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Florida General Contractor Insurance Frequent Questions

  1. Is insurance for General Contractor required in Florida?
  2. What is the price of General Contractor insurance?
  3. Who is Florida general contractor insurance for?
  4. Do I need Workers Comp and General Contractor liability insurance?
  5. We are a drywall business with less than 3 employees do we have to have workers comp?
  6. If you fail to make payments and your policy is canceled, it will be hard to get workers comp again?
  7. What other insurance should a General Contractors consider?
  8. Will be starting business in florida. Researching W/C find that each county in florida requires that contractor register and that they be named as “certificate holder”. Does this mean a seperate policy for each county or is there one policy with multiple counties named or all counties named?
  9. Can you provide insurance anywhere in the state?

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Is insurance for General Contractor required in Florida?

The state does not require Florida General Contractor Insurance. However, most counties require it. You should contact your county to find out if insurance is required. Also, find out about the required limits.

A full quote is easy and no obligation, but requires specific information about your business.

What is the price of General Contractor insurance?

Insurance for “handymen” or artisan contractors may start as little as $500. Insurance for small licensed general contractor businesses start at $1,000. The larger the business, the higher the risk and premium. It is based on annual sales, payroll, percentage of sub-contractors and type of construction.

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Who is Florida general contractor insurance for?

General contractors manage the construction of a new building or renovation to an existing building. They are in charge of not only the construction site, but also of the entire project. Normally, general contractors have an area of specialty. For example single family homes, commercial buildings, or specific types of buildings. Sometimes restaurants, factories or stadiums. Most have a set group of permanent employees, and then subcontract the remaining tasks to other specialty subcontractors. Businesses whose employees do no actual construction work are commonly called “paper” contractors. More often, however, they act as “prime” contractors, typically performing the framing carpentry, structural masonry, or metal building erection. Remaining jobs are subcontracted (“subbed out”) to others. Plumbing, heating, and electrical are collectively referred to as the mechanicals.

Once the land has been purchased and the design or architectural work has been done. The general contractor takes the project from the site or land preparation, through excavation and laying foundation. Also to the completion of the building, including the interior finish. Typically, the general contractor first turns the architect’s design into specifications. For work and materials, setting quality standards and also scheduling the phases of the project. As well as dictating insurance requirements for the project as a whole and for the subcontractors.

The contractor then lets bids (solicits competitive proposals) from potential subcontractors and suppliers. Together with the customer (the project owner), the general contractor then awards the bids to the successful subcontractors. It is also the general contractor’s responsibility to coordinate with all local and state ordinances, codes and zoning requirements. This includes purchasing the necessary permits and obtaining the necessary surety bonds.

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Will be starting business in Florida. Researching W/C find that each county in Florida requires that contractor register and that they be named as “certificate holder”. Does this mean a separate policy for each county or is there one policy with multiple counties named or all counties named?

Certificate holder is the name of the person or entity that the certificate of liability insurance is made out to. This does not confer any rights or coverage to the person or entity to whom it is made out. Basically a certificate of liability Insurance is an informal summary of the coverages on your policy.

Most municipalities (not only the counties) require that you provide proof of both liability and workers compensation insurance in order to obtain permits and/or a license. Workers compensation policies are written on a business as a whole. Certificates of liability insurance can be provided as many times as needed to any number of certificate holders as needed throughout the policy period.

Do I need Workers Comp and General Contractor liability insurance?

Single-man contractors may operate without workers compensation insurance. However, once the business hires any employees workers compensation insurance is required by the State of Florida. Active owners may exempt themselves from this requirement. General liability insurance is not specifically required by the State but is most likely required by the County. You should contact your county for General Contractor insurance requirements. You can find the online form to exempt yourself as an active owner here.

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We are a drywall business with less than 3 employees do we have to have workers comp?

Assuming that your business is in the state of Florida, yes a drywall business would be required to have Workers Compensation coverage from the first employee. Drywall is considered a construction classification.

If you fail to make payments and your policy is canceled. Is it hard to get workers comp again?

Unfortunately, YES!!! If you have current coverage do everything you can to keep it in place. It can be very difficult to purchase a policy if there is a lapse in coverage. Especially for construction class policies. You may be able to change insurance companies without a lapse. But once there is a lapse many insurance companies automatically decline.

What other insurance should a General Contractors consider?

Business Personal Property, Builders Risk, Employee Dishonesty, Surety Bonds, General Liability, Employee Benefits Liability, Umbrella Liability, Commercial Auto, Workers Compensation

I work in commercial construction. Can I include a contractor I hire with a 1099 on my workers comp insurance policy? A 1099 employee will have coverage under my policy without getting workers comp and liability insurance on their own. I want to expand my business but can’t afford to have workers as full time employees.

It may be very difficult to find coverage. The laws that govern Workers Compensation policies are written to be very broad and generally favor the injured individual, as they go up the ladder looking for coverage (e.g. employee of subcontractor gets hurt, goes to his boss who does not have the coverage in place, so then the subcontractors employee goes to the general contractors policy looking for coverage).

Most private insurance companies don’t want to write businesses with more than 10% subcontractors and want those subcontractors to be insured. The reason is simply claims. A 1099 Employee is not really an employee at all, but seen as an independent contractor. The only individuals/corporations receiving a 1099 should be independent contractors and they cannot be supervised (that is one of the tenants of being an independent contractor). Claims experience has shown that uninsured independent contractors create complicated and expensive claims and so insurance companies avoid them as much as possible.

If you would like to discuss the specifics of your situation feel free to contact our office.

Can you provide insurance anywhere in the state?

We have helped customers all across the state of Florida. Below are some of the cities we have done business in.

  • Jacksonville
  • Miami
  • Tampa
  • St. Petersburg
  • Orlando
  • Hialeah
  • Tallahassee
  • Fort Lauderdale
  • Port St. Lucie
  • Pembroke Pines
  • Cape Coral
  • Hollywood
  • Gainesville
  • Miramar
  • Coral Springs
  • Clearwater
  • Miami Gardens
  • Palm Bay
  • West Palm Beach
  • Pompano Beach

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