General liability for Miami contractors: job sites, additional insureds, and the GC email

General liability is third-party: bodily injury and property damage you cause, plus personal and advertising injury, with a defense. A ladder that marks a client’s tile, a guest who trips on your drop cloth, a claim that you botched a description in an ad. It is not workers comp, not your tools, not the car, and not a warranty on your workmanship in the way people wish.

Completed operations is the part that still matters after you leave the job. Miami-Dade humidity, stucco, and roofs generate delayed complaints. If completed ops is excluded, you have a hole shaped like last year’s invoice.

Contracts ask to be additional insured on an ongoing and completed-ops basis, often CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 or their equivalents, plus primary/noncontributory and a waiver. We match the contract. A certificate that types their name in a box without the form is how you fail a site gate on Monday.

Every additional insured is not free in every market. Blanket AI endorsements exist. Scheduled ones exist. Send the contract page, not a summary of what you remember from the last job.

$500,000 is a hobby limit. $1 million per occurrence / $2 million aggregate is the adult starting point. Many GC and municipal jobs want $1M/$2M plus a $1 million or $2 million umbrella. If you bid county work, read the exhibit. We quote to the exhibit, not to last year’s policy.

Per-project aggregates matter when you have more than one job alive. A single aggregate can burn on job A and leave job B undressed. Ask. We will show you the form.

You are rated on class and exposure — payroll, receipts, or both. Under-report payroll to win a quote and you will meet the auditor. Over-class a clerical person as roofing and you will overpay. Miami trades mix W-2 and 1099 crews. Tell us who is an employee. Comp and GL both care, for different reasons.

Subcontractors need their own GL, and you need their certificates. Uninsured subs become your payroll in some audits. That surprise is more expensive than asking them in March.

Business lines go to an advisor. Start a quote, pick business or liability, send the contract if you have a bid due. We write the certificate the way the GC asked — when the policy actually has the endorsement.

If you also need inland marine for tools, commercial auto, and comp, say so. A GL-only shop that drives a drop of materials on 826 is not GL-only.