COI tracking for roofing contractors

Labor crews are not your employees

A tear-off crew that brings its own foreman is a subcontractor. Their general liability and workers' compensation have to be in your file before they load the shingles, not after a fall. Some crews are used so often they feel like staff. The certificate still expires. Treat the crew's company as a party with its own dates, even if you pay them every week.

Crane and hoist companies, dumpster haulers, and the occasional sheet-metal fabricator are separate parties. Automobile liability matters for anyone who stages a truck on the street. Umbrella coverage is worth its own document when the GC's spec asks you to flow down a higher limit. Do not staple four coverages into one upload and call it the COI. When one line renews and the others do not, you need to see which date moved.

The certificate you send uphill

General contractors and property managers will ask for your firm's certificate with their name as certificate holder, sometimes with additional insured wording. That request is about your policy. Produce it from your broker and keep a copy on the company record so you know when your own expiration is coming. It is a different file from the tear-off crew's certificate. Mixing them is how you attach the crew's form to the GC's email.

Reminders at 30, 14, and 7 days are enough lead time to get a broker on the phone before a Monday start. The update link is for the crew, not for your broker, unless you want the broker to drop the renewed PDF straight into Review. You still accept the file before it replaces the current one. A renewed certificate that names the wrong certificate holder should not silently become the record.

• One party for each crew company, crane, and hauler.
• Split general liability, workers' compensation, and auto.
• Keep your own firm's expiration on the company record.
• Check additional insured wording against the contract, not against the email subject.

Seasonal volume and plan size

A steep-slope residential roofer with a few regular crews often fits Starter, 25 parties and 3 seats. A commercial roofer who also buys crane time, temporary roofs, and metal panels from several shops is usually Pro, 100 parties and 10 seats. Business covers 300 parties and 25 seats when production managers each run their own job list on one board. Annual price is two months free. Limits match monthly.

The product stores the certificate and the date. It does not tell you if a crew's class code is right or if a waiver of subrogation was actually endorsed. Use the additional insured checklist for that reading, and ask your broker when the contract language is stricter than the form in your hand. First-time subscribers get a 7-day trial. It is not added again for a shop that already subscribed.