On site coverage questions
Practical answers for the job site: what to do when a subcontractor's certificate is expired, whether the tools in the truck are covered, what happens when someone is hurt, and how to get a certificate issued the same day.
It happens on most jobs. A subcontractor's certificate expires mid project, or the policy renewed and the new certificate was never sent. If they are injured or cause damage while uninsured, the loss can come back to you, because you controlled the site and you let them work on it.
The practical fix is a diary of expiry dates rather than a folder of certificates. Collect the certificate, note the expiry, and chase the renewal a month before it lapses. If a certificate has already expired, the choice is to stop the work until it is replaced or to accept the exposure knowingly. Both are defensible. Not noticing is not.
A working builder's tools are usually the largest single asset they own after the house, and they are the least likely thing to be covered. Homeowners policies cap business property at a fraction of what a working set of tools is worth, and they often exclude theft from a vehicle entirely. Materials on site are a different question again, and they belong to whoever owns them at that point in the contract, which is worth establishing before a theft.
The practical question is what you would do if the truck was emptied overnight. If the answer involves replacing ten thousand dollars of tools out of pocket, the coverage is worth pricing. If you carry a small kit and a borrowed trailer, it probably is not.
Eight coverages cover almost everything a construction business faces. They do different jobs, and buying one does not cover the others.
Third party injury and property damage caused by your operations.
Medical care and lost wages for your own injured employees.
Vehicles used in the business, including owned, hired and non owned.
Your tools and equipment against theft, damage and loss.
The project under construction, plus materials on site.
A guarantee of performance or payment, not a transfer of risk.
Extra limits above your underlying policies once those are used up.
Claims from design work and advice, which general liability excludes.
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Tell us your trade, payroll and the states you work in. A licensed specialist will come back with real numbers.
