What landlords require: insurance in a commercial lease and how to prove you meet it

What your landlord's lease actually requires

QUICK ANSWER

A commercial lease almost always requires general liability with the landlord named as additional insured, property coverage on your improvements and contents, and workers' compensation. Many add a waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory wording, an umbrella for larger spaces, and thirty days' notice of cancellation. The exact limits are in the lease's insurance clause or an exhibit.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 11, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Typical requirements and how to check them
Requirement	What they usually ask for	How to check what you have
Commercial general liability	A per-occurrence limit and a general aggregate, commonly $1M / $2M, with the landlord (and often its lender and property manager) as additional insured	Dec page: the 'each occurrence' and 'general aggregate' lines. Additional insured status is an endorsement form, blanket or scheduled; a certificate alone does not create it.
Property on tenant improvements and contents	Replacement cost on your build-out, fixtures, equipment and inventory; sometimes a stated minimum	Property section of the BOP or property policy: 'business personal property' and 'tenant improvements and betterments' with a replacement-cost valuation.
Business income / interruption	Enough to keep paying rent through a covered shutdown; some leases name a number of months	A 'business income' or 'actual loss sustained' line on the property policy, with the period of restoration.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory workers' compensation plus employers' liability limits, often $500K / $500K / $500K or $1M	The workers' compensation policy's information page: Part One is statutory; Part Two lists the three employers' liability limits.
Umbrella or excess liability	An extra layer above general liability, commonly $1M to $5M in larger buildings or ground-floor retail	A separate umbrella policy that schedules your general liability, auto and employers' liability as underlying policies.
Waiver of subrogation	In favour of the landlord on liability, property and workers' compensation	An endorsement form on each policy (blanket where the carrier allows it). Shows on the certificate as a checked box only when the form exists.
Primary and non-contributory	Your liability policy responds first, before the landlord's	An endorsement form on the general liability policy; many carriers include it in a blanket additional insured endorsement.
Notice of cancellation	Thirty days' written notice to the landlord (ten for non-payment)	Carriers handle this by endorsement or not at all; a live certificate notifies the holder the moment a line changes.
Plate glass	Older leases still ask tenants to insure storefront glass	Often included in modern property forms; otherwise an inexpensive add-on.

Requirement

What they usually ask for

How to check what you have

Commercial general liability

A per-occurrence limit and a general aggregate, commonly $1M / $2M, with the landlord (and often its lender and property manager) as additional insured

Dec page: the 'each occurrence' and 'general aggregate' lines. Additional insured status is an endorsement form, blanket or scheduled; a certificate alone does not create it.

Property on tenant improvements and contents

Replacement cost on your build-out, fixtures, equipment and inventory; sometimes a stated minimum

Property section of the BOP or property policy: 'business personal property' and 'tenant improvements and betterments' with a replacement-cost valuation.

Business income / interruption

Enough to keep paying rent through a covered shutdown; some leases name a number of months

A 'business income' or 'actual loss sustained' line on the property policy, with the period of restoration.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory workers' compensation plus employers' liability limits, often $500K / $500K / $500K or $1M

The workers' compensation policy's information page: Part One is statutory; Part Two lists the three employers' liability limits.

Umbrella or excess liability

An extra layer above general liability, commonly $1M to $5M in larger buildings or ground-floor retail

A separate umbrella policy that schedules your general liability, auto and employers' liability as underlying policies.

Waiver of subrogation

In favour of the landlord on liability, property and workers' compensation

An endorsement form on each policy (blanket where the carrier allows it). Shows on the certificate as a checked box only when the form exists.

Primary and non-contributory

Your liability policy responds first, before the landlord's

An endorsement form on the general liability policy; many carriers include it in a blanket additional insured endorsement.

Notice of cancellation

Thirty days' written notice to the landlord (ten for non-payment)

Carriers handle this by endorsement or not at all; a live certificate notifies the holder the moment a line changes.

Plate glass

Older leases still ask tenants to insure storefront glass

Often included in modern property forms; otherwise an inexpensive add-on.

Where the requirement hides

Commercial leases put insurance in three places: the insurance clause itself, the indemnification clause that explains why the landlord wants it, and an exhibit that carries the actual numbers. Read all three. The exhibit is where you will find the per-occurrence limit, the aggregate, the additional insured wording and any notice period.

If the lease was drafted by a national landlord or a property manager, the insurance exhibit is usually a standard form reused across properties. The limits in it reflect the building, not your business, which is why a small café in a large downtown building can face the same asks as a law firm upstairs.

Reading the limit language

"Not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in the aggregate" means two numbers on your general liability dec page must be at least that high. "Combined single limit" refers to auto. "Each accident / disease–policy limit / disease–each employee" are the three employers' liability limits on a workers' compensation policy.

Leases sometimes allow an umbrella to make up the difference: "which limits may be satisfied by a combination of primary and umbrella coverage". When they do, an umbrella is usually the simpler fix.

Additional insured is not the same as certificate holder

The landlord appears on a certificate in two possible roles. As certificate holder, they simply receive the document. As additional insured, they are covered under your policy for claims arising from your operations in the space. The second one is what the lease is asking for, and it only exists if an endorsement is attached to the policy.

Carriers offer this two ways. A blanket additional insured endorsement covers anyone you are required by written contract to add, so new landlords and clients are covered automatically. A scheduled endorsement names each party individually and has to be amended each time. If your policy carries the blanket form, a live certificate can show the landlord's status immediately; if it does not, the carrier has to add it.

What to send the landlord

A certificate of insurance that lists each required policy with its carrier, policy number, dates and limits, shows the landlord as certificate holder, and references the endorsement forms that give additional insured, waiver and primary-and-non-contributory status. Attach the endorsements if the landlord's lender asks for them.

With a live certificate, the landlord gets a link instead of a file. It shows the same table, updates when a policy renews or cancels, and notifies the landlord when something changes, which is what the notice-of-cancellation clause was trying to achieve in the first place.

Questions people actually ask

Where is the insurance requirement in my lease?

Look for a section titled Insurance, Tenant's Insurance or Indemnification and Insurance, and for an exhibit or schedule referenced from it. Limits and the additional insured language are usually in the exhibit.

My certificate lists the landlord. Isn't that additional insured?

No. A certificate holder only receives the certificate. Additional insured status comes from an endorsement on the policy itself, and the certificate should reference that endorsement.

What is a waiver of subrogation and why does the landlord want one?

After paying your claim, your insurer can normally pursue whoever caused the loss. A waiver means it will not pursue the landlord. Landlords ask for it so a tenant's loss does not turn into a lawsuit against the building.

The lease asks for higher limits than my policy has. What now?

Either raise the limit on the policy or add an umbrella above it. Compare both; an umbrella often covers several policies at once and satisfies other contracts too.

How often do I need to send a new certificate?

Every time a policy renews or changes, which with a traditional PDF means at least once a year per policy. A live certificate link stays current, so you send it once.