General liability insurance, often called commercial general liability (CGL), is the foundational coverage every roofing contractor must carry. It protects your business against third-party claims for bodily injury, property damage, and personal or advertising injury that arise from your operations. If a piece of flashing blows off during installation and damages a neighboring vehicle, or a homeowner trips over your materials staged in the driveway, your CGL policy responds to those claims.
For roofers, general liability is almost always the first coverage a general contractor or property owner will ask about. Standard CGL policies are written on an occurrence basis with limits of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, though many commercial projects require higher limits achieved through an umbrella or excess policy. Your policy also includes products-completed operations coverage, which protects you after the job is finished if a defect in your work causes damage later.
When a GC requires proof of general liability on your certificate of insurance, they want to confirm you carry enough coverage to protect them from downstream liability created by your work on their project. Without it, you cannot pull permits in most jurisdictions, bid on commercial work, or satisfy subcontractor prequalification requirements.