What landlords require of professional offices: insurance clauses in an office lease and how a firm proves it meets them

What your landlord requires when the tenant is a professional office

QUICK ANSWER

An office lease typically requires general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate with the landlord, property manager and lender as additional insureds, replacement-cost property on furniture, equipment and tenant improvements, business income to carry rent through a closure, workers' compensation, and a waiver of subrogation on each policy. Towers and coworking operators often add an umbrella and ask for evidence of professional liability even though the lease does not depend on it.

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	$1M each occurrence / $2M general aggregate, landlord, property manager and lender as additional insureds, primary and non-contributory	Dec page limits and the additional insured endorsement form; the certificate holder box does not create additional insured status.
Property on furniture, equipment and improvements	Replacement cost on furniture, computers, servers, phones and any build-out the firm paid for; some leases set a minimum tied to the tenant improvement allowance	Business personal property and tenant improvements limits on the BOP, with electronic data processing or equipment breakdown for server rooms.
Business income and extra expense	Rent and continuing expenses through a covered closure, commonly twelve months, with extra expense for temporary space	Business income line on the property policy and its period of restoration; firms that bill hourly should confirm the limit reflects revenue, not rent alone.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory plus employers' liability of $500K or $1M	Information page of the workers' compensation policy, Part Two limits.
Umbrella in towers and coworking	$1M to $5M above general liability, auto and employers' liability in class A buildings and under coworking membership agreements	A separate umbrella scheduling each underlying policy.
Waiver of subrogation and notice	Waiver in favour of the landlord on liability, property and workers' compensation; thirty days' notice of cancellation	Endorsements on each policy; a live certificate handles the notice condition.
Professional liability (requested, not lease-driven)	Some landlords and most coworking operators ask to see errors and omissions coverage as part of vetting, typically $1M per claim	A professional liability dec page; it is a client requirement far more than a landlord one, but keep it with the lease certificates.

Requirement

What they usually ask for

How to check what you have

Commercial general liability

$1M each occurrence / $2M general aggregate, landlord, property manager and lender as additional insureds, primary and non-contributory

Dec page limits and the additional insured endorsement form; the certificate holder box does not create additional insured status.

Property on furniture, equipment and improvements

Replacement cost on furniture, computers, servers, phones and any build-out the firm paid for; some leases set a minimum tied to the tenant improvement allowance

Business personal property and tenant improvements limits on the BOP, with electronic data processing or equipment breakdown for server rooms.

Business income and extra expense

Rent and continuing expenses through a covered closure, commonly twelve months, with extra expense for temporary space

Business income line on the property policy and its period of restoration; firms that bill hourly should confirm the limit reflects revenue, not rent alone.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory plus employers' liability of $500K or $1M

Information page of the workers' compensation policy, Part Two limits.

Umbrella in towers and coworking

$1M to $5M above general liability, auto and employers' liability in class A buildings and under coworking membership agreements

A separate umbrella scheduling each underlying policy.

Waiver of subrogation and notice

Waiver in favour of the landlord on liability, property and workers' compensation; thirty days' notice of cancellation

Endorsements on each policy; a live certificate handles the notice condition.

Professional liability (requested, not lease-driven)

Some landlords and most coworking operators ask to see errors and omissions coverage as part of vetting, typically $1M per claim

A professional liability dec page; it is a client requirement far more than a landlord one, but keep it with the lease certificates.

What an office lease is protecting

An office landlord's exposure is the building and the other tenants: a visitor who falls in your suite, a fire that starts at your coffee machine, a tenant that cannot pay rent after a loss. The exhibit asks for liability with the landlord added, property on what you own and built, business income, workers' compensation and the waivers that keep a loss from turning into a lawsuit against the building.

The lines an office lease names

General liability carries the additional insured, primary and non-contributory and waiver endorsements. Property coverage names furniture, equipment and tenant improvements at replacement cost, and the better leases tie the minimum to the improvement allowance. Business income keeps rent flowing. Workers' compensation is statutory. Umbrellas appear in towers and in coworking agreements, and some landlords ask to see professional liability as part of vetting a firm even though the lease does not turn on it.

How to check your policies against the lease

Match the general liability limits and confirm the additional insured form covers the manager and lender named in the lease. Check the property schedule for improvements and business personal property at replacement cost, and whether server equipment needs its own coverage. Find the business income line and period of restoration. Confirm the waiver of subrogation on each policy and the umbrella schedule where required. Anything missing is a request to the carrier or a short quote.

Keep the certificate current

Office leases require a renewed certificate at each policy renewal and notice of cancellation. A live certificate link stays current and notifies the landlord when a line changes, with the official PDF attached, so the annual exchange becomes a link the property manager already has.

Questions people actually ask

We are a six-person consultancy in a shared suite. Does the lease still require all this?

Coworking and executive-suite agreements carry the same exhibit in shorter form: general liability with the operator added, property on your own equipment and workers' compensation. The operator's policy covers the building, not your laptops or your liability.

Why does the landlord's lender need to be an additional insured?

Because the lender holds the mortgage on the building and wants the tenant's liability policy to respond before it is drawn into a claim. Blanket additional insured endorsements cover lenders named in the lease.

Our firm's biggest asset is data. Does property insurance cover it?

Standard property forms cover hardware and offer limited electronic data coverage. Business income from a data loss and the cost of restoring records usually sit in a cyber policy, which the lease does not require but clients often do.

Do we need business income if we could work from home after a loss?

The lease wants rent paid during a closure regardless of where you work, and extra expense pays for the temporary space and equipment that keep billing going. Most firms carry both.