Resources
Everything we publish is written for one person: the general contractor who has just been handed someone else’s certificate of insurance and has to decide whether a crew starts Monday.
Almost every page on the internet about certificates of insurance is written for the business that has to provide one. That is the opposite side of the transaction from yours, which is why so much of it reads like it is answering someone else’s question. These are written from your side.
Field notes
Current operating questions, product decisions, and small experiments that do not belong in an evergreen guide. Sources and the editorial method are visible on every post.
Decode your subcontract clause
A subcontract asks for insurance in one dense sentence. Each of these takes one phrase out of it and says what to actually collect to prove it — usually a named endorsement, not the certificate.
- …with a waiver of subrogation…Waiver of subrogationYour sub's insurer giving up its right to come after you for money it paid on a claim — so the loss stops there.
- …shall name Contractor as an additional insured under Subcontractor's commercial general liability policy…Additional insuredAdditional insured status puts you on your sub's liability policy, so their insurer defends and pays claims caused by their work — not yours.
- Prior to commencing work, Subcontractor shall furnish a certificate of insurance evidencing the coverages and limits required under this Agreement.Certificate of insurance (COI)A certificate tells you that on the day your sub's agent typed it, a policy with those numbers appeared to exist. Nothing further.
Guides to the whole job
Longer reads for the parts that aren’t a definition — choosing a system, deciding what to require, and what to do when a certificate lapses mid-job.
- A COI tracking spreadsheet that actually holds upFree, no email required. The columns below are the ones that turn out to matter, and the file is a header row you can fill in immediately.
- Checking a subcontractor's license — and why the card is not the checkA sub sent you a photo of their contractor license. It is a photograph of a status that can change the next day — the card proves the number existed; only the board's register proves it is live today.
- COI tracking software: what a small GC actually needsMost tools in this category were built for enterprise vendor-risk teams. If you're a small general contractor with a few dozen subs, here's the shorter list of what actually matters — and what you can safely ignore.
Comparisons and tools
Honest comparisons against the ways of working you already have, and what any of it actually costs.
- Sealinn vs. a folder and a calendarMost contractors start here, and for a while it is genuinely enough. This is what stops being true as the list grows.
- Sealinn vs. a spreadsheetA spreadsheet is free and familiar. Here is where it holds up — and where it quietly lets a lapsed certificate through.
- Sealinn vs. an outsourced serviceHanding the chasing to someone else buys back the hours and gives up the room to decide. Here is where that trade actually lands.
- What COI tracking actually costsThree costs, only one of which arrives as an invoice. The arithmetic, with your own numbers rather than an invented industry average.
- Free COI tracking templateThe spreadsheet to use until you outgrow it — and when you do, the same columns import straight into Sealinn. No email required.
Before you trust us with any of it
Two pages worth reading before you upload a single subcontractor’s paperwork: how your data is isolated and what you can export if you ever leave, and what it costs — published, with no call required.
Turn the checklist into a recorded review.
Upload a COI, complete the human review, record the customer decision, and use manually recorded supported dates for renewal reminders. Automated AI reading is currently unavailable.