Protecting Your Construction Business

Workers' comp premium runs per $100 of payroll, at a rate set by each employee's class code. A framing carpenter, a drywall finisher, and a project manager carry different codes and different rates. The classification you set at policy start is what the year-end audit gets built on.

Someone who splits time between field and shop may qualify for payroll spread across more than one code. That allocation has to be documented. Without records, the carrier assigns all the payroll to the highest-rated code that applies.

Audit surprises live here: payroll that grew, new hires in higher-hazard roles, codes that never matched the work. Reviewing your classification before renewal beats reacting to an audit bill after. Begin the commercial insurance intake so BLIS can review payroll and work type.

Completed-operations coverage is the part of a commercial general liability policy designed to address certain covered injury or damage arising from completed work. The policy period, when injury or damage occurred, exclusions, and other terms all matter.

This matters because defects take time to surface. A wiring fault that starts a fire, a waterproofing job that lets moisture in — those claims can land years after the project closed. If the GL policy lapsed or the completed operations coverage expired, they land with nothing behind them.

Example scenario: a roofing sub finishes a commercial re-roof in spring. The next winter, water tracks in through a flashing detail and damages a ceiling. The owner files a claim. Completed operations coverage within the GL policy can respond, subject to the policy's terms, conditions, and exclusions. Switch carriers at renewal without addressing continuity and the coverage picture gets messier.

Every GC has a certificate requirement, and no two match. Most subcontracts ask for current GL and workers' comp limits, additional insured status naming the GC, a subrogation waiver, and the language that puts your policy first in any shared loss. Each has to live in the actual policy, not just on the certificate.

The certificate is a summary. It shows a policy exists; it does not create coverage. An additional insured endorsement that appears on a certificate but was never attached to the policy is not enforceable. The policy governs, not the certificate face.

So send the GC's requirements to your agent before the policy is placed, not after the request lands. Some endorsements need carrier processing time and are not available on demand. Build the requirements in from the start and skip the last-minute scramble. Email requests for active projects to service@blisins.com.

Commercial property insurance protects assets at a fixed location. It does not automatically cover tools and equipment that travel to job sites. Once the power tools leave the shop in a work truck, they are out from under a standard property policy.

Inland marine coverage — a tools and equipment floater — is built for portable property. It covers tools wherever the work takes the crew: in transit, staged at a site, locked in a trailer overnight. Without it, a jobsite theft leaves you nothing to call on.

Example scenario: power tools sit in a locked contractor van at a job site overnight. The van gets broken into and the tools are gone. A commercial property policy tied to your business address does not respond. Inland marine coverage can respond to the value of the stolen tools, subject to the policy's terms, limits, and exclusions. Review the inland marine and equipment coverage guide for additional considerations.

For a GC or project manager who uses subcontractors, collecting certificates is risk management, not paperwork. A sub short on GL limits, or carrying lapsed workers' comp, is an exposure you inherit when a claim touches that sub's work.

The mechanism is simple. A sub's employee gets hurt and the sub has no workers' comp; the injured worker may come after you. A sub's work causes damage and the sub is uninsured; the owner may name you. Either way, your policy gets pulled into a loss that started with the sub.

So require a certificate from every active sub before work begins. Confirm the limits meet your subcontract minimums and that you are named as an additional insured. Track expiration dates and follow up at renewal. A certificate that expired six months ago is not current coverage. Carriers factor this into GL underwriting too: a GC whose subs carry adequate limits reads as a cleaner risk.

Personal auto policies may restrict or exclude regular commercial use, and an employee's personal policy does not replace the business's own liability planning. Commercial auto can address covered liability and, when selected, physical damage for scheduled business vehicles, subject to policy symbols and terms.

For trade contractors, commercial auto is often required before a GC lets vehicles on site. The certificate shows your limits and names the GC as an additional insured when required. Managing it alongside the GL certificate is standard workflow for active subs.

Hired and non-owned auto coverage matters when employees run business errands in their own cars. An employee drives to a supplier and causes an accident. Your commercial auto policy may respond, but only if it carries hired and non-owned coverage. Without it, a liability claim arrives with no commercial auto behind it.

A construction account gets judged as a whole. Carriers read work type, payroll structure, subcontractor relationships, vehicle fleet, and loss history together. A clean submission means those details are organized and actually reflect how you operate.

Loss history runs through every line. A GL record with completed operations disputes or injury claims shapes how carriers read the account. A workers' comp record heavy on medical costs or open claims can reach the GL and umbrella lines too. Context matters: explaining what changed after each incident does far more than handing over raw loss runs with no story.

Renewal is active, not a rollover. Last year's carrier reviewed the account on last year's payroll, operations, and fleet. If any of that shifted in a real way, the renewal is a different account. The commercial insurance intake begins the review.