Insurance glossary · Contracts and certificates
per-project aggregate.
A per-project aggregate gives each job its own total limit on your liability policy, so a big claim on one project doesn’t use up the limit for the rest.
What is an aggregate limit?
It’s the most a general liability policy pays for all claims in a policy year. Every claim you pay out of it, on any job, lowers what’s left for the rest of the year. The per-occurrence limit caps a single claim; the aggregate caps the year.
What does a per-project aggregate do?
It gives each job its own aggregate limit. A big claim on one project then uses only that project’s aggregate, and your other jobs keep their full limit. It’s added by endorsement, commonly CG 25 03 for projects.
Why do general contractors and owners ask for a per-project aggregate?
Because they don’t want your claims on other jobs to use up the limit that protects their project. When they’re an additional insured on your policy, they share your aggregate, and a per-project aggregate keeps their job’s limit from being spent somewhere else.
What’s the difference between per-project and per-location aggregate?
Per-project applies to construction projects away from your premises, which fits contractors. Per-location applies to the places you own or rent, which fits businesses with several stores or sites. Some contracts ask for both, and they use different endorsements.
Does a per-project aggregate apply to completed operations?
Usually not. The standard endorsement applies the per-project aggregate to claims from ongoing work, while completed operations claims still come out of the separate products and completed operations aggregate for the whole policy. If a contract asks for per-project limits on completed work too, the wording has to say so.
Does a per-project aggregate cost extra?
Sometimes. Many contractor policies include it or add it for a flat charge, and some insurers price it by the number or size of projects. At Riza we show you what it costs before it goes on the policy.
How does a per-project aggregate affect my umbrella?
An umbrella sits above your liability limits and has its own aggregate, which usually isn’t split by project. A contract that asks for per-project limits on the umbrella too needs umbrella wording that does that, which not every umbrella insurer offers.
Does a per-project aggregate work differently by state?
No state we checked regulates it. It comes from the insurer’s forms and the contract. What changes by state is what a contract can require for additional insureds and indemnity, which is covered on those pages.
by trade.
- General contractorsOwners on larger projects often ask for it, and you may ask your subs for it too so one job’s claim doesn’t thin out coverage on the next.
- PlumbingCommercial subcontracts on new construction commonly ask for per-project aggregate along with additional insured and primary wording.
- ElectricalTenant improvement and new-build contracts often list it as a general liability requirement.
- RoofingRoofing contracts often ask for it, since a single large loss can be big enough to matter to every other job.
where you’ll see it.
- Subcontract insurance sections“The general aggregate shall apply separately to this project.”
- Certificate requests“Per project aggregate applies” in the description box, or the “Per: Project” box checked on the certificate.
- Owner requirementsOwners and developers often pass the same wording down to every trade.
one job’s claim, one job’s limit.
Send Riza the contract. We check whether your general liability has a per-project aggregate, whether it reaches completed operations if the contract asks, and whether the umbrella matches, and line up the endorsement with your insurer before the certificate says it.
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Coverage it touches: General liability