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Insurance glossary · Contracts and certificates

additional insured.

The short answer

An additional insured is a person or company added to your policy so they’re covered for claims that come out of your work for them, like a general contractor on your liability policy.

Nick McClish, Managing Partner, Riza Risk (licensed insurance agency) · Updated October 1, 2026

Why do general contractors ask to be added as an additional insured?

So that if someone sues them over your work, your policy defends them. A general contractor or owner gets named in almost every injury or damage suit on a job, even when a sub’s work caused it. Being an additional insured on the sub’s policy puts that claim on the sub’s insurer instead of their own, which protects their loss history and their premium.

What does additional insured coverage actually cover?

Claims against the additional insured that come out of your work for them, within your policy’s terms. The endorsement decides the details: whether it covers only while you’re working (ongoing operations) or also after you leave (completed operations), and whether it reaches only injury caused by your acts or more. It doesn’t make your policy cover the other company for everything it does.

What’s the difference between ongoing and completed operations additional insured?

Ongoing operations covers claims while the work is under way. Completed operations covers claims that come up after the job is finished, like a leak months later. General liability uses separate endorsements for each (commonly CG 20 10 for ongoing and CG 20 37 for completed), and many contracts ask for both, sometimes for years after the project ends.

What’s the difference between blanket and scheduled additional insured?

A blanket endorsement adds anyone you’ve agreed in a written contract to add, so a new contract doesn’t need a new endorsement. A scheduled endorsement lists each additional insured by name. Blanket wording can come with conditions, like requiring the written contract to be signed before the loss, so its exact wording matters.

Does adding an additional insured cost extra?

Sometimes. Blanket additional insured endorsements are often built into contractor policies, with or without a flat charge, while scheduled ones may be priced per name. Some insurers charge more for completed operations or primary and noncontributory wording. At Riza we show you what each endorsement costs before it goes on the policy.

Does additional insured coverage cover the general contractor’s own negligence?

It depends on the endorsement and the state. Current standard endorsements limit coverage to injury or damage caused, in whole or in part, by your acts or omissions, and some courts read that to require your work to be a cause. Several states also limit how far a contract can require coverage for the other party’s own fault. The state notes below show where.

Does being an additional insured share my policy limits?

Yes. An additional insured draws on the same limits you do, so a big claim against the general contractor can use up limits you’d otherwise have for your own claims. That’s part of why contracts that ask for additional insured status often ask for an umbrella as well, and why the umbrella needs matching wording.

How is additional insured different from certificate holder?

A certificate holder only receives a copy of the certificate. An additional insured is added to the policy by endorsement and has coverage under it. Listing a company as certificate holder, or writing “additional insured” in the certificate’s description box without the endorsement on the policy, doesn’t give them coverage.

How is additional insured different from a waiver of subrogation?

Additional insured gives another party coverage under your policy. A waiver of subrogation stops your insurer from going after that party to recover what it paid. Contracts often ask for both, plus primary and noncontributory wording, and each is a separate endorsement.

What if my policy doesn’t have the additional insured endorsement the contract asks for?

Then the contract and the policy don’t match, and the gap usually shows up after a claim. In many states a sub who agreed to provide additional insured coverage and didn’t can be liable for what that coverage would have paid. The fix is an endorsement before work starts, or a conversation with the general contractor about different wording.

Does additional insured work differently by state?

Yes, in some states. Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas limit construction contracts from requiring additional insured coverage for the other party’s own negligence, and Arizona, California, Georgia and DC do in narrower cases. New York allows it. The notes below cover Riza’s licensed states in detail and every other state in a line.

in the states where Riza is licensed.

Riza is a licensed insurance agency in New York, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey and Georgia. Notes below cite the law they come from. Detailed write-ups cover Arizona, Nevada, Texas, North Carolina and New York. One-line notes for other licensed states appear with them when this term has one.

  • ArizonaArizona limits additional insured requirements in two settings. On public work, an agency can require additional insured status only on coverage tied to the contractor’s own fault. On private contracts involving a dwelling, an additional insured endorsement doesn’t obligate the insurer to pay for the additional insured’s own share of fault, though the duty to defend isn’t cut back the same way. Private commercial contracts have no statutory limit.A.R.S. § 34-226 · A.R.S. § 32-1159.01contractors in Arizona →
  • NevadaNevada doesn’t limit contract requirements to name someone as an additional insured. On residential construction-defect claims, state law assumes additional insured status exists: a general contractor that’s an additional insured on a sub’s policy has to go to that policy for defense costs before suing the sub for them.NRS 40.693contractors in Nevada →
  • TexasThe Texas Anti-Indemnity Act voids any requirement to provide additional insured coverage, and any endorsement, to the extent it would cover the additional insured’s own negligence on most construction contracts. Coverage can still respond to injury claims by the named insured’s own employees, and wrap-up programs are exempt. Single-family homes, townhouses, duplexes and municipal public works fall outside the Act.Tex. Ins. Code ch. 151 · In re Deepwater Horizon (Tex. 2015)contractors in Texas →
  • North CarolinaNorth Carolina’s anti-indemnity law voids indemnity for the other party’s own negligence but says it doesn’t affect insurance contracts, so an additional insured requirement is generally read as outside it. No North Carolina appellate court has settled the question, so it’s best treated as open rather than clearly allowed.N.C.G.S. § 22B-1contractors in North Carolina →
  • New YorkNew York allows additional insured requirements even for the general contractor’s or owner’s own negligence, because its top court held that agreeing to buy insurance isn’t agreeing to indemnify. A sub that promised the coverage and didn’t get it is liable for the loss. The wording still matters: “caused, in whole or in part, by” your acts requires your work to be a cause, and “written contract with the named insured” wording requires a direct contract.Kinney v. G.W. Lisk Co. (N.Y. 1990) · Burlington Ins. Co. v. NYC Transit Auth. (N.Y. 2017) · N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-322.1contractors in New York →
  • ColoradoColorado voids construction contract terms requiring one party to insure another for that party’s own fault, so additional insured coverage can be required only for the insuring party’s own acts.C.R.S. § 13-21-111.5 · [secondary] IRMI, Contractual Insurance Requirements and Anti-Indemnity Statutes
  • FloridaFlorida’s construction indemnity law doesn’t expressly address additional insured requirements, and whether its limits reach them is not settled either way.Fla. Stat. § 725.06
  • GeorgiaGeorgia voids contract terms requiring one party to insure another for that party’s sole negligence, so additional insured requirements can’t reach sole fault but can cover shared fault.O.C.G.A. 13-8-2 (Justia) · [secondary] IRMI, Contractual Insurance Requirements and Anti-Indemnity Statutes
  • MassachusettsMassachusetts bars making a subcontractor indemnify for harm it didn’t cause, but that law doesn’t address additional insured requirements and no limit on them was found.M.G.L. c. 149, section 29C
  • New JerseyNew Jersey has no statute limiting additional insured requirements, though its Supreme Court held that such a requirement doesn’t by itself make an indemnity clause cover the other party’s negligence.Mantilla v. NC Mall Assocs. (N.J. 2001) · [secondary] IRMI, Contractual Insurance Requirements and Anti-Indemnity Statutes

every other state.

How it works everywhere else, with the rule each line comes from. Riza is not licensed in these states.

by trade.

  • General contractorsOwners ask you to name them, and you ask your subs to name you and the owner. Matching the endorsement wording up and down the chain is what makes the coverage actually flow.
  • PlumbingCommercial plumbing subcontracts usually ask for ongoing and completed operations additional insured, since water damage claims often show up after the job is done.
  • HVACNew-construction and rooftop work typically asks for both, and property management service agreements often name the owner and the manager.
  • ElectricalTenant improvement contracts often ask you to add the general contractor, the owner and the landlord, each by name or through blanket wording.
  • RoofingRoofing contracts often ask for completed operations additional insured for years after the job, and for the umbrella to follow the same wording.
  • Landscaping and property vendorsVendor agreements with property managers usually ask for the owner and the management company as additional insureds on general liability and auto.

where you’ll see it.

  • Subcontract insurance sections“Contractor and Owner shall be named as additional insureds,” often with named endorsement forms and completed operations for a set number of years.
  • Certificate requests“Certificate holder to be named additional insured,” which still needs the endorsement on the policy.
  • LeasesLandlords often ask tenants to name them as additional insured on liability.
  • Vendor agreementsProperty managers and facility owners ask to be added before you’re approved.

match the endorsement to the contract.

Send Riza the contract before you sign. We compare what it asks for (ongoing or completed operations, blanket or scheduled, primary wording) with the endorsements your policies actually carry, and line up the changes with each insurer before the certificate goes out.

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Waiver of subrogationPrimary and noncontributoryBlanket endorsement

Coverage it touches: General liability · Commercial auto · Umbrella and excess