You won the bid. You're the general contractor now. And somewhere in your file is a certificate of insurance that says you're "covered." Here's what I tell every GC who calls me: covered isn't a policy. It's a program, and it has five parts.
Most contractors know the first one by name and assume it's the whole story. It isn't. And the piece that's easiest to overlook is the one that's unique to being a general contractor, the coverage you don't buy for yourself, but absolutely have to manage. Miss any part of the program and it usually stays invisible right up until a claim makes it visible.
So let's walk through all five, in plain English, so you can check yours against it before your next job.
Why "covered" for a GC is a program, not a policy
When an owner or developer hires you, they're handing you risk, a project built with your crew, your equipment, and the subcontractors you bring on. No single policy answers for all of that. Each part of your program covers a different way a job can go sideways: someone getting hurt, a crew member injured, a truck in a wreck, a loss that blows past your limits, or a subcontractor who wasn't carrying what they should have been. Leave one part out and you've left one of those doors open.
The 5-part general contractor insurance program
1. General liability
This is the foundation, and it's the one everybody knows by name. General liability covers third parties if someone gets hurt on your site who doesn't work for you, or you cause damage to property that belongs to someone else. It's what your clients require before you start, and it's commonly written around $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate. But here's the thing to remember: general liability is the floor of your program, not the whole building.
2. Workers' compensation and employers' liability
The moment you have employees, workers' compensation isn't optional, in most states it's required by law, and it covers medical bills and lost wages when someone on your crew gets hurt on the job. Riding right alongside it is employers' liability, which answers the injury lawsuits that fall outside the workers' comp system. People treat these as one thing but they are actually two and you want both doing their job.
3. Commercial auto (including hired and non-owned)
Your trucks, your vans, the vehicles with your name on the door, all that is commercial auto. But there's a piece a lot of GCs miss: hired and non-owned auto. This is the coverage for the day an employee runs a business errand to the supply house in their own truck, on the clock, and gets in a wreck. A personal auto policy can leave you exposed in this situation, and the business is the deep pocket. This is one to look at closely.
4. Umbrella / excess liability
Think of the umbrella as extra height stacked on top of your general liability, your commercial auto, and your employers' liability. When you move up to bigger projects such as public works, larger owners, and residential developments the required limits often climb past what your primary policies carry on their own. The umbrella is how you reach those limits without rebuilding every policy underneath. On a lot of the jobs worth winning, it isn't just a nice-to-have; it's written right into the contract.
5. Your subcontractors' insurance
This is the part that separates a general contractor from every other trade, the coverage you don't buy, but you have to manage. When you hire a subcontractor and that sub is under-insured, or worse, uninsured, and something goes wrong with their work, that claim doesn't just stay with them. It rolls all the way up to you. The general contractor is the one left holding the bag.
The fix isn't another policy on your side — it's collecting the right paper from every sub before they set foot on your job site. Three things to look for on their certificate:
- Additional insured for both ongoing AND completed operations. Your sub's policy should name you as an additional insured both while the work is happening and after it's done. In endorsement terms that's the CG 20 10 (ongoing operations) and the CG 20 37 (completed operations) and a lot of policies only carry one of the two, or worse, none.
- Primary and non-contributory. This means the subcontractor's policy pays first on a covered claim, and yours doesn't have to contribute to their mistake.
- Waiver of subrogation. The sub's insurer agrees not to turn around and come after you to recover. It has to be added by endorsement; it isn't automatic.
One distinction worth keeping straight: being listed as a "certificate holder" is not the same as being an additional insured. A certificate holder only receives proof that coverage exists — they get no protection under the policy. If you need the coverage, "additional insured" is the words that have to be there.
What happens when a piece is missing
Two things, and both are expensive. On the front end, if your own certificate doesn't reflect the coverage an owner or company requires, you may not get on site or get paid until it does. On the back end, the more damaging version, a gap you didn't know about surfaces as a claim you have to answer for out of pocket: an employee's wreck in a personal vehicle, a loss that runs past your limits, or an uninsured sub's mistake that lands on the GC. Getting the whole program right isn't just paperwork; it's protection.
How to check your program before your next job
Run your setup against the five parts above and be honest about which ones you can actually point to on a policy, not just assume. Then get a second set of eyes on it. A good independent agent will review what you carry, advise you on any endorsements or limits you're missing, discuss where an umbrella makes sense, and quote the coverage that fits how you actually build, rather than steering you to one carrier's answer. The goal is simple: all five parts present and accounted for before the next contract is in front of you.
Frequently asked questions
What insurance does a general contractor need? A complete general contractor program has five parts: general liability, workers' compensation with employers' liability, commercial auto (including hired and non-owned), umbrella or excess liability, and a system for collecting and verifying certificates of insurance from every subcontractor. Missing any one of them can leave the GC exposed.
Why does a general contractor have to worry about a subcontractor's insurance? When a GC hires an under-insured or uninsured subcontractor and something goes wrong with that sub's work, the claim can roll up to the GC. Collecting a proper certificate of insurance from every sub — naming the GC as additional insured for ongoing and completed operations, with primary and non-contributory wording and a waiver of subrogation — is how the GC pushes that risk back where it belongs.
What is hired and non-owned auto coverage? It covers the business when an employee drives a vehicle the business doesn't own For example, running a quick errand to the supply house in their own truck while on the clock. A personal auto policy can leave the business exposed in that situation, which is why it's an important part of a GC's commercial auto coverage.
What does "primary and non-contributory" mean for a general contractor? When a GC requires primary and non-contributory wording from a subcontractor, it means the subcontractor's policy pays first on a covered claim, and the GC's own policy does not have to contribute. It has to be added to the subcontractor's policy by endorsement.
What is the difference between CG 20 10 and CG 20 37? CG 20 10 is the additional insured endorsement for ongoing operations while the work is being performed. CG 20 37 covers completed operations, after the job is finished. Most policies do not include this automatically and must be added by endorsement, so a contract requiring both can expose a gap.
Build your GC program with confidence
At Barbee Jackson Insurance, making sure general contractors carry all five parts of the program is something we do every day. Send us your current setup, or the requirements on your next contract, and we'll review it line by line, advise on the endorsements and limits you need, and make sure nothing's missing before you break ground. As an independent agency, we work for you, not one carrier.
Call (850) 389-2001 or visit barbeejackson.com to get started.