What Is a Certificate of Insurance on a Solar Construction Site?

Before a subcontractor ever sets foot on a utility-scale solar project, there’s a stack of paperwork that has to be in order: contracts, licenses, bonds, and one document that tends to get overlooked until something goes wrong – the certificate of insurance (COI).

If you’re managing the commercial side of a solar construction project, knowing how to read and verify a COI is one of the most practical ways to protect your company before work begins. As you’ll learn in the clip below, there’s an important distinction between what a COI tells you and what it actually guarantees.

In his course “Pre-Construction in Utility-Scale Solar,” HeatSpring instructor Andy Nyce, Senior Director of Project Management at Erthos, breaks down exactly what to look for.

Transcript below.

A certificate of insurance is a document issued by the subcontractor’s insurance broker, summarizing their current coverage. It’s the standard document you’ll receive and verify during pre-qualification and at contract execution.

Here’s what to check:

Coverage types and limits. Do they meet the minimums specified in your subcontract?

Policy dates. Are the policies in force for the full duration of the project?

Additional insured status. Is your company listed as an additional insured on the sub’s GL and auto policies? This means your company has coverage under their policy if a claim arises from their operations.

Waiver of subrogation. This prevents the insurer from pursuing your company to recover money after paying a claim. It’s standard on commercial construction and should be explicitly required.

30-day cancellation notice. You need to know before a policy lapses mid-project – not after something happens on site.

There’s an important caveat about certificates of insurance that not everyone understands, and it matters for how you approach verification on large contracts. A COI is a summary document. It’s produced by the sub’s broker and summarizes the coverage as described – but it is not the policy itself, and it does not guarantee that coverage actually exists as described in the certificate.

For large contracts – say, above a million dollars in contract value – you should request the actual policy endorsements from the insurer, confirming additional insured status and waiver of subrogation. The endorsement is the document that actually creates the coverage. The COI tells you about it. That’s an important distinction.

Build the right requirements into your subcontract upfront: annual renewal of certificates throughout the project duration, 30-day written notice of cancellation or material change, and notification of any claims that may affect coverage availability. If a sub’s policy lapses mid-project, you want to know about it before something happens – not because of it.

Insurance is just one piece of the pre-construction puzzle. Andy’s course covers the full foundation you need to build before construction starts – from subcontractor pre-qualification and RFPs to bonding, licensing, subcontract terms, and managing subs through active construction.

Enroll your team in Pre-Construction in Utility-Scale Solar!