General Contractor Insurance
A broker who underwrites the whole project, not just your own hands. Subcontractor verification, wrap-up coordination, and the limits public work demands. Quotes in 24 to 48 hours.
What insurance does a general contractor need?
General contractor insurance is a coordinated stack covering the GC and every subcontractor whose work rolls uphill. The core is general liability with completed operations, workers compensation under NCCI code 5606 for executive supervision, commercial auto, and umbrella excess. Public work over the federal Miller Act threshold also requires performance and payment bonds.
Subcontractor certificate program
GCs do not carry tool risk, they carry contract risk. Carriers price GCs on whether subs carry proof of insurance with the correct additional-insured endorsements and how the master subcontract language shifts loss back to the sub.
Revenue split by project hazard
Single-family remodels underwrite differently from mid-rise commercial or heavy civil work. Carriers look at revenue split across residential, light commercial, and hazardous trade work before setting GL and umbrella rates.
Completed operations claim history
Completed operations responds to claims that surface years after a project closes. Carriers price the tail against state statutes of repose and whether the book leans toward new residential construction, which carries the heaviest defect tail, versus commercial tenant improvement or repair work.
Coverages we place
Every policy this trade needs, shopped across the full market.
General Liability with Completed Operations
Covers bodily injury and property damage claims arising from the GC's work, jobsite premises, and the operations of subcontractors. Commercial and public work typically requires a one million per occurrence, two million aggregate limit with CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 additional insured endorsements, and completed operations kept in force past substantial completion.
Workers Compensation (NCCI 5606)
Class code 5606 covers project managers, construction executives, and superintendents who supervise through foremen rather than performing hands-on work. Field crews are classified under their trade code. The split matters because 5606 is rated materially lower than trade codes, and misclassification at audit produces painful premium adjustments.
Commercial Auto for the Fleet
Covers pickups, service trucks, and equipment haulers in the course of business. Personal auto excludes any vehicle titled to the business or used for work, so a commercial policy with hired and non-owned auto is required for every driver, including supervisors running job-to-job in their own trucks.
Umbrella / Excess Liability
Extends underlying GL, auto, and employers liability limits once the primary layer exhausts. Commercial projects commonly require five million or ten million in total limits before the subcontract will be signed, and the umbrella is the standard mechanism to reach that limit without quoting a non-standard primary.
Builder's Risk (Project Property)
Covers the structure, materials, and equipment on an active project against fire, wind, theft, and water damage before substantial completion. The owner typically buys it under AIA and ConsensusDocs templates, but the contract sometimes shifts the obligation to the GC. The GC should always be named as an additional insured regardless of who procures.
Professional Liability for Design-Build
Covers errors and omissions when the GC takes on design responsibility, engineering coordination, or performance specification work. Pure build-to-spec work does not need it. Design-build delivery, constructability reviews that cross into design decisions, and value-engineering substitutions all require the coverage.
Contractors Pollution Liability
Covers sudden and gradual pollution conditions arising from site work, including fuel spills, silt runoff, mold from water intrusion, and disturbed contaminated soil. Standard GL excludes pollution almost entirely. Site prep, demolition, and ground-up builds carry enough exposure that most commercial owners now require the policy.
Subcontractor Default Insurance (SDI)
An alternative to requiring a performance bond from every sub. SDI reimburses the GC for direct and indirect costs when a prequalified sub defaults: completion cost, delay damages, acceleration, extended overhead. Limits commonly run to substantial per-occurrence layers. SDI suits larger GCs with mature sub prequalification programs.
Surety Bonds (Bid, Performance, Payment)
Guarantees to the project owner that the GC will honor the bid, complete the contract, and pay subs and suppliers. Federal contracts over the Miller Act threshold require performance and payment bonds. Most states apply a parallel little Miller Act to state and local public work, and bonding capacity is a separate underwriting relationship from the P&C placement.
Risks we underwrite against
Your broker should understand every one of these. And have a plan for each.
Subcontractor injures a third party and the claim lands on the GC
A framer drops material from a scaffold and injures a passerby. The claim names the sub and the GC. Without a proper CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 on the sub's GL policy, the GC's own policy pays first, and the loss reserve ruins the renewal.
Latent defect surfaces years after project closeout
Water intrusion, foundation cracks, or envelope failures often emerge two to six years after substantial completion. Completed operations coverage must be in force during the year the claim is brought, and the statute of repose in most states runs about ten years, which drives how long the tail matters.
Active-project fire before substantial completion
A torch-cut spark ignites dunnage stored on the deck. The loss hits the builder's risk policy, not GL. If the contract made the GC responsible for builder's risk and it was never bound, the GC eats the direct loss and the delay damages that follow.
Commercial auto loss on a fleet driver with a weak MVR
A superintendent with an uncleared at-fault history causes a multi-vehicle accident in a company truck. The carrier audits the driver schedule, surcharges the renewal, and may non-renew if the MVR was not disclosed at binding. Commercial auto is now the hardest line to place cleanly.
Design-build owner alleges a professional error
A value-engineering substitution on a design-build job underperforms and the owner sues for design negligence. General liability responds to physical damage only. The professional liability policy is what answers the design claim, and without it the GC funds the defense from cash flow.
Miller Act payment bond claim on a federal project
An unpaid supplier or second-tier sub files suit against the GC's Miller Act payment bond. The surety pays and then seeks full indemnification from the GC under the general agreement of indemnity. The claim rarely closes without cash collateral being posted or bonding capacity being frozen.
State and carrier requirements
The licenses, endorsements, and proofs buyers and regulators want to see before they let you on the job.
State general contractor license insurance minimums
Most state contractor licensing boards require proof of general liability (often $500K to $1M per occurrence) and a surety license bond as a condition of issuing or renewing a GC license. Limits, bond amounts, and exempt thresholds vary materially by state and license classification.
AGC-standard additional insured endorsements on every sub's GL
The industry-standard subcontract requires each sub to name the GC as an additional insured for ongoing operations (ISO CG 20 10) and completed operations (ISO CG 20 37), on a primary and non-contributory basis. Collecting and verifying certificates of insurance before mobilization is non-negotiable on commercial work.
Surety bonding capacity for public work
Federal contracts over the Miller Act threshold require both performance and payment bonds from the prime contractor. Most states impose parallel little Miller Act bond requirements on state and local public projects. Establishing bonding capacity with a T-listed surety is a separate underwriting relationship run in tandem with the P&C placement.
Numbers we watch
General contractors sit in the liability chain for every sub on site, which makes the anchors below unusually load-bearing: federal bond thresholds, NCCI supervisor codes, AGC subcontract limits, ISO endorsement pairs, and the state statute-of-repose tail. These are the numbers owners, sureties, and carriers underwrite the account against.
- Miller Act bond threshold for federal construction contracts
- $150,000
- NCCI class code for GC executive supervision
- 5606
- Typical GL limit required on commercial construction subcontracts
- $1M / $2M
- Additional insured endorsement pair for subs and tiered GCs
- CG 20 10 + CG 20 37
- Completed operations tail alignment
- 10 years
- Builder's risk obligation under standard owner-contractor agreements
- AIA A201
FAR 28.102-1 requires both performance and payment bonds on federal construction contracts expected to exceed $150,000. Contracts between $35,000 and $150,000 allow alternative payment protection in lieu of a full Miller Act payment bond, and most states run a parallel little Miller Act on state and municipal public work.
Source: Federal Acquisition Regulation, FAR Subpart 28.1
Contractor, Project Manager, Construction Executive, Construction Manager, or Construction Superintendent in the NCCI Scopes Manual. The code applies only to supervisors working through foremen without hands-on labor; field crews rate under their trade class, and misclassified payroll is the most common WC audit finding on GC accounts.
Source: NCCI Scopes Manual
AGC standard subcontracts call for $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate GL as primary. Commercial projects and public work regularly require $5 million to $10 million in total limits, which is built by stacking an umbrella over the primary rather than quoting a non-standard GL.
Source: Associated General Contractors of America standard subcontract
Ongoing operations additional insured plus completed operations additional insured, written primary and non-contributory. Subcontracts that collect only one of the two, or accept a COI without the endorsement pages, leave the GC's own GL paying first on sub-origin claims.
Source: Insurance Services Office (ISO)
Most state statutes of repose cap construction defect suits at roughly ten years after substantial completion. Completed operations coverage must be in force during the year the claim is brought, so the GL policy has to be maintained with an unexhausted completed-ops aggregate for at least that long after the last significant project closes.
Source: Cornell Legal Information Institute, state statutes of repose
AIA A201, ConsensusDocs 200, EJCDC C-700, and DBIA 535 default the builder's risk obligation to the owner because the owner holds the largest insurable interest. Private contracts frequently override the default and make the GC responsible, so every new agreement requires a direct read of the insurance exhibit before bid.
Source: AIA A201 General Conditions
Common questions
about general contractor insurance
A commercial GC typically carries a one million per occurrence, two million aggregate GL as the primary, with a five million or ten million umbrella stacked on top. Public works bids and larger commercial subcontracts often require the total limit rather than just the primary. The exact number comes from the owner's contract and the bonding language, not a generic industry default, so every new project requires a fresh check against the insurance exhibit.
The GC has three options: refuse the award, accept a waiver that shifts the risk back to the GC's policy (expensive at renewal), or add the sub as a named insured on a project-specific owner or contractor controlled insurance program when one is available. The common failure mode is accepting a certificate of insurance without the CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 endorsement pages, which leaves the GC exposed for the sub's work even though the certificate looked clean at mobilization.
Under AIA, ConsensusDocs, EJCDC, and DBIA standard contracts the owner buys builder's risk because the owner has the largest insurable interest in the unfinished structure. Many private contracts override that default and make the GC responsible. Whoever buys, the GC, the lender, and key subs should all be named insureds, and the contract should be explicit about who carries the deductible on a claim.
An owner-controlled insurance program is bought and administered by the project owner; a contractor-controlled program is sponsored by the GC. Both consolidate GL, excess, and often workers comp for every enrolled party on one large project. Enrolled contractors deduct their own insurance cost from the bid and rely on the wrap-up for project exposures, while continuing to carry practice policies for off-project operations.
Yes, because most construction defect claims surface years after substantial completion. The general liability policy must be in force during the year the claim is brought, with the completed operations extension active and its aggregate limit not eroded by other open claims. The statute of repose in most states caps the exposure window around ten years, which is why completed operations should be maintained for at least that long after the last significant job closes.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation requires performance and payment bonds on federal construction contracts above a stated threshold, with an alternative-payment-protection band for smaller contracts. Most states run a parallel little Miller Act for state and municipal public work, with thresholds and bond penalty amounts set by each state's procurement code. The current federal dollar threshold sits in the information anchors below.
Related specializations
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