A certificate of insurance on file is not the same as coverage.
Before a contractor mobilizes, confirm the four things a certificate cannot prove — indemnity, additional insured on the endorsement, no Labor Law or height exclusion, and real cancellation notice — so the risk actually sits with the contractor.
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Written for NYC condo and co-op boards running contractor work
The problem: a certificate on file feels like protection
Most boards collect a COI, file it, and release payment. The document that feels like proof of coverage is explicitly not — and the gaps only surface after someone is hurt or a policy lapses.
The certificate confers no rights
The standard ACORD form says on its face it is “issued as a matter of information only” and “confers no rights upon the certificate holder.” It proves a policy existed on the issue date — not that the board or building is actually covered.
Additional insured named on paper, not on the policy
The certificate line listing the board as additional insured is not what grants coverage — the endorsement is. Without the endorsement naming both the board and the building, the transfer may not exist when a claim lands.
A Labor Law exclusion can leave the building exposed
In New York, an injured contractor employee can pursue the building owner under Labor Law §§ 240/241. A Labor Law or height exclusion on the contractor’s policy quietly defeats the transfer — and it is read on the policy, never on the certificate.
What's inside
A two-page checklist any board member or manager can run before releasing payment — then confirm with a broker.
The six-item risk-transfer packet
Indemnity, additional insured (board + building), a current COI, no Labor Law or height exclusion, named cancellation notice, and adequate limits — the set to confirm before a contractor starts.
How to read the cancellation line
“Endeavor to mail” and “in accordance with the policy provisions” often mean no guaranteed notice before coverage lapses. What to ask for instead.
Where additional-insured status actually lives
Why you ask for the endorsement, not the certificate — and what primary, non-contributory, and completed-operations mean for a board.
What to hand your broker or counsel
BoardRecord records what was received and flags the gaps; your broker and counsel confirm coverage. This checklist is the hand-off between the two.
Make your next contractor payment defensible
See how BoardRecord flags a risk-transfer gap before payment.