section 9; Washington DES Master Contract No. 05620-08, IT Cabling, section 7.

What does a state contract say about subcontractors?

Both DES contracts use the same core wording. If the contractor chooses to use subcontractors, it must build its own contract duties into each subcontract.

The contractor must also be "fully responsible for the performance" of subcontractors at any tier, and be the "sole point of contact" for DES and the buyers on all contractual matters. Both contracts also make the contractor defend and indemnify the state for a subcontractor's negligence or misconduct.

In practice, the agency never manages your subcontractor. It manages you.

Sources: Contract No. 00224, section 9.1; Master Contract No. 05620-08, section 7.1.

What can the state approve, limit or require?

The 2 contracts differ in useful ways. Read the table before you plan a team.

Subcontracting terms in 2 Washington DES contracts
Term	Audio-Visual Solutions (No. 00224)	IT Cabling (No. 05620-08)
Prime answers for subcontractors at any tier	Yes	Yes
Prime is sole point of contact	Yes	Yes
Notice before using a subcontractor	Written notice to the DES contract administrator, confirming the subcontractor is registered in WEBS (the state's bidder system)	Notify DES before work starts if the team differs from the Bidder Profile in the bid
State approval right	Not stated in section 9	DES "reserves the right to approve or deny any subcontractors"
Cap on subcontractors that lack the prime's award preferences	Together, no more than 49% of contract value	Not stated in section 7
Consolidated reporting	Prime reports with subcontractor data and a rollup	Prime reports with subcontractor data and a rollup

Sources: Contract No. 00224, sections 4.17(b) and 9; Master Contract No. 05620-08, section 7.

The 49% cap in the audio-visual contract matters for teaming. It exists because the prime won certain award preferences, and a subcontractor that does not share them is limited in how much work it can take.

Why do primes bring in a web accessibility subcontractor?

State and local governments must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA for their web content and mobile apps under the Title II rule. The ADA.gov fact sheet says content posted by a government's contractor or vendor usually falls under that standard, too.

That puts accessibility on the prime's delivery list when it builds or updates an agency website. The Interim Final Rule published on 20 April 2026 sets the compliance dates at 26 April 2027 for entities with 50,000 or more people and 26 April 2028 for smaller entities and special district governments. See our guide to the Title II web rule deadlines.

A prime with strong build skills but thin accessibility testing capacity is a natural fit for a specialist subcontractor.

Sources: ADA.gov, Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments.

How might the work split on a real project?

Here is an illustration with made-up numbers, not a client case. A prime wins a task order to rebuild a state agency's permit portal. The prime owns design, build and hosting. It brings in a subcontractor for accessibility audits and regression testing.

Before the prime submits its response, the 2 teams agree the scope line and flow-down terms in the checklist that follows. After award, the prime gives the state any notice the contract requires and the subcontractor starts work.

Each sprint, the subcontractor sends the prime a defect log, a pass or fail list for the agreed test cases, and a short hours summary. The prime merges that data into its own report. The agency sees 1 report from 1 company.

The split works because each side knows who fixes what. The prime fixes defects in code it owns. The subcontractor retests after each fix and signs off only when the test case passes.

A 10-point teaming checklist to agree before bid day

The clauses above translate into things you can settle in writing before the proposal goes in. This checklist is our own working list, not a quotation from any contract.

Scope line. Name the deliverables the subcontractor owns, such as an audit, a remediation backlog or a regression suite, and the ones the prime keeps.
Flow-down. Attach the prime contract's duties to the subcontract, as the DES contracts require.
Registration. Check whether the state wants subcontractors registered in its bidder system. DES does for Contract No. 00224.
Award preferences. Ask whether the subcontractor qualifies for the preferences the prime relied on, and whether a cap on non-qualifying work applies.
Approval timing. Find out whether the state must be told or must approve before work starts, and build that lead time into the plan.
Reporting. Agree what data the subcontractor sends the prime each month so the prime can file one rollup report.
Data handling. Decide what data the subcontractor may touch. At Konnex, agency data stays in the US and offshore engineers touch only code and synthetic test data. See how we handle delivery and compliance.
Insurance and indemnity. Match the subcontract's cover and indemnity to what the prime owes the state.
Single voice. Agree that the prime speaks to the agency. The subcontractor routes questions through the prime contact.
Exit. Write down how work transfers if the subcontractor leaves mid-project, including a handoff of code, test cases and documentation.

What this means for subcontractors

Expect the prime to ask for more paperwork than a normal client would. The prime carries the state's risk, so it will pass your obligations through almost word for word.

Be clear about what you can and cannot sign. If a flow-down clause asks for something you cannot meet, say so before the bid, not after award. A prime can plan around a known gap but cannot plan around a surprise.

Have these ready before a prime asks: a one-page capability statement, a short note on where work happens and what data you touch, and a named contact who responds to the prime quickly. If you work offshore, read our post on whether government agencies can use offshore developers and check the solicitation for data-location terms.

If the prime lists you in its bid, tell it at once if your status changes. In the IT cabling contract, changing from the bid's named team requires notice to the state before any work starts.

Sources: Master Contract No. 05620-08, section 7.1.

Quick answers

Does the prime stay responsible if a subcontractor fails?

Yes. Both DES contracts make the prime fully responsible for subcontractors at any tier and require the prime to indemnify the state for a subcontractor's negligence or misconduct.

Does the state have to approve every subcontractor?

It depends on the contract. The IT Cabling contract says DES may approve or deny any subcontractor. The audio-visual contract requires written notice and WEBS registration. Check your own solicitation.

Can a prime use a subcontractor that lacks the prime's award preferences?

Sometimes, with limits. In Contract No. 00224, such subcontractors together may perform no more than 49% of the contract value (section 4.17(b), Contract No. 00224).