Insurance for contractors who cannot afford to wait.
We know what a general contractor’s insurance clause actually asks for, what a certificate has to say, and what happens to your week if it arrives late.
Build the contractor file in two minutes Get a certificate See what’s coveredLiability, tools, builders risk and the certificates that get you on site
Trades of every size, from one van to a multi-crew general contractor
The insurance clause from the contract, the project name and the start date
What insurance do contractors need in BC?
A contractor in BC usually needs four things: commercial general liability for damage or injury they cause to others, builders risk on the project itself, cover for tools and equipment, and commercial auto for the vehicles. Which limits you need is decided by your contracts, not by guesswork, and the certificate proving it is what gets you on site.
A certificate that arrives late, or arrives wrong, does not delay the job by an afternoon. It can cost you the start date, the crew you booked, and sometimes the contract itself, and none of that is recoverable. On a Provincial job the contract lists what you carry, and it says the cover must be “with insurers licensed in British Columbia and in forms and amounts acceptable to the Owner”. The contract decides, not the broker and not the trade. Read the Province’s CCDC 2 insurance terms (opens in a new tab).
Send us the insurance clause from your contract and we will tell you exactly what it requires, including the wording that gets certificates rejected.
Quoting from scratch? Build your contractors file here. One question at a time, about two minutes, and you read the whole thing before it goes anywhere.
Insuring a build itself? Build the project file. Completed value, schedule, site and lender wording, before the excavator arrives.
The document that decides whether you start on Monday.
A certificate of insurance is proof that your cover exists, written the way the person hiring you needs to see it. General contractors, property owners and municipalities will not let you on site without one, and they will not accept one that says the wrong thing.
Send us the contract clause
Not a summary of it, the actual wording. We read what it requires, which is not always what people assume it requires.
We write it to match
Additional insureds, cross liability, waiver of subrogation, the right limits, the right project name. Details that get certificates rejected.
You get it in writing
Sent to you and, if you want, straight to whoever is asking for it.
Send us the contract and the certificate usually comes back the next business day. We say “usually” because a risk that has to go to an underwriter cannot be promised on the hour, and we would rather tell you that than miss it.
SEND THE CLAUSE, THE PROJECT NAME AND THE START DATE, THAT IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO GET MOVING.
The cover that actually gets asked for.
Most contracts ask for the same handful of things. Here is what each one is for, in plain English.
Tools and equipment
Your own kit, on site, in the van, or stored.
Wrap-up liability
One policy covering everyone on a project. Often required on larger jobs and worth understanding before you sign.
Builders risk is the same product everywhere.
So why use us?
Builders risk cover is broadly the same wherever you buy it. We use the same regular and specialist markets other brokers use. Anyone telling you their builders risk policy is uniquely better is selling you something.
What differs is everything around it. How fast the certificate arrives. Whether the person reading your contract understands construction wording. Whether anyone spots that the limit in clause 11 does not match the one in the schedule. And whether you can walk into an office and have a person fix it.
That is what we compete on. It is also, on a live project, the part that actually costs you money.
We read the contract, not just the certificate request.
Standard construction contracts, including CCDC forms, carry insurance requirements that are easy to get wrong. A mismatch is usually found at the worst possible moment: when a claim happens, or the day before you are due on site.
Limits that do not match
The number in the insurance clause and the number in your policy have to agree. They often do not.
Who has to be named
Additional insureds, owners, lenders, consultants, missing one can invalidate the whole document.
Cover that ends too early
Some obligations run past completion. Cover that stops at handover can leave a gap you signed up for.
How this can play out.
A general contractor rejects your certificate on the Friday because the limit says two million and the contract says five. Monday’s crew is booked. Fixing the certificate takes an afternoon; finding out on Friday costs you the week.
From one van to a multi-crew general contractor.
If you have been declined because of your trade, your claims history or the height you work at, bring us the letter. Difficult files are ordinary work here.
What can quietly void a contractor policy.
Most refused claims on job sites do not come from missing cover. They come from a condition in the wording that nobody read until after the loss. These are the ones we meet most.
Hot work done without the ritual
Welding, torches and grinding usually carry written conditions: a permit, a cleared area, and a fire watch after the work stops. Skip a step and a fire claim can be refused with the premium fully paid.
Subs without their own insurance
Many wordings expect subcontractors to carry their own liability. Collecting a certificate from every sub is paperwork on a good day, and the whole argument on a bad one.
Work past the declared line
Policies often cap how high or how deep the cover goes. A roof job or a deep excavation past that line can sit outside the policy even though the trade is the same.
Materials sitting on an open site
Stock and materials left on a job site are covered differently from a locked yard, and cover often narrows after about thirty days sitting. The habit that saves the claim is simple: move it, or mention it.
None of this is a reason to fear the wording. It is a reason to have someone read it before the season starts. Check that yours matches the way you actually work.
What contractors ask us.
How fast can I get a certificate of insurance?
Send us the insurance clause from the contract, the project name and the start date. Tell us the deadline when you send it and we will tell you straight away whether it can be met, before you commit to a start date you cannot keep.
Can I add an additional insured myself?
No. Only the insurer can do that. Send us the name and the wording your contract asks for and we will put it to the insurer. How it gets done depends on your policy. Some need wording issued for that party. Others already carry wording that picks up anyone you have agreed in writing to add, which is why it helps to have the contract signed before work starts. The certificate we send you is the record of what was asked for and confirmed. It is not the cover itself, so keep the policy wording too. Worth asking us as well: does the wording still reach a claim that turns up after the job is finished? Not all of it does.
The general contractor rejected my certificate. What now?
Send us both documents, the certificate and the reason it was rejected. Usually it is a missing additional insured, a limit that does not match the clause, or wording that needs to be exact. It is usually a quick fix. Tell us your deadline and we will say honestly whether it can be met.
What is the difference between builders risk and liability?
Builders risk covers the project itself while it is being built, the structure and materials. Liability covers damage or injury you cause to other people and their property. Most contracts require both, for different reasons.
Do I need insurance if I am a one-person operation?
If anyone hires you, almost certainly yes, most contracts require it regardless of your size, and many suppliers and property managers ask for proof before you set foot on site.
My tools were stolen from my van. Is that covered?
It depends on how your tools are insured and where the van was. This is a common claim in the trades, and it is worth checking your limits before it happens rather than after.
I have had claims and my insurer will not renew me. Can you help?
Yes, trades with claims history is a class we place regularly. Send us the letter from the insurer and we will tell you where you stand.
I work all over BC. Do I have to be near one of your offices?
No. Our licence covers the whole province, so where your shop sits does not decide whether we can help. What we do need is the area you actually work in, because insurers ask how far you travel and what you do when you get there. Tell us that and we can quote from anywhere in British Columbia.
Not the question you had? Build the contractor file and set out your own situation in plain words. A licensed broker reads it and replies in writing.
The questions behind the questions.
Clearance letter or certificate?
Two different documents. Why the hiring contractor carries the risk for both.
When a subtrade causes damage
Whose policy pays, and why the certificate you collected on day one decides it.
Wrap-up liability on a project
It covers the project, not your company. The gap that leaves trades bare.
When the tools are taken
A shop policy stops at the shop. The auto policy covers the van, not what is in it.
What people usually look at next.
Builders risk
Cover for the project itself while it is being built.
General liability
The limits and wording your contract demands, and why certificates get rejected.
Declined or cancelled
Turned down over your trade, your claims or working at height? Send the letter.
Worth reading next: who is the prime contractor on your site. Also worth reading: what naming someone as additional insured actually gives them. And for what happens after the job closes, how completed operations cover works on your own policy.
Tell us about the job.
The contract clause, the project and the start date. That is usually enough for us to get moving.
ON A DEADLINE? SAY SO WHEN YOU SEND IT · OR WALK INTO ANY BRANCH
Bidding work that needs bonding? surety bonds, a bond is not insurance, and the difference matters.
Excavating or demolishing? Your liability policy almost certainly excludes pollution. pollution & environmental cover.