Subcontractor insurance (COI): why an expired certificate can cost you the job

When you hire a subcontractor, you are also hiring their risk. If someone gets hurt on your job site and the sub's insurance expired last month, the claim can land on you. That is why every serious general contractor asks for a certificate of insurance, or COI, before the first day of work.

What a COI is

A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary issued by the subcontractor's insurance agent. It shows which policies they have (usually general liability and workers' compensation), the coverage limits and, most important, the expiration dates.

The problem is not collecting it. It is the expiration date.

Most contractors collect the COI at the beginning. The trouble starts months later, when the policy renews (or does not) and nobody notices. The certificate in the folder still looks fine. It just is not valid anymore.

A simple routine that works

• Ask for the COI before the first day of work, no exceptions
• Record the expiration date in your system, not only in the PDF
• Get an alert some weeks before it expires
• Ask the sub for the renewed certificate before the old one ends
• Do not release new work or payments to a sub with expired insurance

Keep the whole sub file in one place

Besides the COI, a subcontractor file usually includes the W-9, the signed agreement, licenses and contact details. When everything lives in one profile, onboarding a new sub takes minutes, and year-end paperwork stops being a hunt.

A subcontractor with expired insurance is not a paperwork problem. It is a financial risk sitting on your job site.

Let the sub update their own documents

The fastest way to keep files current is to stop being the middleman. Give each subcontractor a secure link where they upload the renewed certificate themselves. You get notified and just review.

A note on general advice

Insurance requirements vary by state, by client and by contract. Talk to your insurance agent or attorney about the exact coverage and limits you should require. A good system just makes sure you never lose track of them.

Four Built's Build plan includes subcontractors with insurance expiration alerts, documents in one profile and a personal access link for each sub.