A retaining wall is a structure, and it is rated like one.
Commercial insurance for hardscape, paver and retaining wall contractors — the masonry and excavation exposures that push an account out of a landscaping class.
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 hardscape and retaining wall work businesses actually need.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — A retaining wall that moves takes the ground behind it, and the neighbouring property with it.
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 — Heavy material, machinery and excavation produce the serious injuries in this trade.
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 — A wall that was engineered wrong, or built to the wrong specification, is a professional failure rather than an accident.
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 — Plate compactors, saws, skid steers and trailers are high-value and live on job sites.
Commercial auto
Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.
Without it — Material deliveries and towed equipment are constant and all business use.
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 — Disturbed soil, silt run-off into a storm drain and fuel spills on a customer’s property are excluded by general liability.
Umbrella & excess liability
Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.
Without it — Structural failure claims and the earth movement behind them exhaust primary limits quickly.
Joe Gorman
Co-Founder | President of Commercial Lines
Came up in construction, on site and in the office, then moved into sales. Went out on a limb to become Boring’s first dedicated producer when the agency had no producers at all — and now leads the producer team. Landscaping is the class he writes most: grounds maintenance, tree work, irrigation and the spray operations that push an account out of preferred appetite.
The Grounds Guys — Franchise owners are referred to us by their corporate office. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, The Grounds Guys.
Five endorsements, and a certificate is none of them.
A certificate is evidence a policy existed the day it was printed — it says so on its own face. The coverage a contract is really asking for lives on the policy as named endorsements, and this is the list they come from.
- Additional insured — ongoing operationsCG 20 10Covers the general contractor for claims arising from your work while the job is in progress.Without it: They fund their own defence on a claim your work caused, then look to you for it.
- Additional insured — completed operationsCG 20 37Extends that cover to claims arising after your work is finished.Without it: The claim arrives years later, when the policy that should have carried it has renewed several times. Cheaper policies often exclude this or do not offer it.
- Primary and non-contributoryCG 20 01Puts your policy first and stops your insurer demanding a contribution from theirs.Without it: Two insurers argue about who pays while the defence waits.
- Waiver of subrogationCG 24 04Stops your insurer recovering from the party you agreed in writing to protect.Without it: Your insurer pays, then sues your customer, which ends the relationship.
- Per-project aggregateCG 25 03Gives each job its own general aggregate instead of sharing one across the year.Without it: Another project’s claims quietly spend the limit that was meant to cover this one.
Tract, condominium and apartment work is the exception that undoes all five — an exclusion for multi-unit residential removes the coverage before any endorsement can apply. What national homebuilders require covers that in full.
What hardscape and retaining wall work operators ask us.
Why is hardscape rated apart from landscaping?
Because it is masonry and excavation rather than grounds maintenance. Retaining walls hold back earth, pavers and patios involve base preparation and drainage, and the failure mode is subsidence or collapse rather than a broken window. It is one of the operations that on its own moves a landscaping account out of preferred appetite, which is why it is worth describing separately rather than letting it sit inside a maintenance class code.
Does the height of a retaining wall matter?
A great deal. Above a certain height most jurisdictions require engineering and a permit, and underwriters ask for the same reason the building department does — the consequence of failure rises sharply with the load retained. Walls built to an engineer’s design, with the drainage detailed, are a materially easier risk to place than walls built by eye.
Am I covered if the wall fails years later?
That is a completed operations claim, and whether you are covered depends on whether the policy carries completed operations and whether it still does at the time the claim arrives. Earth movement and subsidence exclusions are worth checking too, since they can reach the exact failure this trade produces. It is one of the places a cheaper policy is cheaper for a specific reason.