Additional insured endorsement checklist

Start with the contract, not the certificate

Read the subcontract or vendor agreement first. Note who must be named, whether it is the general contractor, the owner, or both, and whether it asks for ongoing operations only or also completed operations. Note whether it asks for primary and noncontributory wording and a waiver of subrogation. Write those requirements in the document notes when you store the certificate, so the next reviewer is not guessing what good looks like.

Then look at the certificate. The certificate holder block should match the legal name the contract uses. A shorthand project name is not the same as the owner entity. The description of operations box often contains the additional insured sentence. Treat that box as a claim about the policy, and ask for the endorsement or the policy form when the contract says the certificate alone is not enough. Many contracts say exactly that.

What to compare on the form

Check the policy numbers and the effective and expiration dates against the lines you care about: general liability first, then umbrella if the contract stacks limits. An additional insured grant on a policy that expires in ten days is not a solved problem. Workers' compensation is usually not where additional insured status lives. Do not assume a waiver of subrogation on the liability policy also waives it on workers' compensation. Those are separate boxes and separate endorsements.

If the sub says they have blanket additional insured wording, ask which form, and whether it applies only when required by a written contract. A blanket endorsement that requires a written contract does not help you if your purchase order never said additional insured. Completed operations coverage, when the contract asks for it, is often a different form from the ongoing-operations endorsement. If you cannot see it, say you cannot see it. Accepting a certificate that merely mentions the words is how jobs start with a false sense that the owner is protected.

• Contract names first, certificate holder second.
• The description box is not the endorsement.
• Match dates to the policy line you are relying on.
• Ongoing operations and completed operations are different asks.
• Waiver of subrogation is its own question, including on workers' compensation.
• Primary and noncontributory wording is its own question.

Where the tracker fits

Appworks Compliance Tracker stores the certificate you accepted, the notes about which endorsement you saw, and the expiration. It reminds you at 30, 14, and 7 days. It does not parse the PDF for form numbers and it should not. When the renewal arrives through the update link, Review is where you check that the new form still matches the contract, not only that the date moved forward. A renewal that drops the additional insured line is a different document even if the expiration is next year.

Pricing is Starter $29 a month or $290 a year, Pro $59 or $590, Business $99 or $990. Annual is two months free. Limits are 25, 100, or 300 parties. The 7-day trial is for first-time subscribers only. If you want a line-by-line pass of an ordinary certificate before you get to endorsements, read what to check on a subcontractor COI. If your counsel wants different items on this list, edit the notes on the workspace. The checklist on this page is a starting reading order, not a warranty that any particular ISO form was issued.