Ask a contractor what general liability is for, and many will say it covers their work. It is closer to the opposite. GL is generally built to cover damage your work causes to other people and their property. The cost to fix the work itself is usually treated as your own risk of doing business. That gap is where good contractors get caught, because it runs against how the policy feels like it should work.
The line that matters
Picture two versions of the same problem. In the first, a fitting you installed fails. You come back, pull it out, and put in a new one. That is redoing your own defective work, and GL generally will not pay for it. In the second version, the same failed fitting floods the finished space below and ruins someone else’s floors and cabinets. That resulting damage to a third party’s property may be covered, subject to your policy terms. Same defect, two very different answers, and the difference is who and what got damaged.
Why carriers draw it this way
The quality of your work is something you control. Carriers generally do not want to guarantee it, because that would turn a liability policy into a performance warranty on every job you touch. So construction policies carry a set of provisions, often called your-work exclusions, that limit coverage for damage to work you performed. The intent is consistent even though the wording varies: GL responds to accidental damage to others, not to the craftsmanship you are paid to deliver.
Where this differs from the exclusions overview
This is a narrower point than the full list of construction exclusions. Our companion article on contractor general liability exclusions walks through the broader set, including residential, subcontractor, action-over, height, and pollution provisions. This article zooms in on one of the most misunderstood pieces of that list, the faulty-workmanship and your-work distinction, because it is the one contractors most often assume works the other way.
What this means for a callback
When a callback turns into something bigger, the your-work line usually decides how the policy responds. The part that is your own labor and materials to redo is generally on you. The part that is damage spilling into someone else’s property may be handled by the policy, subject to terms. Pricing a callback, and deciding when to report it, both get easier once you know which side of that line the loss sits on.
Trades most exposed to this
Any trade whose work sits underneath or upstream of other work feels this most. Plumbing and mechanical failures can send water into finished spaces. Roofing and exterior work can let weather into a structure. Concrete and framing can carry consequences into everything built on top. If your work becomes the foundation for other trades, a single defect can create both an uncovered redo and a covered third-party loss at the same time.
Questions to ask your advisor
- On my policy, what exactly falls under the your-work exclusions?
- If my defective work damages a third party, how would the policy generally respond?
- Does my trade create downstream damage risk that changes the picture?
- Are there other products or contract structures that address defect risk?
- How should I document a callback so I understand my coverage position?
Faulty workmanship is one of the few places where the policy behaves the way it does on purpose, and against a contractor’s intuition. GL is not a warranty on your craft. It is protection against the harm your work can do to others. Knowing that line before a callback grows into a claim is generally what keeps a bad day from becoming a bad month.
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