From McGriff-Williams Insurance, an independent agency in Gainesville since 1983. Where confidence grows.
A good subcontractor makes your job easier. A sub with a lapsed policy, a thin safety program or the wrong exclusions can land on your desk as a claim, an audit bill or a dispute with the owner. In Florida, that risk is more than theoretical: under section 440.10 of the Florida Statutes, if a subcontractor doesn’t carry workers’ comp, the contractor above it is liable for workers’ comp benefits for that sub’s employees. That’s why Florida law requires contractors to get proof of coverage, or a copy of an officer’s exemption certificate, from every sub.
Prequalification is how you find problems before work starts. Here’s a 10-point checklist you can adapt for your company. It’s a starting point for a conversation with your project team, your attorney and us, not a substitute for any of them.
1. Confirm the Florida License
Get the sub’s Florida contractor license number and type, and check it on the DBPR license search to confirm it’s active and matches the work you’re hiring them to do. A certified license is good statewide. A registered license is good only in the local areas where the contractor met local requirements, and only for that type of work. Note the expiration date in your file.
2. Verify Workers’ Comp, Not Just the Certificate
Ask for a workers’ comp certificate, then confirm it on the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation Proof of Coverage search, which shows the carrier, policy dates and exemptions. Print or download the search result for your file. Florida’s rule lists a Proof of Coverage screen print, or a copy of the policy’s information page, as acceptable evidence, while a certificate on its own generally needs confirmation from the producer or carrier, such as that screen print. For an exempt officer, get a copy of the exemption certificate or a screen print from the state’s Exemption search.
- An exemption isn’t a policy, and it isn’t a license. A Florida construction exemption lets a named corporate officer who owns at least 10% of the company (for an LLC, a member who owns at least 10%) opt out of workers’ comp, with no more than three exempt officers per company or group of affiliated companies, and it applies only to that person and the companies listed on the certificate. That person isn’t covered and can’t collect comp benefits. The exemption never covers the sub’s employees, and the officer must certify that any employees are covered by a policy. It’s valid only for its dates and the type of work listed on it. The certificate itself states that it is not a license issued by DBPR, so verify the license separately (see item 1). A sub with an exemption and employees on site still needs a workers’ comp policy. Check that the exemption names the same company you’re hiring.
- Employee leasing (PEO) arrangements need a closer look. The Division of Workers’ Compensation notes that only workers reported to and accepted by the PEO are covered. Ask the PEO to confirm who’s on its policy.
3. Check General Liability Limits Against Your Contract
There’s no single required minimum for a subcontractor’s general liability limits. Your contract sets the numbers. Compare the sub’s each-occurrence, general aggregate and products-completed operations limits with what your subcontract requires, and ask whether the policy has a per-project aggregate so another job can’t use up the limit.
4. Ask for the Endorsements, Not Just the Certificate
A certificate of insurance isn’t coverage. It’s informational and doesn’t change the policy. Ask for copies of the actual endorsements your contract requires and compare them with the contract:
- Additional insured status for ongoing operations
- Additional insured status for completed operations, kept in place long enough to match Florida’s statute of repose for construction claims: generally 7 years from the earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion or the date construction was abandoned if not completed (s. 95.11(3)(b), F.S.), or longer if your contract requires
- Primary and non-contributory wording
- Waiver of subrogation
Many blanket additional insured endorsements cover ongoing operations only, so check completed operations separately. Blanket endorsements also usually depend on a written contract signed before the loss, so get the subcontract signed before work starts.
5. Look for Red-Flag Exclusions
Some general liability policies carry exclusions or limitations that may not fit your job. Ask whether the sub’s policy has any of these, and review them with us:
- An exclusion for damage to work performed by the sub’s own subcontractors
- A limit on contractual liability that can undercut the indemnity you’re relying on
- Residential work, height or number-of-stories limitations
- Classification or designated-operations limitations that don’t match the work
- Exclusions for injuries to the sub’s own employees or other contractors’ workers, which can leave a gap for one of the most common jobsite claims
6. Confirm Umbrella and Auto Coverage
If your contract requires umbrella or excess limits, ask whether the umbrella follows form on additional insured status, so you’re an insured on the umbrella too. Confirm commercial auto limits and any additional insured or waiver of subrogation wording your contract requires.
7. Review the Safety Record
Ask for:
- The experience modification rate (EMR) for the last three policy years. A 1.00 is neutral. Below 1.00 is a credit (better-than-expected losses) and above 1.00 is a debit. Small or new firms that aren’t experience-rated have no mod and are often listed at 1.00, so a 1.00 doesn’t always mean average losses. An EMR is only one measure of safety, so look at the full picture.
- OSHA Form 300A summaries for the last three years, or a statement that the company is partially exempt because it had 10 or fewer employees, company-wide, at all times during the last calendar year. From the 300A you can calculate the total recordable incident rate: recordable cases ร 200,000 รท hours worked.
- OSHA citation history. You can also check OSHA’s public establishment search.
8. Ask About the Safety Program and Training
A written safety program should match the sub’s trade, not just sit on a shelf. Ask for the table of contents and look for the plans that fit the work, such as fall protection, ladders and scaffolds, hazard communication, silica and excavation. Ask about OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 training, named competent persons and how often the crew holds toolbox talks.
9. Ask How They Vet Their Own Subs
If your sub hires its own subcontractors, ask how it prequalifies them and whether it collects and verifies their coverage. Uninsured lower-tier subs can create the same workers’ comp and audit problems one level down.
10. Keep the File Current All Job Long
Prequalification isn’t a one-time event.
- Uninsured subs can show up at audit. Many general liability and workers’ comp carriers add what you paid subs who can’t show valid coverage to your premium base at audit, so you pay premium for their exposure. Florida’s rule requires you to get new evidence if a sub’s work continues past the expiration date on its policy or exemption. A certificate that expired mid-job can count as uninsured for the gap.
- Track expiration dates and get renewal certificates before the old ones lapse.
- Use the state’s tracking tool. The Division of Workers’ Compensation’s Construction Policy Tracking service emails you when a tracked sub’s workers’ comp policy or exemption changes. Insurers have up to 21 days to report changes, so there can be a delay.
A Word About Indemnity
Florida limits indemnity agreements in construction contracts (s. 725.06, F.S.). A promise to indemnify another party for damage caused in whole or in part by that party is void unless the contract includes a monetary limit that bears a reasonable commercial relationship to the contract and is part of the project specifications or bid documents, if any. Have your attorney draft or review the indemnity and insurance sections of your subcontract, and have your agent compare those insurance requirements with what each sub’s policy actually provides.
How We Can Help
Prequalification is stronger when your insurance program backs it up. McGriff-Williams Insurance can compare the insurance requirements in your subcontracts with your own general liability, workers’ comp and umbrella coverage, and help you understand what a sub’s policy may and may not do for you. We review insurance terms only, not a contract’s legal terms. That’s a job for your attorney. For our workers’ comp clients, we offer audit support, a safety training platform, OSHA support and access to live HR professionals.
Subcontractor certificates: for clients, tracking the certificates of insurance your subs give you.
Call (352) 371-7977 or request a quote.
McGriff-Williams Insurance
3501 W University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 371-7977 ยท Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
This checklist is general information for Florida contractors. It isn’t legal advice, and it doesn’t change or add to any insurance policy. Coverage depends on the actual policy forms and your contracts. Talk with your attorney about contract and indemnity questions, and with your agent about coverage questions.
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 440.10(1)(b) and (c) (contractor liability for an uninsured sub’s employees; duty to obtain proof of coverage or exemption): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/440.10
- Florida Statutes s. 440.05 (construction-industry exemptions; officer opts out and isn’t an employee; certificate states it is not a license): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/440.05
- Florida Statutes s. 440.02(11) and (18)(b)2 (officer definition, including LLC members owning at least 10%; construction exemption limited to three officers each owning at least 10%): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/440.02
- Rule 69L-6.032, F.A.C. (contractor requirements for subcontractor evidence of coverage or exemption): https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=69L-6.032
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, Proof of Coverage search: https://dwcdataportal.fldfs.com/ProofOfCoverage.aspx
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, Exemption search: https://dwcdataportal.fldfs.com/Exemption.aspx
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, Construction Policy Tracking: https://contractor.fldfs.com/
- Florida Statutes s. 95.11(3)(b) (statute of repose for construction): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/95.11 ; SB 360 (2023) analysis: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/360/Analyses/2023s00360.ju.PDF
- Florida Statutes s. 725.06 (construction contracts; limitation on indemnification): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/725.06
- OSHA, Recordkeeping (29 CFR Part 1904): https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping
- 29 CFR 1904.1 (partial exemption for employers with 10 or fewer employees): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-XVII/part-1904/subpart-B
- NCCI, ABCs of Experience Rating (1.00 unity; credits and debits): https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Documents/Academy_ABC_Exp_Rating.pdf
- DBPR license search: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp
- Florida Statutes s. 489.117 (certified vs. registered contractors): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/489.117
- NCCI, experience rating and procurement: https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Pages/II_E-Mod-Procurement.aspx
