Subcontractor Insurance Requirements: What GCs Should Require (+ Template Language)

Subcontractor insurance requirements are the coverage types, limits, and endorsements a general contractor requires subs to carry before starting work — written into the subcontract and verified through a certificate of insurance before mobilization. Get them right and a sub's accident stays the sub's claim. Get them wrong, or fail to verify them, and it becomes yours: the injured worker's attorney names everyone up the chain, and the GC's own policy — and loss history, and future premiums — absorbs what the sub's insurance should have.

Here's what to require, the exact endorsement forms to ask for, sample contract language, and what actually shows up when you check subs' certificates.

Download the subcontractor requirements template (.docx) →

The baseline requirements

Adjust for trade risk and contract size, but for most commercial work the floor looks like this:

Two calibration notes. First, scale by trade: structural steel, roofing, and demolition warrant higher umbrella limits than painting or flooring — a flat requirement across all trades is either too weak at the top or an onboarding tax at the bottom. Second, check the form, not just the number: a claims-made GL policy with the right limits still leaves a gap when the policy isn't renewed and a completed-work claim arrives two years later.

The endorsements that do the real work

This is the part most requirement schedules get wrong, and it's where claims are won and lost. Limits are what everyone checks. Endorsements are what actually move a claim onto the sub's policy.

Additional insured — ongoing operations (CG 20 10 or equivalent). Covers the GC and owner for claims arising while the sub is performing work. Require the endorsement form itself, not a sentence in the COI's description box — the description box amends nothing.

Additional insured — completed operations (CG 20 37 or equivalent). The one that's chronically missing. Construction defect and injury claims routinely surface after the work is done — sometimes years after. CG 20 10 alone stops covering you at substantial completion. If you require only one endorsement beyond the basics, require this one.

Primary and noncontributory (CG 20 01 or policy wording). Makes the sub's policy pay first, before the GC's. Without it, the sub's carrier can argue your policy shares the loss — which defeats the point of requiring theirs.

Waiver of subrogation (CG 24 04 for GL; also on the workers' comp policy). Stops the sub's carrier from paying a claim and then suing you to recover it. Most standard subcontract forms (AIA A401 among them) contemplate mutual waivers — your insurance requirements should match what the contract says.

A note on blanket endorsements: many subs carry "blanket additional insured" endorsements that grant status only where "required by written contract." That's fine — if your subcontract actually contains the requirement in writing. Another reason the requirements section of the contract, not the COI request email, is the document that matters.

Sample requirements language

Adapt with your construction attorney — this is a starting structure, not legal advice:

Prior to commencing Work, Subcontractor shall procure, and maintain for the duration of the Work plus three (3) years, at its own expense: (a) Commercial General Liability insurance on an occurrence form with limits not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate, including products/completed operations coverage; (b) Workers' Compensation insurance at statutory limits and Employer's Liability insurance with limits not less than $1,000,000; (c) Commercial Automobile Liability with a combined single limit not less than $1,000,000; (d) Umbrella/Excess Liability with limits not less than $[X],000,000.

Contractor, Owner, and their respective officers, agents, and employees shall be named as additional insureds on the CGL and Umbrella policies for both ongoing operations (ISO CG 20 10 or equivalent) and completed operations (ISO CG 20 37 or equivalent). All such coverage shall be primary and noncontributory to any insurance maintained by Contractor or Owner. Subcontractor waives all rights of subrogation against Contractor and Owner, and shall cause its insurers to do the same. Subcontractor shall provide certificates of insurance, with all required endorsements attached, prior to mobilization and at each policy renewal.

What actually shows up on subcontractor COIs

Anyone who has reviewed a stack of subcontractor certificates knows the pattern — the certificate arrives current and signed, and the problems are one layer down:

• CG 20 37 missing entirely. Ongoing-operations coverage is there; completed operations isn't. The claim that arrives after punch list has nowhere to land but your policy.
• Endorsements referenced, not attached. The description box says "additional insured status applies" and no form is behind it. Unverifiable is the same as absent.
• Wrong entity named. The certificate names the GC's holding company, or misspells the LLC, or names the owner but not the GC. Additional insured status for the wrong entity is worth exactly nothing.
• Umbrella lapsed while GL is current. The two policies renew on different dates; the tracker watching one date misses the other.
• Sub-tier subs invisible. Your sub's sub has no direct contract with you — their coverage is only as good as what your subcontract obligates your sub to require of them. Flow-down language exists for this reason.

Every one of these passes an expiration-date check. That's the core problem with how most GCs track COIs: the tracking system watches dates, and the claims come from endorsements.

Verifying before mobilization (and staying verified)

Collect the COI with endorsements attached before the sub is on site — pre-mobilization is the only moment you have real leverage, because the sub wants to start and wants to get paid. Review against the subcontract's requirements, not a generic checklist. Chase corrections to completion, which in practice means several rounds with the sub's insurance agent per gap found. Then re-verify at every renewal, because carriers, limits, and endorsements all change at renewal — and a project that runs eighteen months will cross at least one renewal for every sub on it.

On a project with thirty subs, done properly by hand, that's a real part-time job. This is the workflow Tightrope's agent Travis runs end to end — reading each certificate and its endorsements against your subcontract requirements, flagging what's missing (down to the CG 20 37), and emailing, calling, and texting the sub or their agent until the corrected cert is on file — so your PM isn't the one on round four with an insurance agency.

FAQ

What insurance should a subcontractor have? At minimum: commercial general liability ($1M/$2M), workers' compensation at statutory limits, commercial auto ($1M CSL), and umbrella coverage scaled to trade risk — plus additional insured, primary and noncontributory, and waiver of subrogation endorsements in favor of the GC and owner.

What is the difference between CG 20 10 and CG 20 37? CG 20 10 grants additional insured status for ongoing operations — while the work is happening. CG 20 37 covers completed operations — after the work is done. Construction claims frequently arrive post-completion, so GCs should require both.

Can I accept a COI without the endorsements attached? You can, but you're accepting an unverified claim. The ACORD 25 certificate itself confers no rights and amends no coverage — only the endorsements do. Make "endorsements attached" part of the requirement.

Do 1099 subcontractors need workers' comp? Depends on the state — but if a sub with no comp coverage is injured on your project, many states let the claim reach the GC's policy. Most GCs require comp regardless of the sub's employee count, or require a valid state exemption certificate on file.

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Want to see what your subs' certificates are actually missing? Run one through Travis on Tightrope's free plan — upload the COI and your requirements, and see what it catches.