What landlords require of restaurants: the insurance clauses in a restaurant lease and how to prove you meet them

What your landlord requires when the tenant is a restaurant

QUICK ANSWER

A restaurant lease typically requires general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate with the landlord as additional insured on a primary and non-contributory basis, liquor liability if alcohol is served, replacement-cost property on the kitchen build-out and contents, business income to cover rent through a shutdown, workers' compensation, and a waiver of subrogation on every policy. Many add plate glass and an annual hood-suppression service certificate.

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; some food-hall and mall leases ask for $2M / $4M	Dec page: each occurrence and general aggregate lines. Additional insured status is an endorsement (blanket or scheduled), not the certificate holder box; primary and non-contributory is its own endorsement or part of the blanket form.
Liquor liability	$1M each common cause / $2M aggregate when beer, wine or spirits are served, with the landlord as additional insured	Either a liquor liability coverage part on the general liability policy or a separate policy. A standard CGL form excludes liquor liability for businesses that serve alcohol, so the certificate must show the line.
Property on tenant improvements and contents	Replacement cost on the kitchen build-out, hood and suppression system, walk-ins, furniture, smallwares and inventory; some leases set a minimum based on the build-out cost	Business personal property and tenant improvements and betterments limits on the BOP or property policy, with replacement-cost valuation and the spoilage and equipment breakdown endorsements that restaurants rely on.
Business income and extra expense	Enough to keep paying rent and payroll through a covered closure, commonly twelve months or actual loss sustained; some leases name the rent amount	A business income line on the property policy with its period of restoration; extra expense pays for temporary kitchens and relocation.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory coverage plus employers' liability of $500K or $1M per the three limits	The information page of the workers' compensation policy: Part One statutory, Part Two with the three employers' liability figures.
Umbrella or excess liability	$1M to $5M above general liability, auto and employers' liability in larger buildings, food halls and anywhere alcohol sales are a large share of revenue	A separate umbrella policy that schedules the general liability, liquor liability, auto and employers' liability policies underneath it.
Waiver of subrogation	In favour of the landlord on liability, property and workers' compensation	An endorsement on each policy; the certificate box is only accurate when the form is on the policy.
Hood and fire suppression maintenance	Semi-annual service of the kitchen hood suppression system by a licensed contractor, with the tag or certificate delivered to the landlord on request	Not an insurance policy: the service tag on the system and the contractor's report. Carriers underwrite restaurants on the same evidence, so keep it with the policies.

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; some food-hall and mall leases ask for $2M / $4M

Dec page: each occurrence and general aggregate lines. Additional insured status is an endorsement (blanket or scheduled), not the certificate holder box; primary and non-contributory is its own endorsement or part of the blanket form.

Liquor liability

$1M each common cause / $2M aggregate when beer, wine or spirits are served, with the landlord as additional insured

Either a liquor liability coverage part on the general liability policy or a separate policy. A standard CGL form excludes liquor liability for businesses that serve alcohol, so the certificate must show the line.

Property on tenant improvements and contents

Replacement cost on the kitchen build-out, hood and suppression system, walk-ins, furniture, smallwares and inventory; some leases set a minimum based on the build-out cost

Business personal property and tenant improvements and betterments limits on the BOP or property policy, with replacement-cost valuation and the spoilage and equipment breakdown endorsements that restaurants rely on.

Business income and extra expense

Enough to keep paying rent and payroll through a covered closure, commonly twelve months or actual loss sustained; some leases name the rent amount

A business income line on the property policy with its period of restoration; extra expense pays for temporary kitchens and relocation.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory coverage plus employers' liability of $500K or $1M per the three limits

The information page of the workers' compensation policy: Part One statutory, Part Two with the three employers' liability figures.

Umbrella or excess liability

$1M to $5M above general liability, auto and employers' liability in larger buildings, food halls and anywhere alcohol sales are a large share of revenue

A separate umbrella policy that schedules the general liability, liquor liability, auto and employers' liability policies underneath it.

Waiver of subrogation

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

An endorsement on each policy; the certificate box is only accurate when the form is on the policy.

Hood and fire suppression maintenance

Semi-annual service of the kitchen hood suppression system by a licensed contractor, with the tag or certificate delivered to the landlord on request

Not an insurance policy: the service tag on the system and the contractor's report. Carriers underwrite restaurants on the same evidence, so keep it with the policies.

Why restaurant leases ask for more

Landlords price restaurant risk into the lease: cooking fires, slips in a busy dining room, alcohol service and the cost of rebuilding a kitchen. The insurance exhibit reflects that, with liability limits above the building's retail standard, a liquor liability line that a dry retailer never sees, and property language that names the hood, suppression system and walk-ins. Read the exhibit, not just the insurance clause, because the numbers live there.

The lines a restaurant lease names

General liability carries the additional insured, primary and non-contributory and waiver endorsements. Liquor liability is separate from the standard general liability form, which excludes alcohol claims for businesses in the business of serving it. Property coverage on the build-out matters because tenant improvements usually belong to the tenant for insurance purposes even when the landlord keeps them at the end of the term. Business income is the line that keeps rent flowing after a kitchen fire; landlords ask for it because a tenant that cannot pay rent during a rebuild defaults.

How to check your policies against the lease

Pull the dec pages for general liability, liquor liability, property and workers' compensation. Match each occurrence and aggregate limit to the exhibit. Confirm the additional insured form by number, not by the certificate holder box. Check that the property schedule lists tenant improvements and business personal property at replacement cost and that business income is present with a period of restoration. Then look for the waiver of subrogation endorsement on each policy. Anything missing is a request to your carrier, not a reason to sign a lease you cannot comply with.

Keep the certificate current

Restaurant leases usually require a renewed certificate at every policy renewal and thirty days' notice of cancellation. A live certificate link from the wallet does both without a yearly scramble: the landlord sees the current status, and gets a notice if a line changes, while the official PDF stays attached.

Questions people actually ask

My restaurant lease asks for liquor liability but we only serve beer and wine. Does it still apply?

Yes. Liquor liability responds to claims arising from serving alcohol of any kind. Carriers rate it on alcohol sales as a share of revenue, so a beer-and-wine café pays far less than a bar, but the line itself is still required.

What does the landlord want from the hood system?

Proof that the suppression system is serviced on schedule, because kitchen fires are the most common serious loss in a restaurant building. Keep the service tags with your policies; your property carrier asks for the same thing.

The lease says business income must cover twelve months of rent. How do I show that?

Ask for a certificate that states the business income limit or 'actual loss sustained, 12 months'. If the policy carries a dollar limit, make sure it covers twelve months of rent, payroll and continuing expenses, not rent alone.

Why does the landlord's property manager also need to be an additional insured?

Because the manager is the one on site and the first party named in a slip-and-fall suit. Blanket additional insured endorsements usually cover managers and lenders named in the lease; scheduled endorsements list each one.