How Often Should You Collect COIs From Subcontractors?

Most general contractors know they need a certificate of insurance (COI) from every subcontractor. Far fewer have a clear answer to the harder question: how often should you collect one? If your process is "get a COI when we hire them and file it away," you have a gap—one that opens the moment a policy renews, a project changes, or a sub lets coverage lapse without telling you.

The short answer: collect a COI at contract signing, again at every policy renewal, and per project when scope or requirements change. Here's why each point matters and how to build a cadence you can actually keep up with.

Why "Once at Onboarding" Isn't Enough

A COI is a snapshot. It confirms that certain coverage existed on the date the certificate was issued—nothing more. It is not a guarantee that coverage stays in force, and the certificate itself usually says as much in its disclaimer language.

Insurance policies typically run for 12 months. A sub you onboarded in March could non-renew, get cancelled for non-payment, or switch carriers to a cheaper policy with lower limits or new exclusions—all without notifying you. If your only COI is 10 months old, you're relying on a document that may no longer reflect reality.

The exposure is straightforward. If an uninsured or underinsured sub causes property damage or injury on your job, the claim can flow up to your policy—and your loss history, your premiums, and potentially your own contractual obligations to the owner. Collecting COIs on a schedule is how you keep that snapshot current.

This is general information, not legal or insurance advice.

The Three Moments That Matter

1. At Contract (Before Work Starts)

The first COI should be a condition of the contract, collected and reviewed before the sub sets foot on site. This is your baseline. At minimum, confirm that the certificate:

• Names your company as an additional insured where your subcontract requires it
• Shows coverage types and limits that meet your contract requirements (general liability, workers' comp, auto, umbrella as applicable)
• Lists a policy period that is currently active
• Matches the legal entity name on your subcontract

Never let "we'll get the COI to you next week" become a reason to start work early. The certificate is easiest to enforce as a gate, not a follow-up.

2. At Renewal (Every Policy Expiration)

This is the point most GCs miss. Every COI has an expiration date tied to the sub's policy period. When that policy renews, the old certificate is stale—even if the sub genuinely renewed on time, you have no current document proving it.

The fix is to track each COI's expiration and request an updated certificate at renewal. For a sub on a long project, or one you work with repeatedly across the year, this may happen annually or more. The goal is simple: you should never have a certificate on file that expired before today's date.

3. Per Project (When Scope or Requirements Change)

A COI that was adequate for one job may be inadequate for the next. Collect or re-verify a certificate when:

• You start a new project with an existing sub, especially under a different owner or GC contract
• The project owner imposes stricter insurance requirements than your standard
• The sub's scope of work changes in a way that raises risk (e.g., adding roofing, excavation, or work at height)
• A contract requires project-specific additional insured status or a particular endorsement

The same sub, same year, can need a different certificate for a hospital job than for a residential remodel. Treat insurance requirements as project-specific, not vendor-specific.

A Practical Collection Cadence

Use this as a repeatable checklist for every subcontractor relationship:

1. Before contract signing — Request the COI and specify your exact requirements in writing (limits, additional insured, endorsements).
2. Before work begins — Review the certificate against your requirements. Do not release the sub to the site until it passes.
3. Log the expiration date — Record when each policy expires the moment you file the certificate.
4. 30–45 days before expiration — Request the renewal certificate so there's no coverage gap between the old and new policy.
5. At each new project — Re-check requirements against the specific job and owner contract; collect a fresh or project-specific COI if anything differs.
6. On any coverage change — If a sub reports a carrier change, cancellation, or scope expansion, treat it as a trigger to re-collect.
7. Keep every version — Retain expired certificates too; you may need to prove what coverage was in force on a given date long after a project closes.

The Real Problem Is Tracking, Not Collecting

Collecting a COI once is easy. Keeping dozens of them current—each with its own renewal date, each tied to specific projects and requirements—is where manual systems break down. A spreadsheet doesn't remind you that a sub's general liability lapses in three weeks, and a filing cabinet doesn't flag that the additional insured endorsement is missing.

This is exactly the gap automated COI tracking software is built to close. Instead of remembering to check expiration dates, you get expirations tracked for you, automated reminders before coverage lapses, and a clear view of which subs are compliant on which projects. The cadence above stops depending on someone's memory and becomes a system.

The Bottom Line

There is no single "how often"—there are three: at contract, at renewal, and per project. Onboarding-only collection leaves you exposed for the eleven months after that first certificate, precisely when a policy is most likely to change without your knowledge. Build the cadence into your process, tie it to expiration dates and project requirements, and verify before work starts every time.

If you'd rather not track renewal dates by hand, TradeGuard can watch expirations and nudge subs for updated certificates automatically. You can try it free for 14 days and see how your current COIs stack up.