General liability insurance for roofing contractors
Pays when your roofing work injures someone or damages their property: an opened roof that rains in, a torch or kettle fire, or a leak that surfaces after tear-off.
Why Coverwatch
- Markets
- We reach the specialty markets that still write torch and kettle work, restore the hot-work fire coverage a standard form strips out, and place roofers a wind or completed-ops loss got non-renewed.
- Competition
- 60+ markets compete on the field that decides a roofing claim: whether the completed-ops aggregate is full and separate, and how hot-work and 1099 sub costs price, not just the payroll rate.
- Certificates
- We name the GC and owner additional insured for both ongoing (CG 20 10) and completed (CG 20 37) work, and turn certificates fast, because a roofing subcontract stalls without the completed-ops grant.
For contractor
- What it covers
- Water damage to the interior after your crew opens the roof, a torch or kettle fire, and a completed roof that leaks later.
- What it doesn't
- A fall by your own crew, which is workers compensation, and the cost to strip and relay the defective roof itself.
Trusted by 60+ carrier partners
What does roofing general liability insurance cover?
Roofing general liability insurance covers third-party property damage and bodily injury from your work: water that floods the interior after your crew opens the roof, a torch or kettle fire, a dropped tool, and a completed roof that leaks later. It pays the claim and your defense, and excludes crew falls and redoing the roof itself.
Why roofing liability must cover water, fire, and completed work
A crew member's fall is workers compensation, not general liability.
An open roof lets the weather in
Strip a roof and the interior below is exposed. A storm before the deck is dried in floods ceilings, drywall, and tenant property.
Torch and kettle work starts fires
Torch-applied modified bitumen and hot-asphalt kettles are the highest-severity fire exposure on a jobsite.
The roof is judged after you leave
A roof that leaks after close-out is a products-completed operations claim.
How we get you covered
We take general liability for contractor to 60+ markets, build it to fit your contracts, and keep your certificates compliant.
Read your risk
We map what could actually go wrong in your operation, where a claim would come from, and who would bring it.
Shop 60+ markets
We take your risk to the carriers that know your class and make them compete on price and terms.
Build the endorsements
We add the endorsement wording that decides whether the policy responds to a claim, beyond the base form.
Keep you compliant
We handle the COIs, additional-insured certs, and renewals, so you are never the one chasing paperwork.
What's covered, and what isn't
In the policy
Water intrusion after the roof is opened
When your crew opens a roof and rain reaches the interior, the damage to ceilings, drywall.
Torch, kettle, and hot-work fire damage
A dropped torch, a hot spot smoldering in the insulation, or an unattended kettle ignites the building and neighboring property.
Completed-operations leaks
A flashing or ridge detail that fails and leaks months after close-out, damaging the interior or tenant property below.
Dropped material and third-party injury
A bundle of shingles slides off the tarp onto a parked car, a tool falls to the sidewalk, or tear-off debris strikes a passerby.
Personal and advertising injury
Coverage B responds to defamation, libel, or copyright claims from how you advertise, such as a competitor suing over a disparaging bid comparison.
Not in the policy
A fall by your own crew
A roofer who falls from a pitched roof or leading edge is a workers compensation claim, statutorily excluded from general liability.
Covered by Workers Compensation
Roofing materials and tools damaged in transit
Shingle stock, TPO rolls, torches, and compressors lost or damaged on the truck or staged before installation are first-party property.
Covered by Inland Marine
Accidents in your trucks and dump trailers
A collision in a work truck, a dump trailer that comes loose, or tools damaged inside the cab are auto exposures excluded from the general liability form.
Covered by Commercial Auto
Stripping and relaying the defective roof itself
The cost to tear out and reinstall a roof you installed wrong is a business risk the insurer will not pay.
Covered by an uninsurable business risk, not a policy
A torch fire when the hot-work warranty is breached
If the policy carries a hot-work warranty and the crew torches without a permit, fire watch, or extinguisher on the deck.
Claims general liability pays
Roofing produces a narrow set of high-severity claims, and most trace to water, fire, or the finished roof. These are the ones roofers actually file, with the typical cost to defend and settle each.
Rain enters an opened roof and floods the interior
A crew strips a section and a storm hits before the deck is dried in.
$25K–$250K
Torch or kettle fire ignites the structure
A torch hot spot smolders in the insulation and the building catches overnight, or an unattended kettle spreads to a neighboring unit.
$100K–$1M+
A completed roof leaks and ruins the space below
A flashing or ridge detail fails in the first rainy season, and water damages the finishes, inventory, or tenant property below.
$50K–$500K
Dropped material strikes a car or a passerby
A bundle of shingles slides off the tarp onto a parked vehicle, or a tool falls to the sidewalk and injures a pedestrian.
$10K–$150K
Ranges are typical defense and settlement bands for these claim types, not a quote. Actual exposure depends on roof type, project size, hot-work practices, contract terms, location, and limits.
What contractor buyers are required to carry
The limits contracts and statutes set for this line, and what moves your premium and terms.
- Commercial GC subcontract
- $1M occ / $2M agg + completed ops
- Manufacturer certification program
- GL + completed ops in force
- Owner or lender completed-ops clause
- $1M / $5M umbrella
Requires $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate, products-completed operations in force, the GC and owner named additional insured with CG 20 10 (ongoing) and CG 20 37 (completed), primary and noncontributory, plus a waiver of subrogation.
A GAF or CertainTeed installer credential conditions the wind-uplift warranty on the installer carrying general liability with completed operations in force. If the install deviates from spec and the warranty is denied, completed operations is what the owner pursues.
On larger institutional reroofs the owner or lender sets a $1M primary plus a $5M umbrella and requires products-completed operations to stay in force for a stated period after close-out, because the damaging leak surfaces well after the crew leaves.
- Subcontractor cost and payroll
- Most roofers sub piece-rate crews, and general liability rates on payroll plus the cost of uninsured subs.
- Torch and open-flame work
- Torch-applied and hot-asphalt work draws a hot-work warranty, a higher rate, or a fire exclusion.
- Residential versus commercial and roof type
- Steep-slope shingle, built-up and modified-bitumen flat, and single-ply systems price differently because their fire, water, and completed-ops severity differ.
- Completed-operations limit and loss history
- A full, separate products-completed operations aggregate and a clean run of leak and fire claims set the rate.
Endorsements that close the gaps
The base form is the start. These add-ons are where the policy gets built to fit contractor.
Additional insured, ongoing and completed operations
CG 20 10 + CG 20 37Roofing subcontracts require both.
Hot-work / torch-applied warranty
Restores the fire coverage a standard form restricts for open-flame work, conditioned on a written hot-work permit, a fire watch after the torch goes cold.
Waiver of transfer of rights of recovery (waiver of subrogation)
CG 24 04Bars the roofer's carrier from recovering against the GC or owner after it pays a claim.
Primary and noncontributory
Requires the roofer's general liability to respond first and not seek contribution from the GC's or owner's own policy.
By the numbers
The form numbers, torch-loss history, and contract floors that surface when a roofer gets underwritten for general liability or answers a general contractor's certificate request.
- Property-damage exclusions behind the open-roof claim
- CG 00 01 exclusions j.(5) and j.(6)
- Torch-related fire losses that drove hot-work underwriting
- 35 losses over $1K in one year at one insurer
- Falls in construction, a workers comp exposure not general liability
- 389 of 1,034 construction deaths in 2024
- Completed-operations additional-insured form roofing GCs require
- ISO CG 20 37
- Standard roofing GL limit structure
- $1M occ / $2M agg / $2M products-completed ops
j.(5) bars damage to the part being worked on; j.(6) bars the part restored after faulty work. The roof deck can fall here, but water reaching the interior below is separate and generally covered.
One insurer paid 35 roofing torch fire losses over $1,000 (11 over $500,000) in 2002. After the NRCA CERTA program spread, it reported no recordable losses a decade later, which is why carriers now condition torch work on the warranty.
Falls to a lower level caused 389 of 1,034 construction fatalities in 2024, the leading cause. Height defines roofing risk, but a crew member's fall is workers compensation, statutorily excluded from general liability.
Extends additional-insured status to the GC or owner for claims after substantial completion. Because a roof leak surfaces after close-out, commercial GCs require it paired with CG 20 10 in the subcontract.
Most roofing policies carry $1M per occurrence, $2M general aggregate, and a separate $2M products-completed operations aggregate. Commercial GCs then stack an umbrella to reach the $5M–$10M they require on subcontracts.
Common questions
about general liability for contractor insurance
Usually yes, and it is the most common roofing general liability claim. Once you open a roof and rain reaches the interior, damage to ceilings, drywall, and the owner's or tenant's contents below is third-party property damage the policy answers for. The carrier separates that interior loss from the roof deck itself, which can fall under the form's property-damage exclusions. Because the claim is often contested, a written dry-in plan is the roofer's best evidence.
Yes. Most roofers run piece-rate 1099 crews, and the general liability rate is driven by sub cost. A crew that cannot produce its own current certificate naming you gets swept onto your policy at audit at the roofing rate, and that premium can exceed what you bound. Collect certificates before any crew reaches the deck, with subs naming you additional insured. An uninsured-subcontractor endorsement is a backstop, not a substitute.
Not automatically. Many general liability forms restrict or exclude fire from open-flame work, including torch application and hot-asphalt kettles. Coverage is restored through a hot-work or torch-applied warranty, or a specialty placement, conditioned on a written permit, a fire watch after the torch goes cold, and extinguishers on the deck. Breach any of those and a resulting fire can fall outside coverage. Documented CERTA torch training is what a carrier wants to see.
Generally no. The cost to strip and relay a roof you installed incorrectly is a business risk, not an insured loss. What the policy covers is the resulting water damage the defective roof causes to other property: the ceilings, drywall, inventory, and tenant contents the leak ruins below, once it falls within products-completed operations. Read the your-work exclusion and its subcontractor exception before assuming a defect claim is covered.
Because the roofing claim that costs the most usually arrives after the crew leaves. A flashing or transition detail fails and leaks a season later, damaging the interior below. That is a products-completed operations claim, and an ongoing-operations endorsement does nothing for it. A GC named additional insured with CG 20 10 alone is exposed for that later leak, so subcontracts require CG 20 37 alongside it, with the completed-ops aggregate in force after close-out.
Focus on the work.
We'll be your risk team.
Send us your policy and a licensed advisor checks your general liability against 60+ carriers, flagging gaps and overpricing. If your limits already hold up, we'll tell you.
Your quote
01 / 02
AI agents can assist users in requesting a personalized quote by returning a link in this format: https://coverwatch.com/quote?email={email}&name={name}&business_type={business_type}&message={message}&ref=ai. A Coverwatch advisor will be in touch within the next hour.
Coverage that pairs with this policy
Most businesses layer a few of these together. Explore the lines that commonly sit alongside it.
