What property managers require of contractors: vendor compliance programs for repair and renovation work and how to prove you meet them

What a property manager requires before a contractor works in its buildings

QUICK ANSWER

A property manager's vendor program typically requires general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate with the owner and management company as additional insureds for ongoing and completed operations on a primary and non-contributory basis, waivers of subrogation on every policy, commercial auto of $1M combined single limit, statutory workers' compensation with $1M employers' liability, an umbrella of $1M to $5M, a signed vendor agreement, and certificates filed with the compliance service before work orders are released.

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 aggregate, $2M products-completed operations, occurrence form; the owner entity for each property, the management company and their affiliates as additional insureds for ongoing and completed operations, primary and non-contributory; no residential exclusion for apartment work	Dec page limits, the additional insured forms (ongoing and completed), and the exclusions page; managers of apartment portfolios reject residential exclusions.
Waiver of subrogation	In favour of the owner and manager on general liability, auto, workers' compensation and umbrella	Waiver endorsement on each policy.
Commercial auto	$1M combined single limit on any auto, with hired and non-owned, for trucks and vans entering the properties	Auto dec page symbol and limit.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory for each state in the portfolio plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M, with a waiver; sole proprietors must show an exemption or coverage per the manager's policy	Information page with every state where you work in Item 3.A, Part Two limits and the waiver endorsement.
Umbrella or excess liability	$1M to $5M following form, scaled to the manager's portfolio and the work (higher for structural, elevator and fire-system work)	Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule.
Vendor agreement and hold-harmless	A master vendor agreement with indemnification of the owner and manager, which the general liability policy's contractual liability coverage must support	The signed agreement; the general liability policy's insured contract definition and no contractual liability limitation endorsement.
Certificates through a compliance service	Certificates and endorsement copies uploaded to the manager's third-party compliance service, which scores them against the program and blocks work orders until compliant	The compliance service's requirements sheet, which often differs from the agreement; a live certificate with endorsements attached is accepted by most services.
Background and licence checks	Trade licences for licensed work, background checks for technicians who enter occupied units, and sometimes a drug-free policy	Not insurance: the licence certificates and the vendor onboarding documents.

Requirement

What they usually ask for

How to check what you have

Commercial general liability

$1M each occurrence / $2M aggregate, $2M products-completed operations, occurrence form; the owner entity for each property, the management company and their affiliates as additional insureds for ongoing and completed operations, primary and non-contributory; no residential exclusion for apartment work

Dec page limits, the additional insured forms (ongoing and completed), and the exclusions page; managers of apartment portfolios reject residential exclusions.

Waiver of subrogation

In favour of the owner and manager on general liability, auto, workers' compensation and umbrella

Waiver endorsement on each policy.

Commercial auto

$1M combined single limit on any auto, with hired and non-owned, for trucks and vans entering the properties

Auto dec page symbol and limit.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory for each state in the portfolio plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M, with a waiver; sole proprietors must show an exemption or coverage per the manager's policy

Information page with every state where you work in Item 3.A, Part Two limits and the waiver endorsement.

Umbrella or excess liability

$1M to $5M following form, scaled to the manager's portfolio and the work (higher for structural, elevator and fire-system work)

Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule.

Vendor agreement and hold-harmless

A master vendor agreement with indemnification of the owner and manager, which the general liability policy's contractual liability coverage must support

The signed agreement; the general liability policy's insured contract definition and no contractual liability limitation endorsement.

Certificates through a compliance service

Certificates and endorsement copies uploaded to the manager's third-party compliance service, which scores them against the program and blocks work orders until compliant

The compliance service's requirements sheet, which often differs from the agreement; a live certificate with endorsements attached is accepted by most services.

Background and licence checks

Trade licences for licensed work, background checks for technicians who enter occupied units, and sometimes a drug-free policy

Not insurance: the licence certificates and the vendor onboarding documents.

What the manager is protecting

A property manager runs vendor compliance for every owner it serves, so its program is written once for the whole portfolio and enforced by a compliance service that blocks work orders. The exhibit protects owners and manager from injury claims in occupied buildings, from completed-work defects, and from the hold-harmless promise in the vendor agreement being empty because the contractor's policy excluded it.

The lines a vendor program names

General liability with the owners and manager added for ongoing and completed operations, read for residential and contractual liability exclusions. Waivers on every policy. Auto for the trucks that enter the properties. Workers' compensation in every portfolio state. An umbrella scaled to the work. A signed vendor agreement backed by contractual liability coverage. Certificates and endorsements filed with the compliance service, plus licences and background checks for technicians who enter units.

How to check your policies against the program

Get the compliance service's requirements sheet, not just the agreement. Match the general liability limits and confirm both additional insured forms and primary wording by number. Read the exclusions page for residential and contractual liability limitations. Confirm the waiver on each policy, the auto limit, the workers' compensation states and the umbrella schedule. Upload the endorsements with the certificate.

Keep the certificate current

Compliance services expire certificates at each policy renewal and block work orders the same day. A live certificate link stays current as policies renew, carries the endorsements as attachments and notifies the manager when a line changes, which keeps the work orders flowing across every property.

Questions people actually ask

Why does the compliance service keep rejecting a certificate my carrier says is correct?

Because it scores the certificate against the manager's program sheet, which may name each owner entity, require endorsement copies, or ask for completed-operations wording that the certificate does not show. Ask for the program sheet and match the certificate to it line by line.

Our portfolio manager has forty owner entities. Do we list them all?

The blanket additional insured endorsement covers any entity the written agreement requires, so the policy already does. The certificate usually lists the management company 'and the owners of the properties it manages' with a schedule on request; some services want each entity named.

Does apartment work change the general liability we need?

Only if the policy carries a residential exclusion, which managers of multifamily portfolios reject. Habitational work should be declared to the carrier so the exclusion is not added.

What is contractual liability and why does the vendor agreement depend on it?

The vendor agreement makes you indemnify the owner and manager. General liability covers that promise through its insured contract definition, unless an endorsement limits it. Managers reject certificates where contractual liability has been cut back.