The two pages that decide what your policy has to look like for the next year.
The insurance article of a contract is usually two pages that nobody reads until something goes wrong. It is worth twenty minutes, because it is the only part of the agreement that tells you what you have to buy. Read in order, it asks six questions. Here is what each one means, what it typically costs you, and which answers are negotiable.
Find the required limits for general liability, auto, workers' compensation, and umbrella or excess. Then look for two words that change the price: per project.
A standard CGL general aggregate applies across everything you do in the policy year. Once it is exhausted, it is gone for every job. A per-project aggregate endorsement gives each project its own aggregate. Contracts frequently require one, and it is a real coverage improvement rather than paperwork — but it is an endorsement, it costs money, and it is not on most policies by default.
Also check whether the umbrella requirement can actually be met by your umbrella. See the umbrella gap if primary and non-contributory is also required at those limits.
Look for the words ongoing and completed operations. If both appear, you need endorsements covering both; CG 20 10 on its own does not do it. If the contract names specific forms and editions, check them against what is actually attached to your policy rather than assuming.
Watch for requirements to cover parties you have no contract with — the owner, the construction manager, the lender. That is a real and reasonable ask on construction jobs, and it is what the CG 20 38 form exists to handle. The full comparison of the forms is here.
Usually one sentence. It requires that your coverage respond first and that your carrier not seek contribution from theirs. The endorsement that provides it, CG 20 01, only applies where you agreed in writing that your insurance would be primary and non-contributory — so this sentence in the contract is doing more than describing a preference. It is triggering the endorsement. More detail here.
Check which policies it applies to. General liability alone is common; general liability plus workers' compensation is more common; property and auto sometimes appear too.
The workers' compensation waiver is the one to confirm actually exists, because comp is the line most likely to generate a recovery action against the general contractor, and because the standard endorsement only benefits parties named in its schedule. What each form does, and what it costs.
If it says the carrier will give the certificate holder 30 days' notice, expect friction. Most carriers will not take that obligation on. It is often negotiable to a commitment that you will give notice, which you can honour, or to a scheduled notice-to-third-party endorsement where the carrier offers one.
Flag it early. It is a slow thing to resolve and it holds up certificates.
This is not an insurance requirement, and treating it as one is the most expensive mistake in the article. Indemnity is a promise you make. Insurance is what stands behind some of that promise. Where the promise is broader than the policy, the difference comes out of your own pocket.
Both Carolinas limit how far the promise can go, and both leave insurance alone:
So an unenforceable indemnity clause does not take the additional insured requirement down with it. They are independent, which is why well-drafted contracts require both. It also means a clause that looks void may still be doing work through the insurance requirements sitting next to it.
We are insurance agents, not lawyers, and an indemnity provision on a contract of any size deserves a lawyer's eye. What we can tell you precisely is which parts of it your policy will and will not respond to — which is usually the question you actually needed answered.
A contractor who has this under control does four things:
The reading is the cheap part. Send us the requirements page and we will mark up what your policy already does, what it does not, and what the gap costs to close. That is included in how we handle an account — it is not a separate service, and it is worth considerably more than the certificate it produces.
This page explains how these endorsements and contract terms generally work. It is not a coverage opinion. What your policy actually covers is decided by the policy language, the endorsement editions actually attached, and the contract you signed — all of which we are happy to read. Send us the requirements or call (704) 461-3020.