Free CAE platform for contractors: how it works
Updated on 29 October 2026 · This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from your health and safety prevention service.
On many CAE platforms it is the contractor who pays: a fee per company and often another per worker or machine. If you work for several clients, you may end up paying for several platforms to submit the same documents. Coorvia works the other way round: suppliers never pay, and the documents they upload work for all their clients.
Two models of CAE platform
There are more differences between platforms (how documents are validated, access control, supplier network); we go through them in how to choose a CAE platform. Here we focus on who pays.
| The contractor pays | The hiring company pays (Coorvia) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | Each supplier, per company and sometimes per worker or machine. | The company requesting the documents, based on its contractors’ workers and machines. |
| Contractor sign-up | Slower: they have to be persuaded to pay to comply. | No pushback: joining costs them nothing. |
| Supplier with several clients | May pay for a different platform for each client. | Uploads the documents once and submits them to all its Coorvia clients. |
| Cost of compliance | Borne by whoever has the smallest margin. | Borne by whoever has the duty to monitor. |
What a contractor can do for free
- Sign up with its own account when a client invites it, with unlimited users.
- Upload the documents for the company, its workers and its machines just once and submit them to all its clients.
- Assign its staff and machines to each job, in bulk.
- See what is missing, what has been rejected and why, and get reminders before anything expires.
- Know whether its staff can enter each site today, and why not if something is missing.
- Message the client from within the contract, with read receipts.
- Subcontract, if the contract allows it, and request the same documents from its subcontractors.
The AEAT certificate for contractors and the RNT (monthly social security list of workers) are checked automatically on upload: the contractor does not have to wait for someone to review them. We explain it step by step in Coorvia for contractors.
So who pays?
The hiring company pays, based on the workers and machines of its contractors that it manages on active contracts (its own do not count, and each one counts once even if they work on several). There is a free plan to get started and plans from €39 a month plus VAT, with no minimum term, no setup fee and unlimited users. You can see them in pricing.
What if my company hires others and also works for others?
That is the most common case in the subcontracting chain. With the same account you request documents from your subcontractors and submit yours to your clients. You only pay for what you hire; as a supplier you still pay nothing.
Why it makes sense
The duty to monitor contractors lies with the main company (article 10 of Royal Decree 171/2004). Having whoever holds that duty pay is consistent, and in practice it works better: suppliers sign up sooner, submit their documents sooner and do not have to keep the same folder on several platforms. For the contractor, it means not paying to meet an obligation that already costs it time.
Frequently asked questions about the free platform for contractors
Is Coorvia free for contractors and subcontractors?
Yes. In Coorvia suppliers never pay: not for the account, not for their workers or machines, and not for submitting documents to their clients. The hiring company pays.
Do I need an invitation to use Coorvia as a contractor?
The usual way in is through a client’s invitation, which arrives by email and expires after 14 days. An administrator of the company with that tax ID accepts it; if your company already has an account, the client invites you to that same account.
Do I have to upload the same documents for each client?
No. Each document is uploaded once and submitted to every client who requests it. If you renew it, the new version works for all of them.
What if my client uses another CAE platform?
Coorvia does not connect to other platforms: each client decides which tool to use. If one of your clients coordinates with Coorvia, you can suggest it to the others; it is not expensive for them either, because there is a free plan.
If you want to know which documents are usually requested, read which documents to request from a contractor; to understand the obligation, what CAE is and when it is mandatory and Royal Decree 171/2004 explained.
Written by the Coorvia team based on how the app works and its published prices. If you find a mistake or something has changed, write to us at hola@coorvia.app and we will fix it. How we write our guides.