TradeGuardLast updated
The Subcontractor COI Checklist Every General Contractor Should Use
A certificate of insurance (COI) is the single document that stands between your project and a sub's uninsured mistake. Yet most COIs get a two-second glance—someone confirms a piece of paper exists, files it, and moves on. That's how gaps slip through: an expired policy, a missing endorsement, a limit that's half of what your contract requires. When a claim lands, those small oversights become your problem.
This checklist walks through the certificate field by field, so you can verify what actually matters before a sub sets foot on site. It's built for general contractors who don't have a full-time risk manager but still carry the exposure of one.
This is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Your contract terms and your own carrier's requirements always govern; use this as a working framework, not a substitute for your risk advisor.
Why the COI Deserves More Than a Glance
The COI is a snapshot. It summarizes coverage that exists on the day it was issued, and it can go stale the moment a policy lapses or gets canceled. It also doesn't grant you any rights on its own—the actual coverage lives in the sub's policy and its endorsements. That's why "we have their certificate" is not the same as "we're protected."
Your goal when reviewing a sub's COI is simple: confirm the coverage exists, confirm it meets your contract requirements, and confirm you're actually named where you need to be. Everything below serves those three questions.
The Field-by-Field Subcontractor COI Checklist
Work through these in order for every sub, every certificate, every renewal.
Certificate holder. Your company's legal name and address should appear in the certificate holder box, spelled correctly. If the certificate names a different entity—or a project you're not on—it doesn't belong to you.
Named insured. The insured on the certificate must exactly match the legal name of the subcontractor on your contract. A DBA, a sister company, or a slightly different LLC name is a red flag. You want the coverage attached to the entity actually doing the work.
General liability limits. Check both the per-occurrence and the general aggregate limits against your contract. Confirm the aggregate isn't already eroded by other claims, and note whether it applies per project. An aggregate shared across all of a sub's jobs can evaporate before your claim is paid.
Additional insured status. Your contract almost always requires you to be named as an additional insured on the sub's general liability policy, ideally for both ongoing and completed operations. Look for this on the certificate—and don't stop there. The certificate is a summary; the actual grant comes from the endorsement.
The additional insured endorsement. Request the actual endorsement form, not just the checkbox on the COI. The endorsement's form number and edition date determine the scope of what you're covered for. This is the step most GCs skip and later regret.
Primary and non-contributory wording. Your contract likely requires the sub's coverage to respond first, before your own policy, and without seeking contribution from it. Confirm this language is reflected—again, at the endorsement level, not just as a note on the certificate.
Waiver of subrogation. Where your contract calls for it, verify a waiver of subrogation in your favor. This prevents the sub's carrier from turning around and pursuing your company to recover what it paid.
Workers' compensation and employer's liability. Confirm workers' comp coverage is in place at statutory limits for the state of the work, plus employer's liability limits that meet your requirement. A sub with employees and no workers' comp is one of the most common—and most expensive—gaps you'll encounter.
Auto liability. If the sub drives to your site, hauls materials, or operates vehicles as part of the work, verify commercial auto liability at the required limit, covering owned, hired, and non-owned autos as applicable.
Umbrella or excess liability. When your limits requirement exceeds the sub's primary limits, an umbrella policy often fills the gap. Confirm it sits over the right underlying policies and that its own additional insured and primary wording follow through.
Policy effective and expiration dates. Every listed policy must be active for the full duration the sub is on your project. A certificate that expires mid-job is a gap waiting to happen—track the renewal date, don't just file the paper.
Description of operations. Read this box. It sometimes carries important qualifiers, project-specific references, or exclusions that change what the coverage actually does for you.
Cancellation notice. Understand how you'll learn if a policy is canceled. Standard certificate language often limits what the insurer is obligated to tell you, so your contract terms and your own tracking process carry real weight here.
Insurer financial strength. Coverage is only as good as the carrier behind it. A quick check that the insurers carry a solid financial rating protects you from paper that can't pay.
Authenticity. Confirm the certificate came from a licensed agent or broker, not directly from the sub as an edited PDF. When something looks off, verify with the issuing agent.
Turning the Checklist Into a Repeatable Process
A checklist only protects you if it runs on every sub, every time. The failure mode isn't usually a bad first review—it's the renewal that lapses in month four, or the third sub added mid-project who never got vetted. Consistency is the whole game.
Set your requirements once, in writing, before anyone bids. Clear, documented subcontractor insurance requirements in your subcontract mean the COI review becomes a matching exercise rather than a negotiation. Then log every policy's expiration date and chase renewals before they lapse, not after.
For a couple of subs, a spreadsheet can work. Once you're juggling dozens of certificates across several jobs—each with its own limits, endorsements, and renewal dates—manual tracking becomes the weak link. That's the point where dedicated COI tracking software earns its keep: it stores each certificate, flags what's missing against your requirements, and reminds you before coverage expires so nothing slips through.
The Bottom Line
A subcontractor's COI is a promise that coverage exists—but only if you verify the fields that matter. Confirm the named insured, check the limits, demand the actual additional insured and primary/non-contributory endorsements, and watch the expiration dates like a hawk. Do that on every sub, every renewal, and you close the gaps that quietly turn into liability.
If you'd rather not track all of this by hand, TradeGuard's free 14-day trial lets you store and monitor every sub's certificate in one place. It's a low-key way to see whether automated tracking beats your current spreadsheet.