Subcontractor insurance requirements: a GC's checklist

The standard checklist for what a general contractor should require from every subcontractor before letting them touch the project. Limits, endorsements, and the verification workflow.

The standard limits

The minimum-acceptable limits for most commercial subcontracts:

Commercial General Liability: $1M per occurrence, $2M general aggregate, $2M products/completed operations aggregate. Higher-risk trades may require $2M per occurrence.
Automobile Liability: $1M combined single limit. Owned, hired, and non-owned coverage.
Workers' Compensation:statutory limits for the state where the work is performed. Employers' Liability typically $1M / $1M / $1M.
Umbrella / Excess Liability: $5M follow-form for most projects; higher for steel, demolition, roofing, electrical, and crane/heavy-equipment work. Some owners require $10M+.
Professional Liability (E&O): required for design-build subs, MEP engineering subs, and any sub providing professional services. Typically $1M–$5M per claim.
Pollution Liability: required for environmental scopes (asbestos, mold, hazmat). Typically $1M per claim.
Builder's Risk: usually carried by the owner or GC, but sometimes pushed down to the sub for their scope.

The required endorsements

Limits alone aren't enough. Without the right endorsements, you have a vendor with insurance that doesn't cover you. Required:

Additional insured on GL: CG 20 10 (ongoing) + CG 20 37 (completed operations). Both forms.
Additional insured on Auto: CA 99 47 or equivalent.
Primary and non-contributory on GL: CG 20 01.
Waiver of subrogation on GL (CG 24 04) and Workers' Comp (WC 00 03 13).
Per-project / per-location aggregate where applicable (CG 25 03 or CG 25 04).

The verification workflow

Receive the COI via email or vendor portal before work begins. No COI on file = no work on site.
Verify the named insured matches the subcontract entity exactly.
Verify the limits against your contract requirement template.
Verify the endorsements are referenced in the Description of Operations box, with explicit endorsement numbers.
Verify the certificate holder is your firm, with the correct legal name and address.
Verify the carrier is admitted and rated A- or better by AM Best.
Verify the policy expiration covers the project duration; flag for renewal tracking if not.
File the COI in your library with vendor name, expiration date, and verification notes.
Schedule expiration alerts at 60/30/7 days before the policy expires.

Run this checklist on every COI automatically.

Drop the PDF. We extract the 12 standard fields, check them against your subcontract template, and return PASS / NEEDS REVIEW / FAIL with named exceptions. 30 seconds.

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Common pitfalls

Approving a cert with limits that meet the minimum but not the owner-required minimum. Know what your prime contract requires you to flow down.
Accepting blanket additional-insured language without the underlying endorsement."Additional insured per blanket form" on a cert doesn't mean the policy actually has the endorsement.
Missing the per-project aggregate endorsement. Without it, a sub's aggregate limit can be eroded by claims on other projects, leaving nothing for yours.
Trusting expiration tracking to a calendar reminder. Calendar reminders get missed. The whole point of a COI tracking workflow is making expiration tracking automatic.

Frequently asked questions

What insurance should a general contractor require from subcontractors?

At minimum: Commercial General Liability ($1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate), Auto Liability ($1M CSL), Workers' Compensation (statutory), and Umbrella/Excess for higher-risk trades. Plus required endorsements: additional insured (CG 20 10 + CG 20 37), waiver of subrogation (CG 24 04 + WC 00 03 13), and primary and non-contributory (CG 20 01).

Are these requirements the same for every project?

No. Higher-risk projects (steel erection, demolition, roofing, electrical) typically warrant higher limits. Public projects often have specific state-mandated minimums. Owner-required limits (passed down from the GC's contract with the owner) frequently exceed standard subcontract limits.

What if a subcontractor doesn't have the required limits?

Three options: (1) require them to bind higher limits before the work starts; (2) require them to add an umbrella that brings their effective limit up; (3) reject them as a subcontractor. Don't accept lower limits informally; the gap shows up only when there's a claim.

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