Reading a certificate of insurance
Checked 2026-09-04, 7 min read
Filed under Bonds & insurance
§ 1What a certificate is
A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary issued by a broker saying which policies existed, with which limits, on the day it was printed. The form itself says so: the disclaimer across the bottom states that the certificate confers no rights and does not amend the policy.
A certificate is evidence, not cover.
If the policy was cancelled the day after issue, the certificate still says what it said. That is why a certificate is a starting point for a large engagement and never the whole verification.
§ 2The boxes that matter
| Box | What to check | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Insured | The exact legal entity you contracted with | A parent, a dba, or a different LLC |
| Certificate holder | Your entity, spelled correctly | Blank, or the site address |
| Policy dates | Cover spans your whole engagement | Expires mid-job |
| General liability limits | Each occurrence and general aggregate | Reading the occurrence limit as the total |
| Products / completed operations | Present, with a real number | Excluded — common on small policies |
| Workers' compensation | Present, or a valid exemption | Blank on a crew that is clearly employed |
| Description of operations | Endorsements named | A promise here with no endorsement behind it |
Builders risk rarely shows on a subcontractor’s certificate because the owner or the GC usually buys it; the builders risk guide explains who does.
§ 3Endorsements vs mentions
This is the distinction that decides claims. Additional insured status, waiver of subrogation and primary-and-non-contributory wording are all endorsements — actual amendments to the policy, each with a form number. A line in the description box saying “certificate holder is additional insured” is a sentence typed by a broker.
- Ask for the endorsement itself. A form number and a copy, not a mention.
- Check it covers completed operations. Some additional insured forms stop at practical completion, which is precisely when construction claims arrive.
- Match it to your contract. If the subcontract demands primary and non-contributory, the endorsement has to say that.
California’s LLC rule is a useful reminder that some of these numbers are statutory rather than negotiable: a licensed LLC must carry at least $1,000,000 cumulative, rising to $5,000,000 (B&P Code § 7071.19). A certificate showing less than the statutory floor is a licensing problem as well as a contractual one.
What each of those two endorsements actually does after a loss is set out in waiver of subrogation vs additional insured.
§ 4Collecting them
If you hire subcontractors, certificate collection is an operational discipline, not admin. Three rules keep it cheap.
- § 1Before the first day. A certificate chased after the work started is a certificate you will not get.
- § 2Diarise the expiry. Renewals lapse mid-project constantly. Chase the new certificate two weeks out.
- § 3Keep them until the statute runs. Your workers’ comp audit and any later claim will both ask, sometimes years afterwards.
Our certificate request sheet writes out exactly what to ask your broker or your sub’s broker for, in ACORD order, so nothing comes back missing.
Before you collect anything, decide what to require: subcontractor insurance requirements turns the lines and limits into a subcontract clause.
Checked against
- CSLB — Limited Liability Company (LLC) licensesread 2026-10-18
Not legal advice. Fees, bond amounts and deadlines are set by statute and change without notice — confirm with the board that issues your license before you file.