How to Check Subcontractor Insurance Before Work Starts
Verify the certificate directly with the issuing insurance agent and confirm your company is named as additional insured on the endorsement, before the sub mobilizes. A PDF certificate proves nothing on its own. The agent's confirmation is the only check a lapsed or edited policy cannot beat.
A framer once handed me a certificate of insurance on bid day that looked clean. General liability, auto, workers' comp, all listed. The policy had lapsed 41 days earlier. Nobody caught it because nobody called the agent. The paperwork looked fine right up until it didn't matter.
I have seen this across thousands of bids. The cheapest number on the tabulation is usually attached to the thinnest coverage, and the gap does not show up until a claim does. By then the sub is judgment-proof and the loss rolls uphill to you.
What insurance documents should you request from a subcontractor?
Request the ACORD 25 certificate of insurance, the additional insured endorsement, and a current workers' compensation certificate. Those three together tell you whether coverage exists, whether it protects your project, and whether the sub's crew is covered on the job.
A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary of what policies a sub carries. The industry-standard form is the ACORD 25, published by ACORD. It lists the carrier, policy numbers, effective and expiration dates, and coverage limits. The certificate by itself is a snapshot. It is not the policy and it does not add you to anything.
Here is what to collect before you issue a subcontract:
- ACORD 25 certificate of insurance naming your company and the project in the certificate holder box.
- Additional insured endorsement (commonly CG 20 10 for ongoing operations and CG 20 37 for completed operations). This is the actual policy language that extends coverage to you.
- Workers' compensation certificate showing coverage for every worker the sub sends.
- Waiver of subrogation endorsement so the sub's carrier cannot turn around and sue you after paying a claim.
The endorsement matters more than most GCs realize. A certificate can say "additional insured" in the description box and mean nothing. The endorsement is the page that makes it enforceable. Ask for it every time.
What coverage limits actually protect a project?
General liability of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate is the common floor for most trades, with higher limits pushed up through an umbrella policy on larger or higher-risk work.
Limits should scale with the risk of the trade and the size of the job. A painter on a single-family remodel and a steel erector on a four-story podium do not need the same tower of coverage. These are the ranges I see hold up on real projects.
| Coverage type | Typical floor | When to require more |
|---|---|---|
| General liability (per occurrence) | $1,000,000 | $2M+ for structural, roofing, demo |
| General liability (aggregate) | $2,000,000 | Match to total project exposure |
| Auto liability | $1,000,000 combined | Heavy equipment, hauling |
| Workers' compensation | Statutory | Always statutory, no exceptions |
| Employer's liability | $500,000 / $500,000 / $500,000 | $1M for high-injury trades |
| Umbrella / excess | $1,000,000+ | Stack to $5M on large commercial |
Aggregate is the number people forget. A sub can carry $1 million per occurrence, but if the aggregate is $2 million and they have already burned through it on two prior claims this policy year, the coverage left for your job could be close to zero. The certificate shows the limit, not the remaining balance. On a large or long-running project, ask whether the aggregate is dedicated per project. A per-project aggregate endorsement (often CG 25 03) keeps other jobs from draining the pool that protects yours.
Workers' compensation is not a place to negotiate. If a sub's uninsured worker gets hurt on your site, the injury can flow to your policy and your experience modification rating. That mod follows you into every future bid and quietly raises your own premiums for years.
How do you confirm a certificate is current and not falsified?
Call the insurance agent listed on the certificate and confirm the policy is active, the limits are real, and your project is named. A certificate is a PDF anyone can edit in five minutes. The agent's confirmation is the only thing that is hard to fake.
Falsified and expired certificates are more common than most GCs want to believe. The edits are usually small: a changed expiration date, a limit bumped from $500k to $1M, a cancelled policy still shown as active. Run this check on every sub before the subcontract is signed.
- Read the expiration dates. Every line of coverage has its own effective and expiration date. If any one has passed or expires mid-project, stop and get a renewal certificate (see expires mid-project).
- Confirm you are the certificate holder. Your legal entity name and the project should appear in the holder box, not a prior GC's name left over from a copied form.
- Check the description of operations. The project name and address should match your job. A generic or blank field is a flag.
- Call the agent, not the sub. Use the producer contact printed on the ACORD 25. Confirm the policy numbers, the limits, the additional insured endorsement, and that no cancellation is pending.
- Request notice of cancellation. Ask to be told if the policy lapses during the job. Coverage that was valid on bid day means nothing if it cancels the week before your sub's work.
- Verify the workers' comp separately through your state's workers' compensation board or rating bureau where that lookup is available.
The phone call is the step everyone skips and the one that catches the fraud. It takes ten minutes. A claim you are not covered for takes years and can take the company with it. The Insurance Information Institute and reference sites like IRMI document how additional insured status and endorsement language actually control who gets paid, and the short version is that the paperwork has to be real and specific to hold up.
What does a bad insurance check actually cost?
A single uncovered injury or property loss can run six or seven figures, and without a valid additional insured endorsement the general contractor absorbs it. That is the math that makes ten minutes on the phone the best-paid ten minutes on the job.
Work the numbers. A demo sub drops a beam through a finished floor on a $3 million tenant improvement. The repair, the schedule delay, and the downstream trade remobilization come to $180,000. If that sub's certificate was expired and you never verified it, your policy pays, your deductible is gone, and your experience mod climbs. The premium increase alone can outlast the project by five years. The sub who saved you $4,000 on bid day just cost you a lot more than that.
Vetting insurance up front is the same discipline as vetting a license or a bond. It is prequalification, and it belongs in your process before the low bidder becomes your problem. A platform like SubSource is built around exactly this: confirming a sub's license, insurance, and bonding are current and real before you commit, so a lapsed certificate never becomes the thing you find out about during a claim (see vetting a license or a bond) (see verify-subcontractor-licenses-before-bid).
Frequently asked questions
Is a certificate of insurance the same as being covered?
No. A certificate of insurance is a summary of coverage that exists on the date it was issued. It does not add you to the policy and it can be out of date the day after it prints. The additional insured endorsement is what actually extends coverage to your project.
What limits should a subcontractor carry?
For most trades the common floor is $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate on general liability, statutory workers' compensation, and $1 million combined auto. Higher-risk trades like roofing, steel, and demolition should carry more, usually stacked with an umbrella policy up to $5 million on large commercial work.
How do I know a certificate is not fake?
Call the insurance agent printed on the ACORD 25 form and confirm the policy is active, the limits match, and your project is listed as additional insured. Do not rely on the PDF alone, since it can be edited in minutes.
On your next bid, before you cut the subcontract, pull the low bidder's ACORD 25, find the producer phone number in the top-left block, and call to confirm the policy is active and your project is named as additional insured. If the agent cannot confirm it in one call, do not let the crew mobilize.