Subcontractor COI compliance checklist

How to use it

Work through the list for one sub at a time. Use “Reset” to start the next. If an item cannot be confirmed, treat it as open and follow up.

Not legal or insurance advice. Confirm anything contract-specific with your broker or attorney.

When to stop and escalate

• The insured name doesn’t match your contract, and the sub can’t explain why.
• A policy ends before the job does and nobody has asked for a renewal.
• Workers’ comp is missing and the sub has people on your site.
• The agent won’t confirm the policy by phone or email.

Any one of these means work shouldn’t start, or should pause, until it’s fixed. Your contract says what you’re allowed to do.

Five mistakes that make a checklist useless

1. Checking the sub’s name but not the dates. A certificate that expired last month looks fine at a glance. Read the start and end date of every policy.
2. Only checking general liability. Workers’ comp and auto matter just as much. A hurt worker with no comp coverage can become your problem.
3. Skipping the endorsements. Being “certificate holder” is not the same as being covered. Ask for the additional insured form. See holder vs additional insured.
4. Filing it and forgetting it. Policies end during the job. Put every end date on a calendar.
5. No one owns it. Pick one person to run the checklist each week, or hand it to a service.

Before you approve a payment

1. Is the sub’s certificate on file and current today?
2. Do all policy end dates cover the period you are paying for?
3. Do you have the endorsements, not just the certificate?
4. Is anyone’s coverage ending in the next 30 days?

Linking insurance to payment is one of the simplest ways to keep subs current. Check your contract and any prompt-pay rules first.