PG&E contractor requirements

1. Which network PG&E uses

ISNetworld (ISN). PG&E’s Enterprise Contractor Safety page says its program covers contractors and subcontractors doing medium and high-risk work on its behalf, at PG&E-owned or operated sites including rights-of-way, and that primes and subcontractors must keep a pre-qualified status. It links a list of PG&E registered and qualified contractors in ISNetworld. Its Contractor Safety Handbook calls ISN PG&E’s safety prequalification contracted administrator.

Low-risk work, such as consulting or office-based project management, falls outside the program, according to PG&E’s risk matrix.

2. What the sources say contractors must do

Most of this comes from PG&E’s utility standard SAFE-3006S, Contractor Safety Requirements and the handbook.

• Prequalify before work. Work that needs prequalification must not start or continue until it is satisfied or PG&E approves another authorization. The handbook asks for PG&E’s written approval first.
• Keep an A or B grade in ISN. Complete PG&E’s ISN prequalification, keep your ISN information accurate, complete and current, and submit safety programs, safety performance information, incident history, OSHA records and attestations. Carry an ISN ID badge or electronic ID and show it on request.
• No size exemption. All medium and high-risk contractors, including sole proprietors, need ISN accounts and must submit OSHA statistics and forms whatever their size, even in partially exempt low-hazard industries.
• 30 days to fix a grade. If your grade falls to C or F, you have 30 calendar days to restore it. Without an A or B, a stop work order follows on day 31.
• Serious injuries and fatalities. Grades use the statistics of the previous three calendar years and also react to recent serious injuries or fatalities (SIFs). Update ISN promptly after a SIF on a PG&E project. A fatality, or more than one non-fatal PG&E SIF in a calendar year, drops the grade automatically and requires a variance to keep working. The count resets on January 1.
• Variances are the exception. A contractor without an A or B, for example because of its safety statistics or an unfavorable EMR, is not pre-qualified. A grade variance may be possible when no pre-qualified contractor is available or the service is unique; it needs approval from PG&E’s Chief Safety Officer, and is started by the PG&E project lead.
• Safety plan. Submit a safety plan before high-risk work, and whenever PG&E requires one, and get PG&E’s approval before work begins.
• Drug and alcohol. Keep a fit-for-duty and drug and alcohol program. An approved non-DOT drug and alcohol policy is mandatory for all contractors and is stored in ISN. PG&E’s Exhibit 4 adds a testing program consistent with 49 CFR Part 40 and Part 199 where they apply, with access to the records during the contract and for two years after.
• Operator qualification. People performing covered tasks on gas pipeline systems must hold the qualifications at the time of the work, under 49 CFR Part 192 Subpart N and California’s GO 112F.
• Training. Workers in medium and high-risk work complete Contractor Safety Awareness (SAFE-0101) in ISN. Fire Danger Precautions (SAFE-1503) is due within 90 days of assignment and then every year between January 1 and April 1. Gas Operations contractors complete both before starting work.
• Subcontractors. Medium and high-risk subcontractors must be registered in ISN, connected to the prime through SubTracker, linked to PG&E and kept at an A or B. Primes evaluate them at least once a year, and subcontractors report incidents through ISN SiteTracker.
• Messages. PG&E mainly communicates through ISN, so keep your contact details current and check ISN messages and action items often.
• Insurance. PG&E’s Supplier Insurance Requirements (July 2026) list coverages by low, medium and high risk, and the endorsements it requires: additional insured (CG 20 10 10 01 and CG 20 37 10 01 or equivalent, not for workers’ compensation or professional liability), primary and noncontributory, waiver of subrogation, and notice of cancellation where commercially available. It says it is for general information only, and the contract sets the actual terms. Our certificate of insurance guide explains these terms.

For questions about the ISN scorecard and your grade, the handbook points to PG&E’s Enterprise Contractor Safety Team; for account and upload problems, to ISN. Our guide ISNetworld grades explained covers what ISN itself publishes.

3. The yearly dates that apply

The ISNetworld renewal checklist explains the network and OSHA dates and shows their sources.

• On or before the anniversary of your ISN activation date: pay the annual fee to renew ISNetworld (ISN User Agreement).
• January 1: PG&E’s yearly count of serious injuries and fatalities resets (handbook).
• January 1 to April 1: the yearly SAFE-1503 Fire Danger Precautions training (handbook).
• February 1, until April 30: post the OSHA 300A summary, if you must keep OSHA injury and illness records (OSHA 29 CFR 1904.32).
• March 2: submit the 300A to OSHA online, if your establishment is covered (OSHA 29 CFR 1904.41).
• Within 30 days of a C or F grade: restore an A or B.
• At least once a year: your subcontractor safety evaluations.
• Your own dates for this client: the expiry of each insurance policy, your workers’ training and operator qualifications, and your ISN badges.

4. Confirm with PG&E

Requirements change. The web page shows no date; SAFE-3006S is dated August 20, 2026 and says it does not set requirements for every work situation; the handbook is edition 2.2 of June 2025. Before you rely on any item here, confirm it with PG&E and in your ISNetworld account.

Other operators: NiSource, Spire, Kinder Morgan, Williams, or all operator pages.

5. Sources

Every source was opened on October 14, 2026.

• PG&E, Enterprise Contractor Safety (no date on the page).
• PG&E, SAFE-3006S, Contractor Safety Requirements for Work Performed on Behalf of PG&E (PDF; publication date 08/20/2026, Rev. 0).
• PG&E, Contractor Safety Handbook (PDF; edition 2.2, 6/2025).
• PG&E, Enterprise Contractor Safety Risk Matrix (PDF; attachment publication date 06/20/2024, Rev. 2).
• PG&E, Suppliers page with Exhibit 4, Drug and Alcohol Policies (listed as May 2023) and Supplier Insurance Requirements (titled July 2026).
• ISNetworld, User Agreement for contractors and suppliers (no date on the page).
• OSHA, 29 CFR 1904.32 and 29 CFR 1904.41.

PrequalReady is not affiliated with PG&E, ISNetworld, Avetta, Veriforce or any hiring client. Their names belong to their owners.

6. Keep it in one workspace

PrequalReady is a workspace that keeps each hiring client’s requirements, your documents and every expiry date in one place, and emails reminders before your dates. It does not log in to ISNetworld for you, it does not read your grade, and it does not judge whether your documents are acceptable. It is free during early access. Keeping many contractors qualified? See the consultant view.

Start with the free checklist: the items hiring clients most often ask for, with their sources and the yearly dates, and PG&E already filled in. No account; nothing is sent anywhere.