Certificates and additional insured: what actually satisfies a subcontract
Short answer
A certificate of insurance is a summary. It grants no coverage, amends no policy, and creates no rights. The endorsement does that, and the endorsement is a separate document.
Most subcontracts want additional insured status on both ongoing and completed operations, primary and non-contributory wording, and a waiver of subrogation. A certificate showing a checked box is not evidence that any of those exist.
Ongoing operations is only half of it
Additional insured coverage for ongoing operations responds while work is in progress. It does not respond to a claim brought after the work is complete, which is when construction defect claims actually arrive.
Completed operations coverage is a separate endorsement. A subcontract that requires both, satisfied by a form that provides one, leaves the gap exactly where the long-tail exposure sits.
Primary and non-contributory
Without this wording, two insurers can each take the position that the other's policy responds first. The dispute happens while a claim is open and nobody is defending. The wording exists to settle the order in advance.
Waiver of subrogation
A waiver stops your insurer from paying a claim and then pursuing the other party to recover it. Subcontracts commonly require it in both directions, and it generally has to be added by endorsement rather than assumed.
What to actually do before signing
- Read the insurance exhibit in the subcontract, not the certificate. The exhibit is the requirement.
- Send the exhibit to your agent and ask for the specific endorsement forms, by form number and edition date.
- Check that completed operations is included where the exhibit requires it.
- Confirm limits, and whether an umbrella is being used to reach a required limit.
- Keep the endorsements in the project file with the certificate. At claim time, the certificate proves nothing.
Blanket endorsements, which extend status to any party you have agreed in writing to name, can satisfy a requirement without a per-project form. Whether a blanket form satisfies a particular subcontract is a question for your agent and the actual wording.
Common questions
Does a certificate of insurance provide coverage?
No. A certificate is a summary issued for information only. It confers no rights, amends no policy, and does not itself grant additional insured status. Coverage comes from the policy and its endorsements.
What is the difference between ongoing and completed operations additional insured coverage?
Ongoing operations coverage responds to claims arising while the work is in progress. Completed operations coverage responds to claims arising after the work is finished. They are separate endorsements, and construction defect claims typically arrive after completion.
What does primary and non-contributory mean?
It establishes that the named party's policy responds first and does not seek contribution from the other party's policy. Without it, insurers can dispute which policy responds while a claim sits unaddressed.
This is part of Compliance and prequalification. If you would rather not run it yourself, that is the scope it falls under.
This is not legal advice. Deadlines, filing requirements, and policy wording turn on the governing contract and on current agency guidance, and both change. Confirm anything here against the contract documents and the issuing agency, or with counsel, before relying on it.
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