You just landed a job, and the general contractor’s office fires back a one-line email: “Send over your COI before mobilization.” Attached is a two-page insurance exhibit full of phrases like “additional insured on a primary and non-contributory basis.” Here’s what they’re actually asking for — and how to get it handled without holding up your start date.
A COI is a snapshot, not a policy
A certificate of insurance (usually the one-page ACORD 25 form) is a summary of the coverage you carry: your General Liability, Workers’ Comp, Commercial Auto, and any excess limits, along with policy numbers and effective dates. The GC uses it to confirm — before you set foot on site — that if your work causes an injury or property damage, there’s a policy behind you that will respond.
One thing contractors learn the hard way: the certificate itself doesn’t create coverage. If the certificate says “additional insured” but your policy doesn’t actually include that endorsement, the certificate is just paper. That’s why the wording on the request matters.
Decoding the three phrases that hold up jobs
Additional insured. The GC (and often the project owner) wants to be covered under your liability policy for claims arising out of your work. Most contracts ask for it two ways: for ongoing operations (while you’re working) and for completed operations (after you’re done). If your policy has blanket additional insured endorsements, this is automatic whenever a written contract requires it — which is exactly how we set policies up for our clients.
Waiver of subrogation. Normally, if your insurer pays a claim, it can turn around and sue whoever was at fault to recover the money. A waiver of subrogation means your insurer agrees not to chase the GC. It shows up on General Liability and Workers’ Comp requests alike, and like additional insured status, it has to exist as an endorsement on the policy — not just a checkbox on the certificate.
Primary & non-contributory. This one settles the “whose insurance pays first?” argument in advance. It means your policy pays before the GC’s policy does, and it won’t ask the GC’s insurer to chip in. Standard on commercial work; your policy needs the endorsement wording to back it up.
The limits question
Most insurance exhibits ask for $1 million per occurrence / $2 million aggregate in General Liability, a $1 million combined single limit on auto, and statutory Workers’ Comp with $1 million employer’s liability. Bigger projects and public work often want $2M–$5M in total liability limits — that’s what an Excess & Umbrella policy is for. If a contract asks for more than you carry, don’t guess: send us the insurance exhibit and we’ll tell you exactly what’s missing.
How to never hold up a job again
- Get the endorsements built in up front. Blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and primary & non-contributory wording should be part of your policy from day one — not scrambled for job by job.
- Issue certificates yourself, instantly. Insureaze clients generate their own COIs — with the GC named exactly as the contract requires — from the client portal in seconds, any time of day. No waiting on a broker’s office hours.
- Send the insurance exhibit to your broker before you sign. A five-minute review beats discovering a coverage gap after you’ve committed to the job.
Certificate requests aren’t going away — they’re how commercial construction manages risk down the chain. But with the right endorsements on your policy and instant certificate issuance, a “send your COI” email becomes a thirty-second task instead of a fire drill.