What is the construction class on the ACORD 140?

A category from frame through fire-resistive that describes what the building is made of, which sets the base rate. Wood frame is the most expensive to insure and the most common for small commercial buildings; masonry and steel cost less; a fire-resistive concrete building costs least. The agent picks it from the building description and, often, a photo.

Do I fill out an ACORD 140 for a leased space?

Yes, for your contents, your equipment and the improvements you made to the space, and for the business income you would lose. The building itself is the landlord's to insure, and the lease usually says who covers what. Bring the lease.

What is a statement of values, and is it the same as the 140?

The 140 describes each building and asks for its values; a statement of values is the spreadsheet version for an account with many locations, listing every building with its construction facts and values on one schedule. Carriers ask for one when the 140 would run to dozens of pages.

Rolled blueprints, a property application, a photo of a brick warehouse, a tape measure and a brass sprinkler head with an inspection tag laid out on wet sidewalk in front of loading docks at sunset

What does the ACORD 140 property section ask for?

The ACORD 140 is the property section that attaches to the ACORD 125. For each building it asks the four things a property underwriter rates on, which the trade calls COPE: construction (the frame, the roof, the year built, the stories and the square footage), occupancy (what happens inside it and who else is in the building), protection (sprinklers, alarms, the fire department class and the distance to a hydrant) and exposure (what is next door and what it does). It then asks what you want covered and for how much: the building, your contents and equipment, your stock, improvements you made to a leased space, and the income you would lose if you had to close.

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Blueprints rolled. Sprinkler head tagged. Tape out.Construction, occupancy, protection, exposure. The building answers all four before the price is set.

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Commercial property, explained.

What the policy pays for, how values are set, and what the building itself costs to insure.

Commercial property, explained

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The detail

The ACORD 140 is where the COPE data lives: construction, occupancy, protection and exposure, the four attributes that drive a commercial property rate.
Pibit.AI, "What Is ACORD 140 (Property Section)?"
Construction on the 140 covers the construction class, year built, number of stories and area; protection covers the protection class, sprinklers, alarms and distance to a hydrant.
Total CSR, "ACORD 140: Mastering Commercial Property Insurance Forms"
The form captures, per location, the property address, building number, year built, area, occupancy and stories, along with the values and coverages requested and the exposures the underwriter needs to price the risk.
Sonant, "ACORD 140 Guide: Complete Commercial Property Form Correctly"
A statement of values, the location-by-location schedule of buildings, contents and business income, is the usual attachment to the 140 for an account with more than a few locations.
IndependentAgent.com, "Helping Your Clients Maintain Accurate Statements of Value"

What this means for you

Replacement cost, not what you paid.The building value on the 140 is what it would cost to rebuild today, and contents are what it would cost to replace them new. A value carried over from a purchase price a decade ago is the most common reason a claim pays less than the loss.
Business income is the number people skip.It asks what you would lose if the building were closed for a year: revenue, minus the costs that stop, plus the costs that continue. Leaving it blank leaves the coverage out.
Sprinklers and alarms are worth stating precisely.A monitored central-station alarm and a sprinklered building are the two answers that move a property rate most. "Yes" is not enough; the underwriter wants the type and whether it is monitored.

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Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.