Insurance for commercial and new construction plumbers

What GCs and owners will ask you for

A commercial bid package usually has an insurance exhibit, and it's as binding as the scope of work. Expect most of these.

• Additional insured, ongoing and completed. ISO form CG 20 10 covers the GC for your work in progress. CG 20 37 covers them for your finished work. Many GCs want both.
• Primary and non-contributory. Form CG 20 01 makes your policy pay first, without asking the GC's insurer to share. It applies when your written contract requires it.
• Waiver of subrogation. Form CG 24 04 means your insurer gives up its right to recover from the party you agreed in writing to waive. GCs often want it on workers' comp too.
• Higher limits. $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate is a common small-contractor GL setup. Many commercial contracts call for more, often met with an umbrella.
• Bonds on public and larger private work.
• Per-project aggregate. Some exhibits want your aggregate limit to apply separately to each project, which takes an endorsement.

A certificate proves these endorsements exist. It doesn't create them. Get the endorsements on your policy before bid day, so the paperwork never holds up a start date. Current clients get certificates on their existing coverage the same day. New endorsements take longer. Our guide to certificates of insurance walks through each request.

Some exhibits also ask MEP trades to carry pollution coverage, because many GL policies limit sewage, mold and bacteria claims. See pollution liability for plumbers.

Growing in commercial and new construction

Commercial growth tends to come in jumps, and each jump has an insurance gate.

From service to your first GC contract. Expect your first insurance exhibit. Price the endorsements and an umbrella before you sign, not after.

From private jobs to public bids. Federal construction contracts over $150,000 require performance and payment bonds, and states set their own rules for public work. Build a relationship with a surety a year before you need it. It will want financial statements and a work-in-progress schedule.

Public work can change your comp decisions, too. Texas lets most private employers skip workers' comp, but Texas governmental entities must require it on building and construction contracts, and subs on those jobs pass certificates up the chain. A Texas shop that opted out will need comp before its first public job. See Texas plumber insurance.

From install-only to design-build. If you start sizing systems or stamping layouts, ask whether your GL has a professional services exclusion. Contractors professional liability is usually written claims-made, so keep your retroactive date unbroken when you change carriers.

From two trucks to a fleet. More trucks mean a bigger commercial auto schedule and more drivers to vet. When techs drive their own cars to the supply house or between sites, hired and non-owned auto protects the business from that liability.

Into higher limits. An umbrella usually sits over your GL, auto liability and employer's liability, and pays after those limits are used up. It requires you to keep the underlying limits it lists. A follow-form excess policy is different: it only adds limits on the same terms as the policy beneath it.

From one crew to several. More crews mean more payroll, more subs and a bigger audit. Track sub certificates, and keep payroll split by job class. Our guides on 1099 subcontractors and workers' comp and workers' comp audits cover both.

Your price depends on payroll, revenue, claims history, the work you do and the limits you choose. On commercial work, the contracts you sign set the floor.

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