What is the difference between CG 20 33 and CG 20 38?
Both are blanket additional insured endorsements for ongoing operations: they add a party automatically whenever your written construction contract requires it. CG 20 33 (12 19 and 04 13 editions) covers only the party you signed that contract with, while CG 20 38 also covers the other parties that contract requires you to add, such as the owner, the architect or a lender. If your contract is with the general contractor and it names the owner too, CG 20 33 alone leaves the owner out.
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.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
The forms, side by side
CG 20 10
- What it does
- Adds a named party for your ongoing operations
- Blanket or scheduled
- Scheduled: one name per endorsement
- Carrier availability
- Widely available
- What to ask your agent
- Is this party already scheduled?
- Common trap
- A new endorsement for every contract, and none for anyone missed
CG 20 33
- What it does
- Adds whoever you contract with in writing, automatically
- Blanket or scheduled
- Blanket
- Carrier availability
- Widely available
- What to ask your agent
- Is our blanket form CG 20 33 or CG 20 38?
- Common trap
- Does not reach the owner when your contract is with the general contractor
CG 20 38
- What it does
- CG 20 33 plus the other parties that contract requires
- Blanket or scheduled
- Blanket
- Carrier availability
- Commonly available; varies by carrier
- What to ask your agent
- Does the blanket reach parties we have no contract with?
- Common trap
- Still needs a written contract signed before the work and the loss
Carrier blanket forms
- What it does
- Carrier wording doing either job
- Blanket or scheduled
- Blanket
- Carrier availability
- Varies by carrier
- What to ask your agent
- Send us the form so we can read who it reaches
- Common trap
- Some read like CG 20 38 and act like CG 20 33
Ongoing operations only. Completed operations takes a second endorsement: CG 20 37, CG 20 39 or CG 20 40.
The detail
CG 20 33 12 19 adds "any person or organization for whom you are performing operations when you and such person or organization have agreed in writing in a contract or agreement that such person or organization be added as an additional insured on your policy."
CG 20 38 12 19 contains the same grant and adds "any other person or organization you are required to add as an additional insured under the contract or agreement" described in that first paragraph.
Both forms cover ongoing operations only, and both carry an exclusion for professional architectural, engineering or surveying services.
From the 04 13 editions, ISO additional insured endorsements apply only to the extent permitted by law, and where a contract requires the coverage, give the additional insured no broader coverage and no higher limits than the contract requires.
What this means for you
- Read who the contract names, then read who the form reaches. A subcontract that lists "Contractor, Owner and their affiliates" needs a form that reaches parties you have no contract with. CG 20 33 reaches only the general contractor.
- Sign before the work starts. Both blanket forms key on a written agreement. A contract signed after the job began, or after the injury, leaves the party outside the endorsement.
- Scheduling is the fallback. If your carrier will not write CG 20 38, each upstream party can be scheduled by name on CG 20 10. It works, and it means an endorsement request for every project.
- Your limits are shared. Every additional insured draws on the same per occurrence and aggregate limits you do, which is the real argument for a per-project aggregate and an umbrella.
Related questions
- Is CG 20 38 better than CG 20 33?
For a subcontractor, usually yes, because subcontracts routinely require the owner and others upstream to be covered and CG 20 33 cannot reach them. For a contractor who only ever signs directly with the owner, the two do the same job.
- What does privity of contract mean for additional insured?
It means having a contract directly with the other party. CG 20 33 requires it, so it adds only the party you signed with. Courts have read similar carrier wording differently in different states, which is one reason general contractors prefer CG 20 38, where the answer is written into the form.
- Does CG 20 38 cover completed operations?
No. CG 20 38 covers ongoing operations only. Its completed operations counterpart is CG 20 40, and the counterpart of CG 20 33 is CG 20 39. A contract asking for both needs one of each.
- CG 20 39 and CG 20 40
- Can you check the insurance requirements in my contract?
Yes. Paste the insurance section into our free Contract Insurance Decoder and it names the endorsement behind each clause, flags the ones that are often missing, and prints a checklist, without the text leaving your browser. Send that with your current policy and a licensed agent compares them line by line, usually the same business day.
- Open the Contract Insurance Decoder
Need this handled?
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.
Written by Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822, at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-10-05. See all guides.