If you’ve stumbled upon this article, you’ve probably heard the terms COI, certificate of insurance services, insurance, and compliance thrown around in your line of work. Ensuring that every third-party service provider you work with or tenant you manage has an appropriate amount of insurance coverage protects not only them—but you as the business working […]

There are many things that contractors have to deal with in their line of work, from safety concerns on the job to labor shortages during peak seasons to managing their own active insurance coverage and regulatory compliance.  In the modern legal landscape, contractors need to know about certificates of insurance services (COIs), which are official […]

As a small business owner in the construction industry or another field where work-related accidents are highly plausible, managing vendor relationships and ensuring adequate insurance coverage is crucial to protect your business from potential risks. One important piece of this process is obtaining and tracking certificates of insurance, or COIs, from all vendors and hired […]

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a legal document that provides proof of someone’s insurance coverage. Typically, it’s provided by an insurance company or agency and is used to verify that a policyholder has the necessary coverage in place to manage risk and protect their assets, especially when it comes to their hired third parties. […]

We want to start by saying this: less expensive subcontractors and vendors are not inherently bad. It could simply be that they choose to have lower price points strategically, or they have other reasons unbeknownst to us.  That being said, it is important to pay close attention to all of your subs and vendors and […]

Social inflation affects our industry in big ways, but many of us don’t understand what it is or how it’s doing it. Here, we’ll break social inflation down, discuss it, and gain an understanding of what we can do as an industry to combat it. What Social Inflation Is In addition to general economic inflation, […]

How much does risk management cost your company? If you don’t know the answer, your business might not be managing total cost of risk, or TCOR, as a key performance metric. Estimates show less than half of companies actively track TCOR. However, by not assessing risk and the associated costs, companies ultimately create more liability […]

In March 2020, as the pandemic took hold, we predicted an often-overlooked contract clause would become a hotly contested issue—and we were right. As coronavirus prompted government stay-at-home orders and establishments to close for safety concerns, businesses looked to their contracts for protection. They started with a commercial contract clause called “force majeure.” However, most […]

When it comes to commercial general liability (CGL) policies, some endorsements are great for upstream parties. Others, not so much. On the good side are additional insured endorsements which allow general contractors, property owners, and property managers to receive coverage under their subcontractor’s insurance policy. On the bad side are classification limitations, which can nullify […]

Unless you are a workers’ compensation claims expert, you might not know that a subcontractor’s injured employee generally cannot sue them, but can sue upstream parties. This leaves general contractors, property managers, and owners exposed. An additional insured endorsement on the subcontractor’s commercial general liability (CGL) policy helps minimize exposure. But does it eliminate that exposure completely? […]