If you run work through subcontractors, here's the rule that should drive your whole insurance process: an uninsured sub's claim becomes your claim. When a sub's employee gets hurt, or a sub's mistake damages the job, and the sub has no coverage — or the wrong coverage — the exposure rolls uphill to the general contractor. You pay for it in claims, in your premium audit, and in your experience mod. Collecting the right insurance from every sub, before they start, is how you keep their risk on *their* policy. Here's the checklist.
Why this isn't just paperwork
Two mechanisms make subcontractor insurance a financial issue, not a compliance chore:
- Uninsured sub payroll lands in your audit. At your annual premium audit, any subcontractor who can't show their own coverage gets treated as *your* payroll — and you're charged premium on it. Missing certificates literally cost you money.
- No coverage means no risk transfer. An uninsured sub can't name you as additional insured, can't give you primary and non-contributory protection, and can't waive subrogation. Every protection the contract was supposed to give you evaporates if the sub has nothing behind it.
The subcontractor coverage checklist
Require all of this *before* the sub sets foot on the job:
General liability — commonly $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate. This is the core. Thin or missing general liability on a sub is the single most common gap.
Additional insured — ongoing AND completed operations. You want to be covered under the sub's policy both while they work and after they finish. Completed operations matters enormously in construction, because defect claims surface years after a job closes. An additional-insured endorsement that only covers ongoing operations leaves you exposed exactly when a construction-defect suit arrives.
Primary and non-contributory. The sub's policy should pay first and in full before yours is touched. Without primary and non-contributory wording, a loss the sub caused can draw down your own coverage.
Workers' compensation + waiver of subrogation. Statutory workers' comp on the sub protects their employees — and keeps their injured worker off *your* policy. Add a waiver of subrogation so the sub's carrier can't come back against you after it pays. Watch for owner-only subs who've excluded themselves from coverage — that's a real gap on a job site.
Commercial auto — if the sub drives to or for the job, confirm commercial auto at the required limit.
Umbrella / excess — on larger projects, require the sub to carry excess limits so a serious loss doesn't blow through the primary.
Professional liability — for any design-build or engineering sub whose *advice or design* (not just their labor) could cause a loss.
Collect the right proof — and read it
Every sub hands you a certificate of insurance — but a certificate is a snapshot, not coverage. Two habits separate contractors who are actually protected from those who just have a folder of paper:
1. Confirm the endorsements, not just the checkboxes. A certificate that *says* "additional insured, primary and non-contributory" doesn't prove the endorsement is really on the policy. For critical subs, get copies of the actual endorsement forms. (Here's the difference between a certificate and real additional-insured status.) 2. Track expiration dates. Coverage that lapses mid-project quietly puts you back on the hook. A simple tracking process — or an agent who does it for you — closes that gap.
The action-over angle
One more reason to get this right: in some states, a broad indemnification clause in your subcontract, combined with an injured sub employee, triggers an action-over claim — the worker's suit routes back to you despite workers' comp. Proper sub insurance, with the right additional-insured and primary wording, is what makes that risk transfer actually hold.
Our approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we build the subcontractor requirements *into* how we structure your contractor program — so the coverage you demand from subs lines up with the coverage you've promised your own clients, with no gap in between. We tell you exactly what to require, help you read the certificates and endorsements that come back, and make sure uninsured-sub exposure doesn't ambush you at audit. The result is risk that stays where it belongs: on the party that created it.
Running work through subs and not sure your requirements hold up? Request a quote or a coverage review and we'll pressure-test them. And before you sign the contract that sets these terms, read the insurance section of a contract, decoded.
Frequently Asked
What insurance should a general contractor require from subcontractors?
At minimum: general liability (commonly $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate) with the GC named as additional insured on a primary and non-contributory basis for both ongoing and completed operations; workers' compensation at statutory limits with a waiver of subrogation; and commercial auto if the sub drives for the job. Professional liability and higher umbrella limits apply to design-build or larger subs. All of it should be evidenced by a certificate of insurance — with the actual endorsements attached, not just checked on the certificate.
Why does it matter if a subcontractor is uninsured?
Because the exposure rolls uphill. If an uninsured sub's employee is injured, the claim can land on the general contractor's workers' compensation and general liability — and uninsured subcontractor payroll gets picked up in the GC's premium audit, raising the bill. An uninsured sub also can't make the GC an additional insured, so there's no risk transfer when the sub causes a loss. Collecting proper coverage is how a GC keeps a sub's risk on the sub's policy.
What is the difference between ongoing and completed operations additional insured for subcontractors?
Ongoing operations coverage protects the general contractor while the sub is actively working. Completed operations coverage protects the GC after the work is finished — for claims that surface later, like a defect or failure in the sub's completed work. Construction defect claims often appear years after a project closes, so requiring completed-operations additional-insured status (and confirming the sub's policy keeps it in force) is essential, not optional.
This article is general information for business owners, not insurance or legal advice, and does not bind or alter coverage. Policy terms, eligibility, and pricing vary by carrier and state — confirm specifics with our licensed team before making decisions.