A general contractor’s subcontract typically requires a roofing sub to carry general liability at the limits it sets, workers compensation, and commercial auto, plus additional-insured status naming the general contractor for both ongoing and completed operations — all proven by a certificate of insurance, and sometimes backed by a waiver of subrogation and higher limits through an umbrella.
The short version: the general contractor sets the terms, the requirements are predictable, and the job of a roofing sub is to match its actual coverage to what the insurance exhibit demands before signing. This post walks each requirement qualitatively — it names no specific limits, because those are the general contractor’s to set, and it does not re-teach the additional-insured endorsement mechanics, which the additional insured for roofing contractors post owns in full. For how each line is built, the coverage overview and the individual coverage pages carry the detail.
General liability at the limits the contract sets
The anchor of almost every roofing subcontract is general liability, carried at the limits the general contractor specifies. This post does not name those limits, because there is no universal number — a general contractor sets them in its insurance exhibit based on the project, the owner’s requirements, and its own risk tolerance, and a large commercial job will typically demand more than a small one. What is consistent is the reason: the general contractor wants assurance that if the roofing sub’s work causes bodily injury or property damage, there is a general-liability policy standing behind it, sized to the exposure. For a roofing sub, the practical task is to read the required limit against what the policy actually carries and close any gap before signing. The general liability page covers how the coverage itself is structured; the contract simply dictates how much of it the general contractor insists on seeing.
Additional-insured status — ongoing and completed operations
Beyond carrying its own general liability, a roofing sub is almost always required to name the general contractor as an additional insured on that policy — and for roofing, that status usually has to reach both ongoing and completed operations. The reason is that a general contractor can be drawn into a claim arising from a sub’s work, and additional-insured status lets it seek protection under the sub’s policy for that exposure rather than only its own. Roofing’s long tail on finished work makes the completed-operations piece especially important, and it is the part most often missed. The specific endorsement mechanics — which forms do what, and why ongoing and completed operations take separate treatment — are exactly what the additional insured for roofing contractors post explains, so this post does not repeat them. The point here is simpler: a subcontract will demand the status, it will usually want both operations covered, and a certificate that shows only part of it is a gap waiting to surface. A general contractor often also asks for a waiver of subrogation — an agreement that your insurer will not later pursue the general contractor to recover a paid claim — so it is worth confirming your policy permits one before you sign it into a contract. And remember that the certificate arriving at the general contractor’s office is only evidence the coverage exists; the protection itself lives on the policy and its endorsements, which is exactly why matching the two before your crew mobilizes is the whole task.
Workers compensation — often required regardless of state law
Nearly every general contractor requires a roofing sub to carry workers compensation, and it often requires it even where state law would let the sub opt out. A state may treat comp as elective for certain employers, but a general contractor’s subcontract can — and frequently does — mandate it anyway, because the general contractor does not want an injured worker from a sub’s crew becoming its own liability or its own comp claim. On a fall-driven trade, this is not a formality: workers compensation is the coverage that responds to the exposure most likely to produce a severe loss on a roof. So the requirement lands hard, and it lands regardless of what the state minimum happens to be. Read the subcontract’s comp requirement alongside your state’s own rule rather than assuming one cancels the other, and see the workers’ compensation page for how the coverage is built.
Commercial auto for the crew trucks
A subcontract will also expect commercial auto coverage on the trucks a roofing crew drives and tows to the site. A general contractor is concerned with vehicles operating on and around a jobsite it controls, and a roofing sub’s loaded trucks are part of that picture, so the insurance exhibit typically calls for auto liability at a stated limit. As with the other lines, the required limit is the general contractor’s to set and this post names none. The requirement is easy to overlook because it is not about the roof itself, but a subcontract that lists commercial auto and a sub that carries only a personal or under-limit policy is a mismatch that surfaces at exactly the wrong moment. The commercial auto page covers how the coverage works; the subcontract simply establishes that the general contractor wants to see it in force.
Waivers, umbrella limits, and the higher requirements
On larger jobs a subcontract adds two more demands that trip up roofing subs carrying thin policies. The first is a waiver of subrogation — an endorsement under which your insurer gives up its right to recover from the general contractor after paying a claim, so a loss stays where the contract placed it. The second is higher limits than a primary general-liability or auto policy usually carries, which a sub reaches by layering umbrella or excess coverage on top of its primary lines. A subcontract states the total limit it wants rather than a figure this post would name, and the sub stacks umbrella to meet it. Both requirements share a theme: they are added by the contract, they may not be present on a policy bought purely on price, and they need to be confirmed before signing rather than discovered when the certificate is rejected. If a required limit exceeds what your primary coverage provides, umbrella is generally the practical way to close the gap.
The certificate of insurance — evidence, not coverage
Every requirement above ultimately gets proven with a certificate of insurance, and it is worth being precise about what the certificate does. It is a dated snapshot reporting that the policies and endorsements exist — it is not the policy, and it is not the endorsement itself. The additional-insured protection a general contractor wants lives on the endorsement attached to your policy; the certificate only reports that the endorsement is there. That distinction is where roofing subs get caught: a certificate can be issued showing a requirement that the underlying policy does not actually satisfy, and the gap does not appear until a claim tests it. Which is why matching the actual policy to the contract — not just producing a certificate that lists the right boxes — is the step that counts, and the one a general contractor’s risk manager is increasingly likely to verify.
Real-World Scenario: A roofing sub wins a spot on a commercial job and the general contractor sends over its insurance exhibit. The sub carries solid general liability, workers compensation, and commercial auto, and its agent issues a certificate the same day. But the exhibit requires additional-insured status for both ongoing and completed operations, and the sub’s policy names the general contractor only for ongoing operations — the completed-operations piece was never added. The certificate lists additional-insured status, so it looks satisfied, but the general contractor’s risk manager asks for the actual endorsement, spots the gap, and holds the sub off the roof until it is fixed. The coverage was almost right; the one line most often left half-met was the line that stalled the start.
Read the exhibit before you sign
Taken together, the pattern is clear: a general contractor sets the terms, the roofing sub carries and proves the coverage, and the work goes to the sub that can actually meet the exhibit. Read the insurance requirements against your own general liability, workers’ compensation, and commercial auto before you sign, confirm the additional-insured and any waiver and umbrella terms your policy can support, and treat the additional insured endorsement detail as required reading, since it is the requirement most often left half-met. When you want to build a program that clears the subcontracts you actually bid, start a quote and bring the general contractor’s insurance exhibit — matching the coverage to the contract is far cheaper before the job than after a claim, and it is often what decides whether your crew gets to start.