Tools

Subcontractor insurance requirements builder

Build the insurance exhibit for a subcontract: coverages, limits, additional insured, waiver and notice terms as numbered clauses you can copy or print.

Runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent or stored by this site. Results are estimates for planning, not a quote or advice.

How to use it

You are the business hiring the subcontractor. Fill in the form from top to bottom, and the exhibit on the right rewrites itself as you go.

  1. The parties. Your name and the subcontractor's, and the project if the exhibit is for one job. Left blank, the exhibit says "Contractor" and "Subcontractor."
  2. Trade or type of work. Choosing a trade ticks the coverages that trade usually needs and suggests an umbrella limit. Roofing, site work and demolition start at $5 million, finish trades at $1 million. Pollution is ticked for plumbing, site work and demolition. Professional liability is ticked for design work and low-voltage systems, and an installation floater for trades that install equipment. Every box and amount stays editable.
  3. Limits. The defaults are $1 million each occurrence, $2 million general aggregate and $2 million products-completed operations for general liability, $1 million for auto and for each employers liability limit, and $1 million for professional and pollution. These are common starting points, not a market standard. Set them from your own contract with the owner and your own insurance program.
  4. Terms. Tick the terms you want: additional insured for ongoing and completed operations, auto and umbrella additional insured, primary and noncontributory wording, waiver of subrogation, a per-project aggregate, certificates with endorsement copies, flow-down to lower-tier subs, and deductibles at the sub's cost. Then set the completed-operations period in years, the notice-of-cancellation days, and the minimum AM Best rating and size category (A- VII is preselected).

Copy exhibit puts the clauses on your clipboard as plain text. Print exhibit prints the exhibit alone. Save on this device keeps your choices in this browser (nothing goes to a server), and Download as text saves the exhibit and the notes as a .txt file.

What it writes

There is no math. Each choice adds or changes a clause:

  • 1. Insurance required, with a numbered sub-clause per coverage (1.1, 1.2...) giving the form, what it must cover and the minimum limits.
  • Additional insureds, naming the parties you list. Ongoing operations use CG 20 10 or equivalent, completed operations CG 20 37 or equivalent, and auto CA 20 48 or equivalent. Blanket endorsements are allowed if they give at least the same coverage.
  • Completed operations, kept in force for the years you set.
  • Primary and noncontributory (CG 20 01 or equivalent).
  • Waiver of subrogation on general liability, auto, workers' comp and umbrella (CG 24 04, CA 04 44, WC 00 03 13 or equivalents).
  • Insurers, notice of cancellation, evidence of insurance, lower-tier subcontractors and deductibles and retentions.

Under the exhibit, each clause has a one- or two-sentence plain-English note on what it does and why it is there.

Assumptions and limits

  • A template, not legal advice. Insurance clauses interact with the indemnity clause, the prime contract and state law. Have an attorney review the exhibit with the rest of the subcontract.
  • Anti-indemnity laws. Many states have construction anti-indemnity statutes that void indemnity for the other party's own negligence, and in some states those laws also limit additional insured requirements. Check your state before relying on a clause. See indemnification and hold harmless clauses and your insurance and contractual risk transfer: shifting liability by contract and insurance.
  • Form numbers. The ISO and NCCI forms named are the ones commonly used. Insurers file their own versions and blanket endorsements, which is why each clause says "or equivalent." Match the wording, not the number.
  • Notice of cancellation. Standard policies notify only the first named insured. The clause puts the duty on the subcontractor and asks for an endorsement where its insurer will give one.
  • Certificates. A certificate of insurance can only be issued by the subcontractor's agent, broker or insurer, and it is evidence, not coverage. Review what you receive with the Certificate of insurance (COI) review checklist and read certificates of insurance: what they prove and what they do not.
  • Workers' comp waivers. Some states restrict waivers of subrogation on comp. Ask the subcontractor's agent.

To compare a contract you signed with your own policies, use the contract insurance requirements checker. For the full picture of managing subs, read managing subcontractor insurance and certificates and additional insured endorsements explained.

Last reviewed October 24, 2026

Related guides

Managing subcontractor insurance and certificates What to require from subcontractors, which endorsements to collect, how to verify comp and liability coverage, and what falls on you if a sub has none. Additional insured endorsements explained What CG 20 10, CG 20 37, CG 20 26 and CG 20 38 do, how the 04 13 wording limits additional insured coverage, and why a certificate is not the endorsement. Indemnification and hold harmless clauses and your insurance What indemnify, defend and hold harmless promise, how broad, intermediate and limited clauses differ, and how TX, NY, FL and CA limit them. Contractual risk transfer: shifting liability by contract and insurance How indemnity clauses, insurance requirements, waivers and bonds shift liability to a counterparty, and where each fails: solvency, endorsements, state law. Certificates of insurance: what they prove and what they do not How to read an ACORD 25 certificate of insurance, what it cannot prove about additional insured status or cancellation, and how state laws limit certificates. Waiver of subrogation: what it is and when contracts require it What a waiver of subrogation does, how CG 24 04 and the workers' comp WC 00 03 13 endorsement work, and how to read the contract clause that demands one.

Terms used here

Additional insured A person or business added by endorsement to someone else's liability policy so it can claim directly for suits tied to the policyholder's work or premises. Primary and noncontributory Wording that makes your liability policy respond first to a party you named as an additional insured, without drawing on that party's own insurance. Waiver of subrogation An endorsement in which an insurer gives up its right to recover a paid claim from a named party, usually one the policyholder contracted with. Completed operations Liability coverage for injury or damage that occurs after a contractor or service provider finishes a job and leaves, arising out of the finished work. Certificate of insurance A one-page summary issued by an agent or insurer showing what coverage a business carried on the date issued, which confers no rights on the holder.

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