Third-party injury and damage
A subcontractor, a passerby, or a client's finished floor gets hurt or damaged on your jobsite.
Construction and Contractors Insurance
We build the coverage around the job, from artisan trades to general contractors running complex projects.
We shop the market for you, no broker fees
Builders Mutual
Contractors and builders
Travelers
Construction businesses
Markel
Specialty construction
Chubb
Construction casualty
The Hartford
Small contractors
AmTrust
Construction workers compensation
Great American
Construction programs
Kinsale
Hard to place contractors
How it works
10 minute form
A few questions about your business or home.
We shop the market
We compare carriers and read the forms line by line.
Pick the best policy
We explain what is covered, what is not, and what it costs.
Construction and Contractors
- Third-party injury and damage
- Contracts and additional insureds
- Tools, equipment, and materials
- Employee injuries
What changes your premium
There is no flat rate for this coverage. These are the inputs a carrier prices against, and they are the same things the quote form asks you for.
- Trade classifications and exact scope of work
- Annual receipts and payroll by class
- Subcontractor costs and certificates
- Largest project and work at height
- Tools, equipment, and vehicle values
- Claims history and requested limits
Text us. We're by your side.
Common exposures in this line of work
Contracts and additional insureds
Owners and GCs demand you carry limits and name them as additional insured. Miss the endorsement and you lose the job.
Tools, equipment, and materials
Gear walks off the site, or materials are damaged before they are installed.
Employee injuries
The trades are physical work, and a crew member goes down.
Any trade that builds, installs or repairs, including:
- General contractors
- Framing and rough carpentry
- Concrete and masonry
- Roofing
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- HVAC and sheet metal
- Drywall and plastering
- Painting and coatings
- Flooring and tile
- Glass and glazing
- Excavation and grading
- Demolition
- Landscaping and hardscape
- Solar installation
- Fire protection and sprinkler fitting
- Millwork and cabinetry
- Paving and striping
- Fencing
- Restoration and remediation
The coverages this industry actually buys
General Liability
Third party claims are the base exposure on every jobsite. General liability responds when a passerby is injured, when a client's finished floor is damaged by your crew, or when completed work is blamed for a loss months after you left. It is also the policy owners and general contractors are named onto, so the endorsement you carry decides whether you clear the contract review.
Workers' Compensation
California licensed contractors must carry workers' compensation from January 1, 2026 whether or not they employ anyone, and any business with staff needs it the day the first employee starts. It pays medical treatment and lost wages after an injury and keeps that injury out of the courts. Uninsured subcontractors typically roll into your payroll at audit, which is where most contractors meet a bill they never priced.
Commercial Auto
Trucks, trailers, and the crew cab hauling tools between sites sit outside a personal auto policy the moment the use is commercial. Commercial auto answers liability for an at fault accident and pays physical damage on the units themselves. Hired and non owned coverage picks up the rented lift truck and the employee who runs to the supply house in their own car.
Commercial Umbrella
An umbrella sits above general liability and commercial auto and starts paying once the limit underneath is exhausted. Construction contracts routinely name a total limit rather than a primary one, so the umbrella is often the line item that makes a bid compliant. The schedule of underlying insurance is what decides which policies it actually sits over.
Excess and Surplus Lines
Roofing, demolition, excavation, and anything involving height or heat get declined by standard carriers on class alone. Surplus lines carriers write those risks, price each file individually, and are not bound to filed rates or filed forms. We take the submission to those markets when the admitted market says no, and we walk you through what the surplus form does differently before you bind.
Related from the Menlo Library
Questions we get asked
The longer answers, with the form numbers, live in the Library.
Which policies do construction and contractors businesses usually need?
The right program depends on the operation, but the lines we most often evaluate are General Liability, Workers' Compensation, Commercial Auto, Commercial Umbrella, and Excess and Surplus Lines. We confirm which exposures are present before recommending a policy, so you do not pay for a line simply because it appears on a standard checklist.
What information do you need to quote construction and contractors insurance?
Have your trades, annual receipts, payroll by class, subcontractor costs, project types, largest job, requested limits, and loss runs ready. A complete submission lets carriers evaluate the account on the actual operation and reduces follow-up questions before they can quote.
Can you help if a standard carrier already declined the account?
Often, yes. A decline does not guarantee another carrier will quote, but it tells us where the standard market stopped. We review the reason, improve the submission where the facts support it, and approach specialty markets when they are appropriate.
How do you compare the quotes you receive?
We compare the coverage form, limits, deductibles, exclusions, carrier financial strength, binding requirements, and total cost. The lowest premium is not the best option when the form removes the protection the business needs.
Get it placed by someone who reads the fine print
Start a quote and a licensed broker takes it from there, or talk to one now.