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General Liability (GL) covers third-party bodily injury and property damage claims arising from your operations — for example, if a subcontractor damages a client’s existing structure. It’s an ongoing policy that covers your business across all projects. Builder’s Risk is a project-specific policy that covers the structure itself, plus materials and equipment on-site, while it’s under construction — protecting against fire, theft, wind, and vandalism during the build. It typically ends when the project is complete and the building is occupied. Most contractors need both: GL for liability exposure on every job, and Builder’s Risk (often required by the project owner or lender) for each specific construction project.

A COI is a document proving a subcontractor carries active insurance coverage, typically General Liability and Workers’ Compensation, at specified limits. General contractors require COIs from every sub before allowing them on a job site to confirm they aren’t financially exposed if that sub causes a loss or has an injured worker. Many GCs also require subs to name them as an additional insured and provide a waiver of subrogation, which limits the sub’s insurer from pursuing the GC after paying a claim.

Your General Liability class code tells the carrier what type of work you do and how risky it is. Misclassification (being coded for lower-risk work than you actually perform) can lead to coverage disputes or audit findings at renewal that significantly increase your premium retroactively. It’s worth confirming your class code accurately reflects 100% of the work you perform, not just your primary trade.

Your experience mod is a number (1.0 is “average”) that adjusts your Workers’ Compensation premium up or down based on your company’s claims history compared to similar businesses in your industry. A mod above 1.0 increases your premium; below 1.0 decreases it. The most effective ways to lower it over time are reducing the frequency and severity of claims, maintaining a written safety program, and reviewing your experience mod worksheet annually for calculation errors — miscalculated mods are more common than most contractors realize, and a corrected mod can mean real premium savings.

A surety bond is a three-party agreement guaranteeing you’ll fulfill a contractual obligation, such as completing a project per contract terms (a performance bond) or paying subcontractors and suppliers (a payment bond). Unlike insurance, which protects you against loss, a bond protects the project owner — and if a claim is paid, the bonding company expects you to reimburse them. Many public projects and larger private contracts require bonding before you can even bid.

Materials delivered to a job site before installation are typically covered under an installation floater or inland marine policy, not general liability. Once materials are installed into the structure, coverage usually shifts to the project’s Builder’s Risk policy. Contractors should confirm with their broker exactly when that transition happens for a given project, since gaps can occur if timing isn’t clearly defined in the policy language.