Subcontractor Insurance Requirements Exhibit Template
What this is
The exhibit that gets attached to every subcontract and states exactly what insurance the sub must carry, what endorsements must sit on top of it, and what proof you require. It is the document your certificate reviewer checks incoming certificates against.
Every limit in it is written as a {{PLACEHOLDER}} merge field. Your broker and your counsel
set the numbers once, and the exhibit is generated per job or per program after that.
Nothing in this template is a recommendation. Required limits move with job size, owner and lender requirements, trade hazard, contract type and jurisdiction. A $40,000 painting scope and a $3M structural steel scope do not carry the same numbers, and a limit that is standard in one state is unusual in another. Have your broker and your construction attorney set the values, and review them annually.
When you use it
- Attaching to every subcontract, as a numbered exhibit
- Sending with bid invitations so subs price the requirements instead of discovering them
- Handing to your certificate reviewer as the checklist for incoming certificates
- Flowing owner-imposed insurance requirements down to your subs on a specific job
- Renegotiating your own program, as the reference for what you require downstream
How to fill it in
Fill the merge table once per program, not per sub. Most GCs run one standard exhibit and a second higher-limit version for high-hazard trades and large scopes. Two documents are manageable. Twenty negotiated variants are not.
Set the flow-down first. If the owner requires something of you, you generally need to require the same or more of your subs. Read the prime contract's insurance article before you set your own numbers, and repeat the additional insured obligations downstream by name.
Do not require coverage a trade cannot buy. Asking a two-person drywall sub for professional liability produces a certificate with a fabricated line on it or a lost bidder. Turn the optional rows on by trade, not by default.
The endorsement list matters more than the limits. A $2M policy without an additional insured endorsement protects the sub and does nothing for you. A $1M policy with the right endorsements is worth more to you than the larger one without.
Set the certificate holder wording exactly. Your legal entity name, not a project nickname, and the same wording every time so mismatches are obvious.
The exhibit is worth nothing unless the subcontract incorporates it by
reference and by exhibit letter. "Subcontractor shall maintain insurance as set out in
Exhibit {{EXHIBIT_LETTER}}, attached and incorporated" is the sentence that makes it
enforceable. Without it you have a document nobody has agreed to.
The template
Merge variables
Fill these once. Every value below is set by your broker and counsel.
| Variable | What it is |
|---|---|
{{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}} | Your full legal entity name |
{{PROJECT_NAME}} | Project name as used in the subcontract |
{{EXHIBIT_LETTER}} | The exhibit letter in the subcontract |
{{GL_PER_OCCURRENCE}} | General liability, each occurrence |
{{GL_GENERAL_AGGREGATE}} | General liability, general aggregate |
{{GL_PRODUCTS_COMPLETED_AGG}} | Products-completed operations aggregate |
{{GL_PERSONAL_ADVERTISING}} | Personal and advertising injury limit |
{{AUTO_COMBINED_SINGLE}} | Automobile liability, combined single limit |
{{WC_STATUTORY}} | Workers' compensation — statutory, by state |
{{EL_EACH_ACCIDENT}} | Employers' liability, each accident |
{{EL_DISEASE_POLICY}} | Employers' liability, disease policy limit |
{{EL_DISEASE_EACH_EMPLOYEE}} | Employers' liability, disease each employee |
{{UMBRELLA_EACH_OCCURRENCE}} | Umbrella / excess, each occurrence |
{{UMBRELLA_AGGREGATE}} | Umbrella / excess, aggregate |
{{PROFESSIONAL_LIABILITY}} | Professional liability, per claim and aggregate |
{{POLLUTION_LIABILITY}} | Contractors pollution liability limit |
{{INSTALLATION_FLOATER}} | Installation floater limit |
{{AM_BEST_MINIMUM}} | Minimum carrier rating, commonly A- VII |
{{COMPLETED_OPS_YEARS}} | Years products-completed operations must continue after completion |
{{CANCELLATION_DAYS}} | Days written notice of cancellation |
{{CANCELLATION_DAYS_NONPAYMENT}} | Days notice for cancellation for non-payment |
{{CERT_HOLDER_BLOCK}} | Certificate holder name and address, exact wording |
{{DEDUCTIBLE_CAP}} | Maximum deductible or self-insured retention without approval |
Exhibit {{EXHIBIT_LETTER}} — Insurance requirements
Subcontractor shall procure and maintain, at its own expense, the insurance set out below for
the duration of the subcontract and for the periods stated after completion. All coverage
shall be written by carriers authorized to do business in the jurisdiction of the project and
rated not less than {{AM_BEST_MINIMUM}} by A.M. Best.
Required coverages
| Coverage | Minimum limits | Required endorsements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial general liability, occurrence form | Each occurrence {{GL_PER_OCCURRENCE}}; general aggregate {{GL_GENERAL_AGGREGATE}}; products-completed operations aggregate {{GL_PRODUCTS_COMPLETED_AGG}}; personal and advertising injury {{GL_PERSONAL_ADVERTISING}} | Additional insured — ongoing operations; additional insured — products-completed operations; primary and non-contributory; waiver of subrogation; per-project general aggregate | Occurrence form only. Claims-made is not acceptable. No exclusion for work performed by subcontractors, no residential or exterior insulation exclusion where the scope includes that work |
| Automobile liability | Combined single limit {{AUTO_COMBINED_SINGLE}} | Additional insured; waiver of subrogation | Must cover owned, hired and non-owned autos. A sub with no owned vehicles still needs hired and non-owned |
| Workers' compensation | {{WC_STATUTORY}} — statutory limits for every state of operation | Waiver of subrogation in favor of {{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}} and the owner | Includes an "other states" endorsement where the project state is not the sub's home state |
| Employers' liability | Each accident {{EL_EACH_ACCIDENT}}; disease policy limit {{EL_DISEASE_POLICY}}; disease each employee {{EL_DISEASE_EACH_EMPLOYEE}} | Waiver of subrogation | Sole proprietors and officers who have opted out must be disclosed in writing before mobilization |
| Umbrella / excess liability | Each occurrence {{UMBRELLA_EACH_OCCURRENCE}}; aggregate {{UMBRELLA_AGGREGATE}} | Follow-form over GL, auto and employers' liability; additional insured; primary and non-contributory where the underlying is | Must sit over all three underlying policies, not general liability alone |
Coverages required by scope
Turn these on by trade. They apply only where marked in the subcontract.
| Coverage | Minimum limits | Required endorsements | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional liability | {{PROFESSIONAL_LIABILITY}} per claim and aggregate | Not applicable — this coverage is not endorsed to add insureds | Design-build scopes, delegated design, engineered shop drawings, means-and-methods engineering. Claims-made is acceptable here; require an extended reporting period of {{COMPLETED_OPS_YEARS}} |
| Contractors pollution liability | {{POLLUTION_LIABILITY}} per claim and aggregate | Additional insured; waiver of subrogation | Abatement, demolition, earthwork on known contaminated sites, fuel systems, roofing with hot work and adhesives, dewatering |
| Installation floater | {{INSTALLATION_FLOATER}} | Loss payee as required | Fabricated or stored materials of significant value before installation, off-site storage, long-lead equipment |
Required endorsements
Each of these must be provided as a copy of the actual endorsement form, with its form number and edition date. A certificate that describes an endorsement is not evidence that the endorsement exists.
- Additional insured — ongoing operations. Naming
{{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}}, the owner, and any other party the subcontract requires. - Additional insured — products-completed operations. This is a separate endorsement from the one above. A sub who provides only the ongoing operations form leaves you uninsured for the entire warranty and latent defect period, which is when construction claims actually arrive.
- Primary and non-contributory. Without it, the sub's carrier can argue your policy contributes from the first dollar, and your loss history absorbs the sub's claim.
- Waiver of subrogation. On general liability, automobile, workers' compensation and
employers' liability, in favor of
{{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}}and the owner. - Per-project general aggregate. Without it, one bad job somewhere else in the sub's book can exhaust the aggregate that is supposed to protect yours.
Duration of coverage
General liability products-completed operations coverage, including the additional insured
endorsement for completed operations, must be maintained for {{COMPLETED_OPS_YEARS}} after
final completion of the subcontractor's work or the expiry of the applicable statute of
repose, whichever the subcontract specifies.
All other coverages must be maintained until final completion and acceptance of the subcontractor's work, including punch list and warranty return visits.
Certificate requirements
The subcontractor shall deliver, before mobilization and before any payment is released:
- A certificate of insurance on ACORD 25 or equivalent, showing every coverage above
- Copies of every required endorsement form, with form number and edition date
- A renewal certificate and renewal endorsements no later than the expiry date of any policy
Certificate holder and additional insured wording:
{{CERT_HOLDER_BLOCK}}
Description of operations shall reference {{PROJECT_NAME}} and the subcontract number.
Notice of cancellation
The subcontractor shall provide {{CANCELLATION_DAYS}} days written notice to
{{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}} before any cancellation, non-renewal or material reduction in
coverage, and {{CANCELLATION_DAYS_NONPAYMENT}} days for cancellation for non-payment of
premium.
Carriers generally will not undertake this obligation on the certificate. The obligation sits on the subcontractor by contract, which is why the words above belong in the subcontract and not only on the ACORD form.
Deductibles and retentions
Any deductible or self-insured retention exceeding {{DEDUCTIBLE_CAP}} must be disclosed and
approved in writing before mobilization. The subcontractor is responsible for the deductible
or retention on any claim, including a claim in which {{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}} is an
additional insured.
General conditions
- The insurance required is a minimum. It does not limit the subcontractor's indemnity obligations under the subcontract, and it is not a cap on liability.
- Failure to maintain the required insurance is a material breach.
{{CONTRACTOR_LEGAL_NAME}}may withhold payment, purchase substitute coverage and charge the cost against the subcontract, or suspend the work until coverage is restored. - The subcontractor shall require the same coverages, limits and endorsements of its own lower-tier subcontractors, and shall collect and hold their certificates and endorsements.
- Acceptance of a certificate that does not comply does not waive any requirement.
Notes and common mistakes
Attaching the exhibit but not incorporating it. An exhibit that the subcontract does not name is a piece of paper stapled to a contract. Name it by letter in the insurance article.
Accepting the certificate as proof of endorsements. The ACORD form carries a disclaimer saying it confers no rights and does not amend coverage. It is a summary, produced by a broker, not by the carrier. Ask for the endorsement forms — this single habit separates GCs who are actually covered from GCs who think they are.
Missing the completed operations additional insured. It is the most commonly absent endorsement and the most expensive one to be without, because defect claims surface after the job is closed. Check for two separate forms, not one.
Setting limits once in 2016 and never revisiting them. Limits that were adequate a decade ago are not adequate now. Put an annual review with your broker on the calendar.
Requiring high limits from small subs with no path to them. You will either lose good subs or receive certificates that do not survive a phone call to the carrier. Where the limit is genuinely needed, tell the sub early enough that they can buy a project-specific policy or add an umbrella.
No process for renewals. Coverage expires mid-job, quietly. Track it with the compliance tracker and the COI collection workflow.
For how to read an incoming certificate line by line, see subcontractor insurance requirements.
Related Resources
- Certificates of Insurance — how to read an ACORD 25
- COI Collection & Tracking — renewal workflow
- Subcontractor Compliance Tracker — manual expiry log