How to check a subcontractor's certificate of insurance

Before a sub sets foot on your site, you ask for a certificate of insurance, usually called a COI. In the US it almost always arrives on the ACORD 25 form, the one-page standard that insurance agents fill in. It's the fastest way to see what coverage a sub says it carries.

It also has limits that are printed right on it. The form says it is issued for information only and "confers no rights upon the certificate holder." It shows what the agent says the policies contained on the day it was issued. Your job is to check that summary against what your contract requires, and to back it up where it matters.

Start with your requirements, not the certificate

What counts as a correct certificate is set by the insurance clause in your subcontract. Before you review one, have these written down for the project:

• Coverage lines: general liability, auto liability, umbrella or excess, workers' compensation and employers' liability, plus anything project-specific such as professional or pollution liability.
• Minimum limits for each line, and whether an umbrella may be used to reach them.
• Who must be additional insured: you, and often the owner and the lender, by their exact legal names.
• Whether additional insured status must include completed operations (claims that come up after the job is done).
• Primary and noncontributory wording and a waiver of subrogation.
• A per-project aggregate on general liability, if your contract requires one.
• A minimum carrier rating, if your contract sets one (for example A.M. Best A- VIII).

Tip: most GCs only need two or three standard requirement sets, for example one for small trades and one for high-risk work like roofing or crane operations. Write them once and reuse them.

The ACORD 25, box by box

A simplified layout of the form, for orientation. Field names are shortened.

1. Date

   The date the certificate was issued, in the top right corner. An old certificate can describe policies that have since changed or ended. Many GCs ask for one issued within 30 days of the start of work.

2. Producer

   The insurance agent or broker who issued the certificate, with a phone number and email. This is who you contact to confirm the certificate or ask for endorsements. It's better to get certificates straight from the producer than forwarded by the sub.

3. Insured

   The sub's name and address. It must match the legal name on your subcontract exactly, including "LLC" or "Inc." A trade name, a parent company or a sister company is a question to ask before you accept it.

4. Insurers A–F

   Each insurance company gets a letter and its NAIC number. The INSR LTR column in the coverage table ties each policy to one of these companies. If your contract sets a minimum rating, look the company up.

5. Coverages

   The heart of the form. One row per policy. Check every row against your requirements:

   • General liability: "occurrence" or "claims-made" (most construction contracts require occurrence). Then the limits: each occurrence, general aggregate, and products/completed operations aggregate. The line "aggregate limit applies per: policy / project / loc" shows whether the aggregate is per project. If your contract requires that, the project box should be marked.
   • Auto liability: "any auto" covers every vehicle. "Hired" and "non-owned" alone do not cover trucks the sub owns. A sub that drives its own trucks to your site needs owned or any-auto coverage.
   • Umbrella or excess: the limits that sit on top of the other policies. The certificate can't show whether the umbrella extends additional insured status to you, so ask if you rely on it to reach your limits.
   • Workers' compensation and employers' liability: the "per statute" box, and the three employers' liability limits. Note the yes/no box asking whether any owner, partner or officer is excluded. A "Y" is common for small subs, but it matters if those owners do the work themselves. Rules for subs with no employees vary by state, so check yours.
   • ADDL INSR and SUBR WVD: a "Y" means the agent says the policy includes additional insured status or a waiver of subrogation. Blank means no.
   • Policy dates: the expiration date is the one you track. If a policy ends before your project does, put the renewal date on your calendar now.

6. Description of operations

   The free-text box where the agent names the project and states who is additional insured, whether coverage is primary and noncontributory, and whether subrogation is waived. Read it against your contract: the right names, the right project, the right coverage lines. Wording like "where required by written contract" only helps if a signed contract exists before the work starts.

7. Certificate holder

   Your company's exact legal name and address. Being listed here means you get a copy. It does not make you an additional insured.

8. Cancellation

   The form says notice of cancellation will be delivered "in accordance with the policy provisions." In practice, don't count on hearing about a cancellation. This is why you track dates and ask again rather than file the certificate and forget it.

Ask for the endorsements

The certificate summarizes. The endorsements are the actual policy language that makes you an additional insured or waives subrogation. The ACORD 25 itself says that additional insured status requires the policy to provide it or be endorsed. For the protections your contract requires, ask the producer for copies of the endorsements.

These are standard forms that come up often. Editions change, and carriers also write their own versions, so your contract or attorney decides which are acceptable.

Red flags worth a phone call

• The certificate came from the sub as an edited PDF: mismatched fonts, numbers that look typed over, missing producer details. Ask the producer to send it directly.
• The insured name doesn't match your subcontract.
• You're the certificate holder, but ADDL INSR is blank on the general liability row.
• A policy has already expired, or expires before the work is done.
• A limit is below your minimum, and no umbrella makes up the difference.
• General liability is claims-made when your contract requires occurrence.
• Your contract requires a per-project aggregate, but the policy box is marked instead.
• Workers' comp excludes the owners, and the owners are the ones on site. Or there's no workers' comp at all.
• You can't reach the producer, or the agency can't confirm the certificate.

After you accept it: keep it current

• Track every policy's expiration date, not just the earliest one. General liability, auto and workers' comp often renew on different dates.
• Ask for the renewal certificate about 30 days before each policy expires, from the producer.
• Check again before releasing each payment. A certificate that was fine at the start of the job may not be now.
• Keep the old certificates. Claims about finished work can come up years later, and you'll want to show what was in force at the time.
• Keep every sub in one place. A spreadsheet works for a handful of subs (here's our free COI tracking spreadsheet). Past fifteen or twenty, renewals start slipping through.

Common questions

This guide is general information for general contractors, not legal or insurance advice. Your subcontract decides what your certificates must show; your insurance broker or attorney can confirm what's acceptable for your projects and your state. The ACORD 25 form is published by ACORD.