Contractor Learning Center

What a contractor should know before signing, hiring, or getting audited.

General liability, workers comp audits, certificates and additional insured, bonds, and subcontractors. Organized by topic, written and reviewed by Richard Sweet. New here? Start with the glossary.

Start here

The five guides every contractor should read.

Guide

The Complete Guide to Contractor Insurance

The whole stack, the common gaps, and how it changes by trade.

Guide

Certificates, Additional Insured & Risk Transfer

How contractors actually transfer risk, on paper and in fact.

Guide

The Workers Comp Audit Guide

Pass the audit without the surprise bill.

Guide

The Licensing & Bond Guide

License bonds, contract bonds, and why a bond is not insurance.

Guide

How to Review Your Contractor Insurance

A practical checklist for reading your own coverage.

Guides

Start-to-finish walkthroughs of the coverage and contracts that matter on a job.

Guides

What Insurance Do Contractors Need?

A plain-language checklist of the coverages most contractors need, general liability, workers comp, commercial auto, tools, umbrella, and bonds, and how the stack changes by trade and contract.

Cost and pricing

What drives contractor premiums and audits, and where you can actually save.

Cost and pricing

The Contractor Workers Comp Audit, Explained

Why contractors get surprise workers comp bills at audit, misclassified payroll, wrong class codes, and uninsured subcontractors, and how to prepare so the year-end true-up is accurate.

Cost and pricing

How Much Does Contractor Insurance Cost?

Contractor insurance cost is driven by your trade, payroll, revenue, claims, vehicles, and the limits your contracts require. Here is what moves the number and what you can control.

Coverage explained

Plain-language breakdowns of the coverages and endorsements behind your contracts.

Coverage explained

What Is Additional Insured, and Why Do Contractors Need It?

Additional insured status extends your coverage to a client or GC for claims arising from your work. Why contracts require it, how it differs from a certificate, and what completed-operations AI means.

Common questions

Straight answers to what contractors ask us most, on subs, certificates, and bonds.

Common questions

Certificates of Insurance for Contractors, Explained

What a certificate of insurance proves, what it does not, and how contractors should handle COI and additional insured requests from clients and general contractors.

Common questions

Do I Need Workers Comp if I Use Subcontractors?

Using subcontractors does not remove your workers comp exposure. Uninsured subs can be charged to your policy and fall to your liability. What contractors should require and verify.

Problems and gaps

Where contractor coverage quietly fails: exclusions, uninsured subs, missing wording.

Problems and gaps

General Liability Exclusions Every Contractor Should Know

Contractor general liability carries exclusions that can void coverage for your core work: residential, subcontractor, action-over, height, and EIFS among them. Here is what to check.

Compare your coverage

It's not a quote. It's a coverage review.

Answer a few questions about your trade and contracts and get a clear read in minutes. We will flag the exclusions, the missing endorsements, and the subcontractor gaps. No pressure, no obligation.

Compare your coverage Or just get a quote

We match coverage to your trade and the contracts you sign

We find the exclusions and the missing endorsements

We confirm your class codes and your subcontractor process

You get a clear read on what a job or an audit would expose