What do the insurance requirements in my contract mean?
Each clause in a construction contract’s insurance exhibit asks for a limit or a named endorsement on your policy, and most have an ISO form number: CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 for additional insured, CG 20 01 for primary and non-contributory, CG 24 04 for the waiver of subrogation, CG 25 03 for a per-project aggregate. A certificate only reports them. The ones that get certificates rejected are the forms that depend on the carrier, and they are listed below with what to ask for.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
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The Contract Insurance Decoder
Paste the insurance section of a subcontract or bid package. It recognizes 31 kinds of clause, names the endorsement behind each with its form number, flags the ones that are often missing, and prints a checklist for your agent. Your text never leaves the page.
The requirements that depend on the carrier
- CG 20 10 11 85 "or equivalent"
Few carriers issue the 1985 edition today. Whether a pair of current forms is accepted is the general contractor’s call.
Ask your agent to propose current-edition ongoing plus completed operations forms and to get the general contractor’s written acceptance before you sign.
- Completed operations maintained for years after completion
Breached quietly by a later renewal that adds an exclusion, drops the endorsement or lapses after you close.
Diary the end date, and ask at every renewal whether completed operations and the additional insured endorsement are unchanged.
- Umbrella: additional insured and primary and non-contributory
Varies by carrier and is one of the clauses most often asserted on certificates and missing from policies.
Ask for the umbrella’s own "who is an insured" and "other insurance" wording, in writing.
- Notice of cancellation to the certificate holder
We know of no standard ISO endorsement that guarantees notice to a certificate holder. Carrier versions vary on days, nonpayment and what happens if the notice is not sent.
Ask whether the carrier offers a notice-to-others endorsement, and read what it promises for nonpayment.
- No residential, tract or condominium exclusion
On more contractor policies than not, and it voids every other endorsement on the job.
Ask your agent to read every exclusion endorsement for residential, tract, condominium or multi-unit wording.
- Action-over and employee injury claims
Common on New York and other high-hazard contractor policies, and invisible on a certificate.
Ask whether any endorsement limits the insured contract definition or excludes injury to your own employees.
- New York Labor Law 240 and 241
Many New York policies exclude it outright, above a height or in the five boroughs.
Ask whether the policy has any Labor Law, height, scaffold or New York exclusion, and whether action over is covered.
- Your own subcontractors: warranty or exclusion
A warranty you did not meet on one sub can remove coverage for the whole claim. Wording varies by carrier.
Ask whether your policy has a subcontractor warranty or independent contractors exclusion, and what certificates and limits it requires you to collect.
- Wrap-up program (OCIP or CCIP)
The trap is the completed operations period after the wrap-up ends, and work off site.
Send the wrap-up manual. Ask what it covers, for how long after completion, and whether your own policy excludes the project.
Every requirement, with the page that answers it
Additional insured
Who the contract names, for work in progress and for finished work.
- What is additional insured for ongoing operations (CG 20 10)?
- What is additional insured for completed operations (CG 20 37)?
- What is the difference between CG 20 33 and CG 20 38?
- What are CG 20 39 and CG 20 40 (blanket completed operations)?
- My contract requires CG 20 10 11 85. Can I get it?
- What does "maintain completed operations coverage for X years after completion" mean?
The other endorsements
Primary wording, waivers and aggregates, on every policy the contract names.
- What does primary and non-contributory mean (CG 20 01)?
- What is a waiver of subrogation (CG 24 04)?
- What is WC 00 03 13, and do I need it blanket or specific?
- What do CA 20 48 and CA 04 44 do on a commercial auto policy?
- What is a per-project or per-location aggregate, and how does the general aggregate work?
- Does my umbrella have to follow form, cover the GC as additional insured and be primary and non-contributory?
- Can my insurance guarantee 30 days’ notice of cancellation to the certificate holder?
Exclusions a certificate never shows
The wording that voids the rest of the stack on the job.
Other policies and programs
Coverage general liability does not provide, and wrap-ups that change who provides it.
- My contract requires contractor’s pollution liability. Doesn’t my general liability cover that?
- Builder’s risk or installation floater: which one does the contract want from me?
- I’m enrolled in an OCIP or CCIP. What insurance do I still need?
- What is the difference between a self-insured retention and a deductible?
- What is the difference between occurrence and claims-made coverage?
Certificates and the contract itself
What a certificate proves, and how to read the exhibit against the policy.
People who have worked the job site.
Joe Gorman leads our contractor practice. He worked construction for years before moving into HVAC sales and then insurance, and he has built compliant insurance packages for some of the largest contractors in Texas. We read the exhibit against your policy and endorsements, add what your carrier offers, and place the coverage elsewhere when it will not.
Written by Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822. Last updated 2026-10-05.
Common questions
- What insurance does a general contractor usually require from a subcontractor?
- Commonly general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, business auto at $1,000,000, workers comp with employer’s liability, and an umbrella sized to the job. On top of the limits come endorsements: additional insured for ongoing and completed operations, primary and non-contributory, waivers of subrogation on each policy and often a per-project aggregate. The exhibit in your contract is the only reliable list.
- What builders require of subcontractors
- Which requirements are hardest to meet?
- The ones that depend on the carrier rather than a form: completed operations for additional insureds held for years after completion, no residential, action-over or subcontractor exclusions, primary and non-contributory on the umbrella, notice of cancellation to the certificate holder, and contracts that still demand CG 20 10 11 85. These are placement questions, solved by choosing a carrier before the bid.
- My certificate was rejected. What do I send my agent?
- The insurance exhibit from the contract and the rejection reason, plus your current policies with every endorsement. Ask which form number satisfies each clause. A reissued certificate fixes nothing if the endorsement is not on the policy.
- Certificate vs endorsement
- Can Boring place the endorsements my contract requires?
- Yes. We are a licensed insurance agency that writes contractors across the US, including the hard-to-place trades and New York work. We read the exhibit against your policy, add the endorsements your carrier offers, and where it will not write them, place the coverage with one that does.
Information, not legal advice. Your policy’s own forms decide what it covers, and carriers vary in which endorsements they offer.