How Contractor Networks Actually Work
Directories sell a listing. Lead platforms sell an enquiry. A coordinated network appoints one contractor to the job and runs the commercial process around it.
The short version
A contractor network doesn't sell you enquiries. It appoints you to the work and runs the process around it.
The phrase gets used loosely, so it is worth being precise. A contractor network, in the sense we mean it, generates the enquiry, qualifies the customer, appoints one contractor from the network to the job, and then carries the commercial and administrative work around it: booking the site visit, preparing the quotation, following it up, talking to the customer and administering the payments.
The contractor does the parts only the contractor can do. You survey the job, set the scope, price it at trade rate, carry out the work and stand behind it with your own workmanship warranty.
That is a different arrangement from a directory or a paid lead platform, and the difference shows up in who pays whom, when, and for what. This page explains the structure itself. The contractor network hub covers the Mortaro network as a whole.
Three models
Three ways a third party puts work in front of you
Most contractors have tried at least two of these. They look similar from the outside and work very differently underneath.
The directory
You pay to be listed, usually by annual or monthly subscription. Customers browse, compare and contact whoever they choose. The directory's job ends at the listing: what happens after the phone rings is down to you.
The lead platform
You pay per enquiry or per connection, whether or not the job goes ahead. The same enquiry is commonly passed to several trades at once. Once you have paid for the contact details, the rest is yours to handle.
The coordinated network
You pay nothing to be in it. One contractor is appointed per enquiry, and the network carries the commercial process from first contact to final payment. Its fee sits inside the customer's quotation, on top of your price.
Follow the money
Who each model is really working for
The quickest way to understand any arrangement is to ask where its revenue comes from. A directory is paid by the contractors listed in it. A lead platform is paid by the contractors buying its enquiries. In both cases the contractor is the paying customer, and the product being sold is access to homeowners.
That shapes behaviour in ways that are nobody's fault. A platform paid per lead has a commercial reason to pass an enquiry to more than one trade. A subscription directory is paid on renewal, not on whether your listing produced anything. Neither has a direct stake in whether the job was priced well, quoted properly or paid on time, because none of that changes its income.
A coordinated network is paid differently. Its fee is added on top of your trade rate inside the customer's quotation, so it charges you nothing at all. It earns when a customer accepts a quotation and the work goes ahead. That single fact explains most of how a network behaves: it wants the job priced accurately, presented properly, won, delivered well and paid cleanly, because that is the only route to its own income.
It also explains why a network is selective. A platform can take anyone willing to pay. A network whose income depends on the work being done well cannot. The commercial side is covered in detail in no upfront lead fees, explained.
End to end
How a job moves through the network
This is the sequence in the Mortaro network. The shape is the same on a roof repair and on a larger domestic project; only the timescales stretch.
The enquiry is generated
We generate enquiries ourselves rather than buying them from a third party. A homeowner has asked for help with a project in your trade and in your area.
The customer is qualified
Someone speaks to the customer before anything reaches you and establishes what they want and where. You receive a real project with the details that matter, not a name and a number to chase.
One contractor is appointed
The opportunity goes to one contractor in the network covering that area. It is never shared or sold to anyone else. You accept, decline or reschedule: the same day, ideally within about two hours.
The site visit is booked
We arrange the visit around the customer's availability and yours, confirm it with both sides, and tell the customer who is coming.
You survey and price
You assess the job, set the technical scope and put your price together at trade rate. The scope and the pricing are yours.
The quotation is issued and followed up
We prepare a professional written quotation, name you as the appointed main contractor, add our fee on top of your figure and present it to the customer. Then we chase it, so you don't have to.
The customer accepts
The customer pays a 25% deposit by bank transfer. We collect it as payment administration agent and pass it to you without unnecessary delay.
The work is carried out
We organise the start date and handle the customer's questions while you are on the tools. You carry out the work under your own company name.
The balance is paid
On completion the balance is collected and passed to you the same way. Your workmanship warranty usually runs from completion.
The contract
Who is contracted to whom
This is the part people most often get wrong, so it is worth stating plainly. The construction contract is between you and the customer. You are the main contractor, named in the quotation before the customer commits. You hold the insurance and you provide the workmanship warranty.
Mortaro coordinates the process and acts as payment administration agent. We don't build, inspect, supervise or sign off anything. The deposit and balance are paid to you through us rather than held by us: there is no escrow account and no pot of money sitting in between.
That structure is what allows a network to take on the whole commercial side without taking over your trade. You keep technical authority over the work. We keep the process moving around it. The full split, stage by stage, is set out in what Mortaro handles for contractors.
Who handles what
The division of labour
Each side does the part it is best placed to do. Neither side does the other's.
Mortaro handles
- Generating the enquiry
- Qualifying the customer
- Booking the site visit
- Preparing and issuing the quotation
- Following up the quotation
- Organising the start date
- Customer communication throughout
- Collecting and passing on payments
You handle
- Accepting or declining the opportunity
- Attending the site visit
- Setting the technical scope
- Pricing the job at trade rate
- Carrying out the work
- Your insurance and methods
- The workmanship warranty
The other side of the deal
What a network asks for in return
A network that runs the commercial process is making commitments to customers on your behalf: someone will turn up, a quotation will arrive, questions will be answered. That only works if the contractors in it keep their side, which is why a well-run network has standards and a platform usually doesn't.
Ours are specific. Respond to a new opportunity the same day, ideally within about two hours; after 24 hours without a reply, an automated reminder asks you to accept, decline or reschedule. Declining is fine. Silence isn't. On smaller jobs such as repairs and rooflights we aim for the quote to come back within about 48 hours, and larger jobs can take longer provided you keep us informed. The detail is in response time standards.
Before any of that come the checks. Your public liability insurance, your reviews and references, the warranties you provide, your trade experience and prior work history, and your ability to meet the standards are all looked at before you are introduced to any customer. Onboarding and vetting explains each one.
Work in a network is not dealt out evenly. Contractors who respond quickly, communicate well, deal professionally with customers and complete work properly receive more of it. The aim is one or two highly reliable contractors per area taking most of the work, without overloading anyone. Turning an opportunity down carries no penalty. How opportunities are allocated covers the detail.
Worth knowing
Where a network earns its place
A network works best for contractors who are good at the job and short of time for everything around it: the phone calls, the quote writing, the chasing, the payment reminders. If you have ever added up what you spend on marketing and admin for each job you actually win, the structure tends to make sense quickly.
It suits less well if your pricing has no room below what you would charge a homeowner directly, because the model depends on quoting at trade rate. It also suits less well if same-day responses aren't realistic for you. The standards exist because customers are waiting on the other end.
No honest network will promise you volume either. Work depends on your area, your trade and your track record once you are in. Coverage is UK-wide, and what that means for a particular postcode is confirmed case by case.
One last distinction. A coordinated network is not a lead company under a different name, because the enquiry is where the work starts rather than the thing being sold. If that is the question on your mind, is Mortaro a lead generation company? answers it directly.
Day to day
What working through a network feels like in practice
The biggest change most contractors notice is the phone. Opportunities arrive as booked, qualified projects rather than a stream of calls to return between jobs. The customer already knows who you are, when you are coming and roughly what happens next, because someone has already told them.
The second change is the evenings. The quote you would have typed up at the kitchen table becomes a price and a scope you send over once you have surveyed the job. The written quotation, the follow-up call three days later and the reminder about the deposit are no longer yours to remember.
The third is the money. Deposits and balances are paid to you through the network as they are received, rather than whenever the customer gets round to it. For a small firm juggling materials and wages, that predictability is often worth as much as the enquiry itself.
What doesn't change is the work. You are on site under your own name, doing the job your way, and the customer's contract is with you.
Straight answers
Questions about how networks work
Is a contractor network the same as a lead platform?
No. A lead platform charges you for enquiries and often passes the same one to several trades. A coordinated network appoints one contractor per enquiry, charges you nothing and runs the process from booking the site visit to passing on the final payment.
Who is the customer's contract with?
With you, as the main contractor named in the quotation. Mortaro coordinates the process and administers payments as agent. It does not carry out, supervise or inspect the work.
Is the enquiry shared with anyone else?
No. One contractor is appointed per enquiry and it is never sold or shared. Is the work exclusive? covers what that means in practice.
How do I join?
Start by telling us about your business. A person reads it, and if it looks like a fit we send the full application and talk through areas, rates and standards. Checks are completed before you are introduced to any customer. How to join the network sets out the steps.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.