Additional Insured – Completed Operations
How often the general contractor denies “blanket” additional insured, or CG 20 38 Additional Insured-Owners, Lessees or Contractors – Automatic Status for Other Parties When Required in a Written Construction Agreement? The problem is that in the construction contract between the general contractor and subcontractor, the subcontractor may be required to include the general contractor as an additional insured for completed operations coverage for a period of six years after the subcontractor’s work is finished. While the current “blanket” additional insured endorsement CG 20 38 does meet a portion of the insurance requirements – to protect the additional insured for certain bodily injury or property damage claims that take place during the project – the CG 20 38 specifically excludes any bodily injury or property damage that takes place after her customer’s work is finished.
And why in the world would a general contractor want to be an additional insured six years after the subs work is finished? Let’s review an example that shows the rationale behind completed operations coverage for an additional insured.
Example: A general contractor has been hired to remodel a building. Much of the work, such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and site preparation, is completed by trade subcontractors hired by the general contractor. Eight months after the building has been completed by the general contractor and put to use as an office space, a small fire breaks out in the mechanical room, injuring two workers of the office. When it is determined that the fire was the result of sloppy electrical work, the general contractor is sued by the injured people for bodily injury.
Additional Insured – Completed Operations CG2037
On the other hand, if the electrical subcontractor had listed the general contractor as an additional insured on its policy using CG2037 – Additional Insured – Owners, Lessees or Contractors – Completed Operations, the general contractor would have been covered as an additional insured by the electrical contractor’s CGL policy, provided the electrical contractor’s acts or omissions, at least in part, caused the bodily injury to the workers.Read More »Additional Insured Endorsements – After the Work is Done