General liability for HVAC contractors.

An HVAC contractor carries general liability because almost every customer asks for it before the work starts. A property manager wants a certificate on file before the first service call, a general contractor will not let a mechanical sub on site without one, and several state and local licensing agencies list it among the requirements to hold the license. So the law sometimes requires it and the customer nearly always does. What changes the answer is your state and the kind of work you take on, since commercial projects, new construction, and public work tend to come with their own minimums written into the contract or the permit.

General liability covers water damage from a condensate line when the water damages someone else’s property. A drain line you installed clogs, the pan overflows, and the ceiling and flooring below are ruined; the policy pays to repair them and defends you if the owner sues. It does not pay to clear or replace the line itself, because that is your own work. Slow leaks and the mold that follows are the parts to check, since many policies exclude fungi or cap it at a small limit. What changes the answer is the exclusion list on your form, so we read the fungi line before you see a price.

The unit that fails a season after the install is the claim HVAC contractors see most, and the completed operations part of general liability is what answers it. A furnace set in the fall cracks a heat exchanger in January and the damage it causes to the home, or the injury it causes to someone in it, is a claim on the policy in force when the damage happens, not the one from the year of the install. Replacing the unit itself is generally your work and the manufacturer’s warranty, not a claim. What changes the answer is a lapse between policies, because a gap can leave a finished install with no policy on the date the damage appears.

A torch fire that scorches a wall during a brazing job is the kind of property damage general liability is written for, and most forms respond to it. Refrigerant release is different. Many general liability forms carry a pollution exclusion broad enough to reach a refrigerant leak, and some carriers add a limited endorsement back for HVAC work while others leave it out. Combustion byproducts from a bad flue can raise the same question. What changes the answer is the wording of the pollution exclusion on your form and whether an HVAC endorsement or a separate pollution policy sits behind it, so we read both before you see a price.

Your subcontractors are generally not covered under your general liability policy, and their work can still land on it. The electrician wiring the disconnect, the crane setting the rooftop unit, or the duct crew on a new build who injures someone on your job leaves the injured party looking at your policy, and carriers charge you for uninsured subs as if their pay were your payroll. Collect a certificate from every sub before they start, with limits at least as high as yours. What changes the answer is whether your subs carry their own policies and whether your contracts require them to, so we ask for both at the quote.

How much general liability a property manager or general contractor asks an HVAC contractor to carry is written into the service agreement or the subcontract, usually as a per occurrence limit and an aggregate limit, with the customer named as an additional insured on a primary and noncontributory basis. A residential service agreement asks for the standard pair most carriers quote, and a hospital, school, or commercial mechanical project often asks for more, which is where an umbrella comes in. Read the insurance page before you price the job. What changes the answer is the size of the project and who owns it, so we match the limits to the largest contract you plan to sign.