A slab that was not dry takes the whole floor with it.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — A floor that debonds or cups damages the building it is in and closes the space while it is redone.

Contractors errors & omissions

Covers faulty workmanship and professional mistakes: the cost of the work itself being wrong, which general liability excludes by design.

Without it — Installing over a substrate that was never tested is a professional failure, and it is the argument after every moisture claim.

Workers compensation

Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.

Without it — Kneeling work, heavy rolls and repeated lifting produce the chronic injuries that keep installers off jobs.

Commercial property

Buildings and contents, valued at what it costs to rebuild today rather than what you paid.

Without it — Adhesives and finishes are flammable stock, and the warehouse holding them is the largest fixed asset most flooring contractors own.

Inland marine & equipment

Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.

Without it — Sanders, saws, grinders and moisture meters travel between sites and disappear from them.

Commercial auto

Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.

Without it — Vans and box trucks run loaded between the warehouse and occupied buildings every working day.

Contractors pollution liability

Bodily injury, property damage and clean-up caused by a pollutant your work released: chemical drift, run-off, fuel spills. The standard general liability form excludes all of it.

Without it — Solvent adhesives and finishes release fumes into occupied premises, and a fume claim runs straight into the pollution exclusion.

Business income

Replaces the profit and pays the ongoing bills while a covered loss keeps you closed. It is the part of a fire claim that is not the building.

Without it — A fire in a warehouse of flammable stock stops every job on the schedule at once.

Umbrella & excess liability

Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.

Without it — A slip claim after installation, or a fire in an occupied building, moves past a primary limit.

What is the claim flooring contractors actually have?

Moisture failure, and it is not close. A resilient, wood or adhered floor installed over a concrete slab carrying too much moisture will debond, cup or telegraph across the whole installation, and the remedy is to remove and replace all of it while the space is out of use. Because the failure is total rather than local, the number is large relative to the contract, and the first question is always whether the substrate was tested before you started.

Does testing the slab protect me?

It is the single most useful thing you can do, and it works in two ways. It tells you whether to install, and if you documented the result and installed anyway on the customer's written instruction, it changes who is responsible when the floor fails. Testing to a recognized method and keeping the records is cheap; arguing about it afterwards without records is not.

I work in occupied offices and stores. Does that change anything?

It raises the liability side considerably. Occupied buildings mean the public is present, adhesive and finish fumes reach people who did not agree to be exposed to them, and a wet or uneven floor is a slip claim from a stranger rather than from a trade. Out-of-hours working, ventilation and barrier practice are all things underwriters ask about, and they are all things that make an account more attractive rather than less.

Am I responsible if the floor is fine but someone slips on it?

Possibly, and it is worth knowing the distinction. If a finish was applied incorrectly, or the specified slip resistance was not achieved, that reaches you. If the floor is exactly as specified and a customer spilled something on it, it does not. Either way you will be named, which is why the defense cost matters as much as the indemnity on this class.

What does a flooring insurance application ask for?

The applications for flooring businesses ask about 4 things above all: what kind of contracting work do you do; how many people do you employ; how do you screen or check out new equipment operators; who is your current insurance company, or your last one if you don't have coverage now. Have your last five years of claims history from your current insurer, called loss runs and certificates of insurance from your subcontractors showing your company as additional insured ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.