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Insurance glossary · Contracts and certificates

completed operations.

The short answer

Completed operations coverage responds to injury or damage caused by your work after you’ve finished the job and left, like a fitting that fails months later.

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

What does completed operations mean?

It means injury or damage caused by your work after you’ve finished and left the job. A fitting that fails months later, a railing that gives way after the owner moves in, a short that starts a fire next year: those are completed operations claims, and they’re part of most general liability policies.

When is work considered completed?

Under the standard general liability policy, when everything in the contract is done, when everything at that site is done, or when that part of the work is being used for its intended purpose by someone other than another contractor on the project. Work that still needs correction or repair counts as completed once it’s otherwise done.

Which policy pays a completed operations claim?

The general liability policy in force when the injury or damage happens, not the one you had when you did the work, because most contractor general liability is written on an occurrence basis. That’s why keeping coverage continuous, and keeping old policy records, matters for years after a job.

What is the products and completed operations aggregate?

It’s a separate annual limit on a general liability policy for claims from your finished work and products. It’s apart from the general aggregate, so a year of jobsite claims doesn’t use up the limit for claims from finished work, and the other way around.

Why do general contractors ask for completed operations coverage for years after a job?

Because claims from construction can show up long after the work, and the law in most states allows them for years. Contracts often ask you to keep completed operations coverage, and the general contractor’s additional insured status for completed work, for a set number of years after the project ends.

What is a completed operations additional insured endorsement?

It extends additional insured status to claims from your finished work, commonly with the CG 20 37 endorsement. The usual ongoing operations endorsement ends when your work is done, so contracts that want protection after completion need this one too.

Does completed operations cover fixing my own faulty work?

Generally no. It covers injury and damage your finished work causes to other people and other property. The cost to redo your own work is usually excluded, though damage to other parts of a building caused by your work can be covered, depending on the policy and the state’s case law.

What happens to completed operations coverage if I retire or close the business?

If you stop carrying general liability, there’s no occurrence policy in force when a later claim happens. Some contractors buy a discontinued operations policy to cover claims from past work after they close. It’s worth sorting out before the last policy lapses.

Is completed operations excluded on some policies?

Yes. Some policies exclude or limit it for certain work, like residential construction, condos, roofing or exterior insulation systems. A policy can look fine on the certificate and still have an exclusion that matters for the work you do most.

How long can someone sue me after a job is finished?

It depends on the state. Most states have a construction statute of repose that sets an outer limit measured from completion, commonly somewhere between several years and more than a decade, and some have none. 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.

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 for completed operations additional insured for years after a project, and you’ll want the same from your subs so a later claim lands on the trade whose work caused it.
  • PlumbingWater damage from a failed fitting or joint is the classic completed operations claim, often discovered months after the job.
  • HVACInstalled equipment that fails, leaks or starts a fire after the job can come back as a completed operations claim against the installer.
  • ElectricalFires traced to wiring or connections years after the work are a common source of completed operations claims for electricians.
  • RoofingLeaks and interior damage after a roof is finished are why roofing policies are read closely for completed operations limits and exclusions.

where you’ll see it.

  • Your policy declarations“Products-completed operations aggregate limit,” next to the general aggregate.
  • Subcontract insurance sections“Completed operations coverage shall be maintained for a period of years after final completion.”
  • Certificate requests“Additional insured status applies to ongoing and completed operations.”
  • ExclusionsEndorsements excluding completed operations for residential, condo or specific kinds of work.

coverage that lasts as long as the work does.

Riza checks that your general liability keeps completed operations coverage for the work you do most, without exclusions that hit your main jobs, and that contracts asking for years of completed operations additional insured status line up with what your policy gives.

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Occurrence vs claims-madeAggregate limit

Coverage it touches: General liability