Subcontractor Insurance Requirements Checklist
A subcontractor insurance checklist works best when it follows the life of the job: one set of checks before you approve the sub, one for the first day on site, one while the work runs, and one at close-out. Each stage has a different question, and each leaves something on the calendar so the next check happens without anyone remembering it.
This post is the operational version. It does not decide which coverage types or limits to require, because your subcontract and your own insurance advisor or attorney set those. For what a certificate contains and how to set up the underlying records, see the full guide to tracking subcontractor certificates.
What should you check before you approve a sub?
Approval is the cheapest moment to find a problem, because nothing has been scheduled around the sub yet. The goal at this stage is a certificate you can compare line by line with what your contract asks for. Request it from the sub’s broker rather than accepting a photo of an old copy, and run these checks:
- The insured name on the certificate matches the legal name on the subcontract, not a trade name.
- Every policy type your contract requires appears on the certificate, each with its own insurer and policy number.
- Each policy period covers the planned start date, with the end date written down.
- The limits shown are at or above the figures in your contract.
- Your company is named as certificate holder, and any additional-insured or endorsement documents the contract asks for are attached, not just promised.
- Anything unusual in the description of operations is flagged to whoever manages the contract before approval.
What is the difference between what the contract requires and what the certificate shows?
The contract states what you need. The certificate states what the sub’s broker says was in force on the day it was issued. A gap check is simply laying the two side by side and writing down every difference, however small. It is not a judgment about whether a difference matters. Take any difference to whoever manages the contract, and to your own advisor or attorney if it is unclear.
Here is an illustrative gap check. The contract lists three required policies. The certificate shows only two, and one of those ends 11 days after the planned start. That is two gaps: one missing policy and one policy that will end almost immediately. Both go on the approval record with the date you raised them and who you asked.
What should you do on the first day?
The first day is for confirming that the paperwork you approved still matches the people arriving. Policies can be renewed, replaced or cancelled between approval and arrival, so check the date on the certificate against the date the crew shows up.
- Confirm the certificate you hold is the current one, not an earlier version from the approval stage.
- Confirm the company name on the truck, the crew and the paperwork is the company named on the certificate.
- Put every policy end date that falls inside the job on the job schedule, not only in a file.
- Write down who on your side owns this sub’s insurance, and who covers when they are away.
- Note the sub’s insurance contact, so a renewal request goes to the person who can actually send it.
What should you calendar during the job?
Policies on one certificate rarely end together, so each one gets its own reminder. Set it early enough to collect the renewed certificate before the old policy ends, which means working back from the end date by however long your sub usually takes to get paperwork from their broker. Ask them rather than guessing.
In ContractorLicenseAlert, reminders count down to the date you need to start renewing. The defaults fire 90, 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before that date, then on the day and 3, 7 and 14 days after, so a missed renewal keeps surfacing. You can change those intervals. A monthly sort of every sub by end date is a sensible backstop for anything nobody has asked about.
What should you do at close-out?
Close-out is where the record either gets finished or quietly rots. Before the file is archived, make sure it can answer a question months from now: who was on the job, and what did you hold for them?
- File the final certificate and any endorsement documents with the job record.
- Record each policy’s end date as it stood on the last day of work.
- Note any gap you found during the job, what you asked, and the answer.
- Archive a finished sub’s records to stop their reminders and keep their history, so the next person is not chasing a finished job.
- Decide whether this sub stays on your approved list, and when you will want a fresh certificate if they come back.
Where does the certificate stop being useful?
A certificate is a snapshot, so every check above confirms dates and paperwork, not an insurer’s current position. ContractorLicenseAlert follows the same logic: it reads each policy on an uploaded certificate separately, you confirm the reading, and it counts down to the dates. It does not verify coverage with any insurer. If a date passes with no renewal, the steps for that day are in the lapse guide, and how a multi-policy certificate is split into records is in the certificate guide.
How to track subcontractor insurance certificates
Try the checklist on one active sub
Pick the sub with the longest job still running and run the mid-job check today: list each policy’s end date and ask for any renewal that falls inside the job. Subs can send documents through an upload link with no account, and the details are below.
Collecting documents from a vendor with no login