Blanket vs Scheduled Additional Insured: Which Is Right for Your Roofing Business?
If you do any commercial roofing work or subcontract under a general contractor, you are familiar with the request: "Add us as additional insured on your GL policy." This is one of the most common contract requirements in the roofing industry, and how you handle it -- blanket or scheduled -- affects your costs, your efficiency, and your ability to start jobs on time.
What Additional Insured Status Means
When a GC or property owner is named as an additional insured on your general liability policy, they gain certain coverage rights under your policy for claims arising from your work. If your crew damages a building while tearing off an old roof, and the property owner sues both you and the GC, the GC can tender their defense to your insurance carrier because they are an additional insured on your policy.
Additional insured status is not a gift of full coverage to the third party. It is limited to liability arising from your operations as the named insured. The GC gets coverage for claims caused by your roofing work, not for their own negligence unrelated to your operations. However, the exact scope of coverage depends on the specific additional insured endorsement language in your policy, which varies by carrier.
How Blanket Additional Insured Works
A blanket additional insured endorsement uses language such as "any person or organization that you are required to add as an additional insured under a written contract or agreement." This means that as long as you have a signed contract with a GC that requires you to name them as additional insured, they automatically receive that status under your policy without any further action.
For a busy roofing contractor who works with 10, 20, or 50 different GCs per year, this is enormously valuable. You do not need to call your agent for each new project. You do not need to wait for an endorsement to be processed. You do not risk starting work without the endorsement in place. As soon as the contract is signed, the additional insured status applies.
The blanket endorsement typically costs $150 to $500 per year as a flat addition to your GL premium. For a roofer handling 30 commercial projects per year, that is far cheaper than paying $50 to $100 per scheduled endorsement, which would total $1,500 to $3,000 annually.
How Scheduled Additional Insured Works
With a scheduled approach, you contact your agent each time a new party needs to be added to your policy as an additional insured. Your agent submits the request to the carrier, the carrier issues an endorsement naming the specific party, and the endorsement is added to your policy. This process typically takes 24 to 72 hours, though rush requests can sometimes be processed same-day.
The advantage of the scheduled approach is precision. You know exactly who is on your policy as an additional insured, and you can review each addition before it takes effect. If you work with the same GC on every project, a single scheduled endorsement at the beginning of the year covers all your work with that GC throughout the policy period.
The disadvantage is the administrative overhead. Every new GC, every new property owner, every new project that requires additional insured status means another call to your agent, another endorsement to process, and another delay before you can provide the certificate the GC is requesting. For a high-volume residential storm restoration company that might work with dozens of adjusters and property management companies in a season, the scheduled approach becomes unmanageable.
Which Endorsement Language Matters
Regardless of whether you choose blanket or scheduled, the specific endorsement form matters enormously. The most commonly requested forms are CG 20 10 (for ongoing operations) and CG 20 37 (for completed operations). Many GC contracts require both, meaning the GC wants additional insured status for claims arising from your work while it is in progress and after it is completed.
Some older or broader endorsement forms like CG 20 10 10 01 provide broader coverage to the additional insured than newer editions. GCs who are savvy about insurance will specify the exact endorsement form and edition date they require. Make sure your blanket endorsement or scheduled endorsement matches what the contract requires. If there is a mismatch between the contract requirement and your actual endorsement, the GC may not have the coverage they expect.
Real-World Scenario for Roofers
You win a $180,000 commercial re-roofing job as a sub for a GC. The GC's contract requires you to name them and the building owner as additional insureds with ongoing and completed operations coverage. If you have a blanket endorsement, you sign the contract, call your agent for a COI reflecting the requirement, and start work. Total delay: one business day for the certificate.
With scheduled endorsements, you call your agent, provide the GC's and owner's exact legal names and addresses, wait for the carrier to issue two separate endorsements, then request the COI reflecting both additions. Total delay: two to four business days, during which the GC may be pressing you to start work. If the GC has a tight schedule and you cannot produce the COI in time, you risk losing the job to a competitor who can.
The Completed Operations Question
One area where roofers need to pay special attention is completed operations additional insured coverage. Many standard blanket endorsements only provide ongoing operations coverage, meaning the GC is covered while your crews are on site but not after you finish the job. For roofing work, where defects can surface months or years after completion, the GC needs completed operations coverage to be protected against claims filed after you have moved on to the next job.
Ask your agent specifically whether your blanket additional insured endorsement includes completed operations. If it does not, you may need a separate endorsement or an upgraded blanket form. This is a detail that many roofers overlook and many GCs fail to verify until a post-completion claim arises and the coverage is not there.
Making Your Choice
If you work with more than three or four different GCs or property owners per year, a blanket additional insured endorsement is the clear winner. The annual cost is modest, the administrative savings are significant, and you eliminate the risk of starting work without the endorsement in place. If you work exclusively with one GC on a long-term basis, a single scheduled endorsement may be all you need. Either way, confirm that your endorsement includes both ongoing and completed operations coverage, because that is what your contracts almost certainly require.