GL vs. Builder's Risk
Builder's risk protects the structure being built. Your GL protects against your liability as the contractor building it. Here's why masons often confuse the two.
On a construction site, there are two separate insurance conversations happening at once: one about the structure being built, and one about your liability as the contractor building it. Masons often hear "builder's risk" mentioned on a job and assume it's a substitute for their own coverage. It isn't — it protects something entirely different.
Builder's risk insurance covers the structure under construction itself — the materials, the work in progress — against fire, weather, theft, and vandalism during the build. It's typically purchased by the property owner or the general contractor, not by individual subcontractors, and it responds to physical loss of the project itself, not to a liability claim against any particular sub.
Your general liability responds to third-party bodily injury and property damage caused by your work — a worker from another trade injured near your scaffolding, a structural issue discovered after your work is buried behind finishes. See our GL page for the full breakdown. Builder's risk doesn't cover any of this; it's a completely separate protection for a completely separate risk.
The property owner or GC usually carries builder's risk for the project as a whole. Every masonry sub working on that job still needs their own GL policy — being listed on the project's builder's risk policy doesn't substitute for your own liability coverage, and GCs know this, which is why they still require your own COI regardless of what builder's risk is in place.
A mason hears that a job "has builder's risk coverage" and assumes their own insurance requirement is softer as a result. It isn't — a GC's builder's risk policy protects the GC's and owner's investment in the project, not your liability exposure as a sub. These misunderstandings tend to surface at the worst possible time, mid-claim, rather than before the job starts.
Whether or not a job carries builder's risk coverage doesn't change what your own GL policy needs to cover. Tell us your typical project types and scope, and our agents will make sure your coverage is sized correctly independent of whatever the GC or owner has in place.
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FAQ
Yes, absolutely. Builder's risk covers the structure under construction; it doesn't cover your liability if your work causes injury or property damage to a third party. GCs require your own GL regardless of what builder's risk is in place.
Usually the property owner or the general contractor, covering the project as a whole — not individual subcontractors like masons.
Generally no — builder's risk covers the structure and materials being built, not a subcontractor's own tools and equipment. That needs separate tools and equipment coverage.
No — being mentioned on a builder's risk policy doesn't substitute for your own liability coverage. GCs will still require your own certificate of insurance.
No — the two policies address entirely different risks. Your GL limits should be sized to your actual liability exposure regardless of what builder's risk coverage exists on the project.
Tell us your typical project types — our agents will make sure your coverage is right, regardless of what builder's risk exists on the job.