General liability pays for the damage. Not for the work being wrong.
Contractors E&O covers the cost of faulty work and professional mistakes — the claims a general liability policy is specifically written not to pay.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What contractors errors and omissions businesses actually need.
Faulty workmanship
The cost of putting your own defective work right.
Without it — General liability pays for the floor your leak ruined and not for the pipe you installed wrong, which is usually the part the customer is arguing about.
Design and specification errors
Claims arising from design-build work, engineered systems or a specification you supplied.
Without it — The moment you recommend rather than merely install, you have taken on a professional duty that general liability does not insure.
Rework and delay
The financial consequences of getting it wrong, where scheduled.
Without it — Tearing out and redoing a compliant-looking installation is a cost with no third-party damage attached to it, so nothing else responds.
Where contractors errors and omissions shows up.
- Glass Contractors & Glaziers
Specified glazing that fails to perform — thermal, structural or acoustic — is a professional claim rather than an accident.
- Carpentry & Framing Contractors
General liability pays for the damage your framing caused and nothing toward the framing itself being wrong.
- Hardscape & Retaining Walls
A wall that was engineered wrong, or built to the wrong specification, is a professional failure rather than an accident.
- Pressure & Soft Washing
Stripping a surface you were paid to clean — etched glass, stained render, damaged shingles — is a workmanship claim rather than an accident.
- Roofing Contractors
A specified system that fails, or the wrong assembly for the deck, is a workmanship claim general liability excludes.
What contractors errors and omissions operators ask us.
Is this not what my general liability is for?
No, and the distinction is deliberate rather than accidental. General liability covers bodily injury and damage to other people’s property caused by your work. It excludes your work itself — the "your work" exclusion — because insurers will not guarantee the quality of what you sell. Contractors E&O is what covers the workmanship and the professional judgement behind it.
Who actually needs it?
Anyone who designs as well as builds, anyone installing engineered or specified systems, and anyone whose contract makes them responsible for a performance standard rather than just a scope. Irrigation and landscape design, mechanical and controls work and design-build contracting are the common ones.
Does a contract ever require it by name?
Increasingly yes, usually phrased as professional liability on design-build work. Where a contract requires professional liability from a trade contractor, this is generally the policy meant — and a general liability certificate will not satisfy it however good the limits look.