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Vendor insurance requirements builder for commercial buildings
Pick the kind of contractor coming on site and get the coverage lines, published limits and endorsements to write into its contract, from cleaning and porter crews to guard companies and the trades.
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Contractor insurance requirements for your building
Vendor insurance requirements are the coverage lines and limits you ask every contractor to carry before its crew sets foot in your building, written into the contract and proved with a certificate and endorsement pages. For most service vendors that means general liability, auto, workers’ compensation and employer’s liability, with extra lines when the work carries more risk. Pick the contractor type below and the builder lists the lines, the published limits behind them and the endorsements worth asking for.
The list is meant to be printed or pasted into an RFP, a service agreement or your onboarding packet. It covers the contractors a commercial property usually brings on site: cleaning and porter crews, grounds companies, guard companies and the HVAC, plumbing and electrical trades.
How the builder works
Choose a contractor type and the builder shows each coverage line with a limit taken from a named public-buyer standard or a California licensing rule. Tick an option, such as a crew that holds keys or a job with pollution exposure, and it adds the line that situation calls for. The clause list underneath covers the endorsements that decide whether the limits actually protect you.
A worked example in words: a property manager taking on a new night cleaning crew for a multi-tenant office building picks the janitorial type, ticks the option for crews that hold keys and alarm codes, and gets a crime or fidelity line added to the four standard ones. She keeps the additional insured and waiver clauses, sends the list with the RFP, and asks each bidder for its certificate and endorsement pages before the walkthrough.
Where the limits in the list come from
No California statute sets general liability limits for a private building owner hiring a cleaner or a landscaper. The figures here are what large public buyers publish for their own contracts: the University of California’s minimum insurance requirements (revised December 19, 2025) and its construction exhibit, LA County’s insurance manual for service agreements, the County of Sonoma’s risk management templates, Salt Lake County’s requirement matrix in Utah, and the Texas Council Risk Management Fund’s vendor guidelines. Treat them as reference points for a negotiation, not as legal minimums.
Two lines come from licensing rules rather than buyer standards. A California private patrol operator must carry at least $1,000,000 per occurrence of general liability on an occurrence form, with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services named as certificate holder, according to BSIS. And every California contractor’s license carries a $25,000 contractor’s bond under CSLB’s bond rules.
What changes by contractor type
The core four lines repeat across most service vendors. What differs is the extra exposure each kind of work brings into the building:
| Contractor | What sets it apart | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Janitorial and day porter | Crews often hold keys, badges and alarm codes, so a crime or fidelity line is common; pollution cover only where the work has that exposure | LA County; Salt Lake County, Utah; Sonoma Templates 7 and 18 |
| Landscaping and grounds | A contractor’s bond where the company holds a license; workers’ comp required for D-49 tree service licensees even with no employees | CSLB |
| Security guard or patrol | A state liability floor set by BSIS, which is also the certificate holder; professional liability and patrol vehicle auto lines; armed posts rated high risk | BSIS; Salt Lake County |
| HVAC, plumbing and electrical | Higher liability tiers for HVAC and three-phase or high-voltage electrical; completed-operations cover after the job; contractor’s bond | UC; Sonoma Template 7; CSLB |
Endorsements that make the limits count
A limit on paper protects you only if the policy wording reaches you. These ISO endorsements, named by form number, are what most commercial contracts ask for:
- CG 20 10: additional insured status for ongoing work. It does not reach completed work on its own.
- CG 20 37: additional insured status for completed work. The County of Sonoma rejects versions limited to the current policy period.
- CG 20 26: a designated person or organization form, broad and common on service contracts.
- CG 20 11: managers or lessors of premises, the form used with leases.
- CG 20 01: primary and noncontributory, so the contractor’s policy pays first and yours only after it.
- Waiver of subrogation: on workers’ comp through the California endorsement, and on general liability and auto where the contract requires it.
Ask for the endorsement pages themselves. The City of San Diego’s insurance checklist and the state’s Department of General Services both treat them as documents separate from the certificate.
What a certificate of insurance proves
The standard certificate is the ACORD 25, edition 2016/03. It lists the agency, the insured, each insurer with its NAIC number, every policy with its number, dates and limits, check columns for additional insured and waived subrogation, a box describing operations or locations, the certificate holder and a signature.
What it does not do matters more. The form says it is for information only and gives the holder no rights, and California Insurance Code 384 requires a certificate to state that it does not amend, extend or alter the coverage. Additional insured status and a waiver come from endorsements, not from a checkmark. Cancellation notice under Insurance Code 677.2 goes to the named insured and the agent, not to you, so a notice right has to come from an endorsement that names you.
California workers’ compensation and the license link
California requires every employer to carry workers’ compensation, even with one employee, as the Division of Workers’ Compensation explains for employers. For licensed contractors, CSLB ties coverage to the license itself:
- Through December 31, 2027, an active license needs a workers’ comp certificate or self-insurance certification on file, or an exemption statement if the licensee has no employees.
- C-8 concrete, C-20 HVAC, C-22 asbestos abatement, C-39 roofing and D-49 tree service licenses cannot use the no-employee exemption.
- From January 1, 2028, under SB 1455, every active license needs a certificate or self-insurance certification on file; only a joint-venture license with no employees is exempt.
- If a contractor’s workers’ comp lapses, CSLB suspends the license, and work done while it is suspended counts as unlicensed.
Tracking certificates across vendors and buildings
Policies renew on their own dates, so a file that was complete at signing drifts out of date within a year. General practice is to log each contractor’s policy expiration dates, ask for the renewal certificate and endorsement pages before the old ones lapse, and check that the insured name matches the company on the contract. Portfolios with many vendors often hand this to software. The vendor compliance platform comparison looks at which tools check endorsements as well as certificates.
Putting the requirements into the contract
The list does its work only when the contract states it. Put the coverage lines, limits and endorsements in the solicitation so bidders price them, then attach the same list to the signed agreement as an exhibit with the right to ask for proof at renewal. Our janitorial RFP template builder has an insurance section ready for it, and the janitorial service agreement guide covers the operating terms that sit around it. The facility services vendor hiring kit shows where the insurance check falls in the full hiring sequence. Confirm the final wording with your broker and counsel.
Get help
Run the builder on us too. Continental carries insurance, bonding and workers’ compensation, and every client receives our certificate of insurance. If you are lining up janitorial, day porter or grounds service, send your requirement list with a quote request and we’ll book a walkthrough at a time that suits your building.
A few useful answers
Common questions
What insurance should a cleaning contractor carry for a commercial building?
Ask for general liability, auto liability, workers’ compensation and employer’s liability. Public buyers such as UC and LA County set $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate for general vendors, and add a crime or fidelity line when crews hold keys or handle property. Your broker sets the figures for your building.
Is a certificate of insurance enough proof of coverage?
No. The ACORD 25 is for information only and does not change the policy, and California Insurance Code 384 says so on every certificate. Additional insured status and a waiver of subrogation come from endorsements, so ask for those pages as well.
Which endorsement covers us after the work is finished?
ISO CG 20 37 covers completed work. CG 20 10 covers only ongoing work, so contracts that want protection after the job usually ask for both, and the County of Sonoma requires that cover for one year after completion.
What insurance must a California security company carry?
BSIS requires a private patrol operator to carry at least $1,000,000 per occurrence of general liability on an occurrence form, with BSIS as certificate holder. Professional liability and patrol vehicle limits are set by your contract; Salt Lake County’s matrix shows typical public-buyer figures.
Does a licensed contractor in California need workers’ comp with no employees?
Through 2027 most licensees with no employees can file an exemption, but C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and D-49 licenses cannot. From January 1, 2028, every active license needs coverage on file except a joint-venture license with no employees.