Start with identity and dates
Producer
The PRODUCER box identifies the agency or broker that issued the certificate and normally gives the best contact for a correction. Record the name, address, phone, and email exactly as shown. The email address or domain alone does not prove authenticity; it is a routing clue, not verification.
Insured
Match the named insured with the subcontracting entity. Pay attention to LLCs, DBAs, parent companies, and similarly named affiliates. A certificate for a related company is not automatically evidence about the entity on the subcontract.
Certificate date and number
The issue date tells you when this certificate was prepared. The certificate number and revision number can help distinguish replacements, but they are not policy numbers and do not establish that the underlying policy remains in force.
Insurers and NAIC numbers
The letter beside each coverage line points to an insurer listed in the upper-right table. Record the insurer name and NAIC number when present. A blank NAIC field is missing data, not proof that the insurer is unlicensed or invalid.
The ACORD 25 does not print an A.M. Best rating. If the contract requires a financial-strength rating, verify it through the rating provider or another source your company accepts.
Read the coverage grid one line at a time
Commercial general liability
Capture each occurrence, damage to rented premises, medical expense, personal and advertising injury, general aggregate, and products/completed-operations aggregate separately. Do not treat the aggregate as another occurrence limit. Note whether the policy is shown as claims-made or occurrence and whether a per-project aggregate endorsement is requested.
Automobile liability
Record the combined single limit or the separate bodily-injury and property-damage limits. Note the symbols or checked categories for owned, hired, and non-owned autos. The required combination depends on the contract and the subcontractor’s driving exposure.
Umbrella or excess liability
Capture the each-occurrence and aggregate limits, policy dates, and whether the form indicates occurrence or claims-made. The certificate does not prove how the policy follows form, what it excludes, or exactly which underlying policies it sits above.
Workers compensation and employers liability
Workers compensation is usually marked statutory. Employers liability has dollar fields for each accident, disease policy limit, and disease per employee. A marked box does not resolve every jurisdiction, worker classification, or exclusion.
The row also asks whether any proprietor, partner, executive officer or member is excluded; a “Y” means at least one of them is not covered by that policy. That box and the policy dates come up again at your own premium audit: see workers’ comp audits and sub certificates.
Other coverage
Professional liability, pollution, cyber, railroad protective, installation floater, and other project-specific lines can appear in the OTHER row or the description area. Capture the named coverage, limit, deductible or retention if shown, dates, and any attached schedule.
Treat endorsements as documents, not checkboxes
The ADDL INSD and SUBR WVD columns are prompts. A checked box says the certificate reports something about additional-insured or waiver-of-subrogation status. It does not show the complete endorsement wording, scheduled party, completed-operations scope, primary and non-contributory language, or exclusions.
What subcontracts commonly ask for
Subcontract insurance exhibits commonly ask for three things and name a standard form for each. ISO publishes the general liability and auto forms. NCCI publishes the standard workers’ compensation form, and some states, such as California and Texas, use their own.
Additional insured. The endorsement adds your company as an insured on the sub’s general liability policy, but only for liability caused, in whole or in part, by the sub’s work. Two ISO forms split that by time:
- Ongoing operations: CG 20 10. Covers bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury caused, in whole or in part, by the sub or anyone acting for it while performing its ongoing work for you at the scheduled location. It excludes bodily injury and property damage that occur after all work on the project is complete, or after the part of the sub’s work that caused the loss has been put to its intended use by someone other than another contractor on the project.
- Completed operations: CG 20 37. Covers bodily injury and property damage caused, in whole or in part, by the sub’s finished work at the location described in its schedule. This is the form that responds after the job is done.
The 2013 and 2019 editions of both forms say the additional insured gets no broader coverage than the contract requires, and the insurer pays the lesser of the amount the contract requires or the policy’s available limits. The subcontract’s insurance wording sets the ceiling.
Waiver of subrogation. After paying a claim, an insurer can normally try to recover the money from anyone legally responsible for the loss. A waiver gives up that right against the party named in the schedule, so the sub’s insurer cannot come after you for what it paid.
- General liability: CG 24 04, “Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us.” It covers payments arising from the sub’s ongoing operations or completed work done under a contract with the scheduled party.
- Business auto: CA 04 44, the auto counterpart of CG 24 04.
- Workers’ compensation: WC 00 03 13, “Waiver of Our Right to Recover From Others.” The insurer will not enforce its recovery right against the scheduled party, but only to the extent the sub works under a written contract that requires the waiver. Carriers can charge extra premium for it. California uses WC 04 03 06 and Texas uses WC 42 03 04 instead.
Primary and non-contributory: CG 20 01. The sub’s policy pays first for the additional insured and does not seek contribution from your own insurance. It applies only when your company is an additional insured on the sub’s policy, is a named insured on the other insurance, and the sub agreed in a written contract that its coverage would be primary and non-contributory.
| Contract asks for | Form commonly named | Confirm on the endorsement page |
|---|---|---|
| Additional insured, ongoing operations | ISO CG 20 10 | Your company’s legal name in the schedule and the project under Location(s) of Covered Operations |
| Additional insured, completed operations | ISO CG 20 37 | Your company in the schedule and the project under Location and Description of Completed Operations |
| Primary and non-contributory | ISO CG 20 01 | Issued on the same policy that makes you an additional insured |
| Waiver of subrogation, general liability | ISO CG 24 04 | Your company in the schedule |
| Waiver of subrogation, auto | ISO CA 04 44 | Your company in the schedule |
| Waiver of subrogation, workers’ comp | NCCI WC 00 03 13 (California WC 04 03 06, Texas WC 42 03 04) | Your company in the schedule |
On every page, match the policy number to the certificate row it supports. If the schedule says something like “where required by written contract” instead of naming you, check whether your subcontract accepts that wording. Some owners do not: the sample endorsements of DASNY, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, say each entity must be named.
The four digits after an ISO form number are its edition month and year. CG 20 10 04 13 is the April 2013 edition and CG 20 10 12 19 the December 2019 edition. Their limits wording differs: the 2019 edition no longer ties the limit to the amount “shown in the Declarations.” If the subcontract names an edition, compare it with the date printed on the page.
When the contract asks for an endorsement, record the evidence state precisely:
- The endorsement page is attached and identifiable.
- The certificate checkbox or description refers to it, but the page is absent.
- Nothing responsive was found.
Judge each page by its wording, schedule, and policy number, not by the form number alone. The actual policy edition, schedule, project, and customer-approved insurance exhibit matter. To ask the agent for a missing page, use the endorsement request email.
Read policy dates as a project question
The effective and expiration dates shown on the certificate describe the reported policy period. Compare them with today, the project schedule, and any completed-operations or closeout period the contract addresses.
An unexpired certificate today can still expire before mobilization, mid-project, or during a required tail. If it already has and the sub is still working, see what to do when a sub’s COI expires mid-project. A replacement certificate should be reviewed as a new document. Do not assume the limits, carrier, forms, or endorsements stayed the same because the producer renewed the file.
At renewal, compare the new certificate with both the configured minimums and the prior certificate. A limit can fall, an endorsement can disappear, or the insurer can change even when the filename says “renewal.”
The description and certificate-holder boxes
The DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS / LOCATIONS / VEHICLES box can contain project names, locations, contract references, endorsement descriptions, or additional-insured wording. Record the text, but do not treat a sentence there as a replacement for a required endorsement page.
The CERTIFICATE HOLDER box identifies the party receiving the certificate. Being listed as certificate holder does not by itself make that party an additional insured. Those are different concepts and should remain different fields in the review.
Cancellation and authorized representative
The cancellation area usually states that notice will be delivered according to policy provisions. It does not automatically promise a particular number of days to every certificate holder. If the contract requires a notice period, locate the policy endorsement or other evidence the customer relies on and record the exact source.
The authorized-representative signature is part of the certificate, but a visible signature does not authenticate the entire file. If the document appears altered, the producer contact is inconsistent, or the policy information is suspicious, verify through the insurer, producer, state insurance department, or another process your company has adopted.
Common review failures
- Reviewing the certificate holder instead of the named insured.
- Copying the general aggregate into the each-occurrence field.
- Treating a checked endorsement box as an attached endorsement.
- Assuming the new certificate matches last year’s file.
- Missing a project name or location restriction in the description.
- Treating a blank field as zero or as proof of absence.
- Recording “compliant” without preserving the requirement, source, reviewer, and date.
- Letting a changed requirement rewrite the apparent history of an earlier review.
What the review record should preserve
For each certificate, keep the original file, recorded fields, quoted source line and page where possible, effective minimums used at the time, the arithmetic difference, reviewer identity, review date, correction requests, replacement files, and any customer-authorized exception.
The final status should describe the record: received, pending review, reviewed with no recorded differences, reviewed with recorded differences, expired, or superseded. It should not claim that coverage exists for a loss or that the software approved the vendor.
If a field or endorsement differs from the adopted rule, continue with what to do when a subcontractor’s COI comes back short. For requirement design, use subcontractor insurance requirements by trade.
Common questions
Does a checked ADDL INSD box make my company an additional insured?
Not by itself. The ACORD 25 says it confers no rights on the certificate holder, and that for an additional insured the policy must have additional-insured provisions or be endorsed. Ask for the endorsement page and confirm your company is named in its schedule or covered by its wording.
What is the difference between CG 20 10 and CG 20 37?
CG 20 10 makes your company an additional insured for injury or damage caused by the sub’s ongoing work at the scheduled location. It excludes bodily injury and property damage that occur after the work is complete, so a contract that wants coverage after the job also names CG 20 37, the completed-operations form.
What does a waiver of subrogation do?
It stops the sub’s insurer from trying to recover what it paid on a claim from the party named in the endorsement’s schedule. The standard forms are ISO CG 24 04 for general liability, ISO CA 04 44 for business auto, and NCCI WC 00 03 13 for workers’ compensation, with state versions in California (WC 04 03 06) and Texas (WC 42 03 04).
What does primary and non-contributory mean?
The sub’s policy pays first for a claim against you as an additional insured, and its insurer does not ask your own insurer to share the loss. Under ISO CG 20 01 this applies only when you are a named insured on that other insurance and the sub agreed in a written contract to provide primary and non-contributory coverage.
What do the last four digits of a form number mean?
They are the edition’s month and year. CG 20 10 04 13 is the April 2013 edition and CG 20 10 12 19 is the December 2019 edition, so check the date printed on the page against any edition your subcontract names.