Pen-and-ink construction scene: a framed building under a crane on one side, stacked lumber and a pickup on the other.

General liability for general contractors

general liability
for general
contractors.

Your jobsite, your subs and your finished work, in plain English.

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the short answer

General liability can pay for covered claims when your work injures someone who isn’t your employee or damages their property, including certain claims after the job is handed over. It isn’t a warranty for fixing defective work, and it doesn’t replace workers’ comp, commercial auto or builders risk.

tap a job.

Five moments on a project, and how general liability looks at each one.

What the policy does

renovation damage.

A remodel damages the owner’s existing property beyond the room you’re working in. General liability may respond to covered damage, even when a subcontractor did the work.

Who asks: The owner, through a claim against your business.

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what it does, and doesn’t.

General liability for a GC, one line at a time.

What it pays for: Covered bodily injury to others, damage to their property, and certain personal and advertising injury claims. It may also pay to defend a covered suit.
Finished work: Completed operations coverage can address covered damage that shows up after handover. Policy dates and exclusions decide.
What it leaves out: Your employees’ injuries, your vehicles, the building under construction, and the cost of redoing faulty work. Some policies also restrict residential, structural, height or demolition work.
Who asks for it: Owners and developers, in the insurance exhibit. Many ask for additional insured status for ongoing and completed work, which has to come from the policy or an endorsement, not the certificate.
What moves the price: What you build, receipts or payroll, subcontractor costs, project size and location, your limits and exclusions, and your claims history.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance guidance on commercial general liability and certificates of insurance. Last reviewed September 2026.

what trips GCs up.

Subs come with conditions.
Many policies require written subcontracts, insurance evidence and endorsements before a sub starts. Hiring an insured sub doesn’t satisfy those conditions on its own.
A certificate isn’t cover.
A certificate shows what a policy says. It can’t add an additional insured or change the terms. That takes the policy or an endorsement.

good to know.

Straight answers on general liability for general contractors.

What does general liability cover for a general contractor?

It can pay for covered claims when your work injures someone outside your crew or damages their property, plus certain personal and advertising injury claims. It may also pay to defend a covered suit. The policy’s definitions, exclusions and limits decide each claim, and it doesn’t replace workers’ comp, commercial auto or builders risk.

Am I covered for work my subcontractor does?

Your policy may respond to covered liability from subcontracted work, but many policies set conditions first, like written contracts and insurance evidence. The sub’s own policy and any additional insured endorsement matter too. Compare the subcontract, your policy and the sub’s actual documents before the work starts, not after a claim.

Does general liability pay to fix defective construction?

Not just because the work is defective. Fixing your own work and paying for injury or damage it causes to other property are separate questions. Your-work exclusions, subcontractor wording, state law and the facts shape the answer. A certificate can’t settle a construction defect claim, so bring the actual policy.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance guidance on commercial general liability and certificates of insurance. Last reviewed September 2026.

Insurance words, in plain English: waiver of subrogation · certificate of insurance · additional insured · primary and noncontributory · hold harmless agreement · contractual liability · per-project aggregate · completed operations