Vendor Certificates and Endorsements for Property Managers

Key takeaways

• Start with the service and contract, then request evidence that matches actual exposure.
• A certificate is a summary; it is not an insurance policy or endorsement. The ACORD 25 certificate states that it confers no rights on the holder and does not amend, extend, or alter the listed policies, and ACORD's guidance says only an endorsement, rider, or amendment changes coverage.
• Additional-insured status for a contractor's work comes in two ISO forms: CG 20 10 for ongoing operations (which, since 2001, excludes injury or damage after the work is completed) and CG 20 37 for completed operations; a roofing or restoration vendor whose work can fail later needs the second form, not only the first.
• The requested owner, manager, association, and lender names must be accurate.
• Re-check evidence when policies expire, work expands, or subcontractors enter.
• Legal review is appropriate for indemnity, waiver, additional-insured, and enforceability questions.

Request evidence from the work backward

A janitorial vendor, roofing contractor, elevator service company, security provider, restoration firm, and consultant do not present the same exposure. Record the work, property access, use of subcontractors, vehicles, equipment, design or advice, hot work, water or mold response, and occupied-site interaction. Then compare the contract's insurance exhibit with the actual service.

The manager should identify the owner, association, manager, lender, and any affiliate that needs a policy role. Use exact legal names and tell the vendor if the work or entity changes. A generic request for a certificate can miss the endorsement or specialty line that matters.

Know what each document proves

A certificate summarizes selected policy information as of its issue date. It does not amend the policy: the ACORD 25 form states that it is issued as a matter of information only, confers no rights upon the certificate holder, and does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage afforded by the listed policies, and ACORD's certificate guidance adds that only an endorsement, rider, or amendment to the policy changes coverage. An actual additional-insured endorsement is the document to examine when the contract requests that status; primary/noncontributory and waiver-of-subrogation language also require actual policy review. A policy declaration can show dates and limits but not every exclusion or condition.

The endorsement's form number, edition date, and schedule tell you what was granted. For a contractor's work, ISO's CG 20 10 covers the owner or manager for injury or damage caused in whole or in part by the vendor's ongoing operations and, since the 2001 editions, excludes injury or damage after the work is completed or put to its intended use; CG 20 37 is the separate completed-operations form, so a roofing, waterproofing, or restoration vendor whose work can fail months later needs both. CG 20 26 adds a designated person or organization for the vendor's ongoing operations or premises. Since the 2013 editions these forms apply only to the extent permitted by law, no broader than the contract requires, and for no more than the lesser of the contract-required amount and the policy limit, which makes the management agreement's and vendor contract's insurance clauses part of the coverage analysis. Primary and noncontributory wording is its own endorsement (CG 20 01), which applies only where the vendor agreed to it in a written contract, and the general liability waiver (CG 24 04) waives only the insurer's recovery rights, with separate waiver forms for workers' compensation and auto.

For a consultant, designer, security provider, environmental contractor, or other specialist, ask whether professional or pollution coverage is appropriate to the work. For vehicles or employees, review auto and workers' compensation evidence. Limits and forms should be reviewed by an insurance professional rather than treated as universal requirements.

Sources for this section: City of Riverside, California: Sample certificate package: ACORD 25 with CG 20 26 04 13, CG 24 04 05 09, CG 20 01 04 13, CA 04 44, and workers compensation waiver endorsements; ACORD: Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs: CG 20 10 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Scheduled Person or Organization (sample); Independent Insurance Agents of Texas: CG 20 37 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Completed Operations; International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): 2013 ISO Additional Insured Endorsements: Putting the Changes into Context for the Construction Industry (Mark Bell, August 2013); International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): The 2013 Edition of the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, March 2013); International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Subrogation and the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, December 2013).

Run the evidence file like an operating control

Keep the signed contract, current certificate, requested endorsements, policy period, vendor scope, locations, contact, and subcontractor information together. Calendar expiration and require updated evidence before the next project or renewal. Use a status such as verified, exception pending, or not approved; do not silently let an incomplete file pass as complete.

Limit access to personal or banking information in vendor records. FTC guidance supports reasonable data-security practices, and CISA's phishing material is relevant when a vendor sends payment or bank-change instructions. Neither source verifies a certificate or decides a claim.

Escalate gaps before work or after an incident

If a vendor cannot provide the requested evidence, pause access when practical, escalate to the owner or board, and document the decision. An emergency may require a controlled exception with an identified approver and follow-up deadline. Do not rewrite a certificate or represent that an endorsement exists when it has not been verified.

After an incident, preserve the contract, certificate, endorsements, policy details, work records, photos, and communications. Notify the appropriate parties under their policy instructions. The absence of a vendor endorsement does not by itself decide responsibility or coverage; the allegations, contracts, policies, and facts must be reviewed. Completed-operations status for a period after the vendor's work is finished exists only while a CG 20 37-type endorsement is attached to each successive policy during that period, so a long-tail vendor file needs a renewal diary, not a one-time check.

Sources for this section: International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Questions and Answers on Additional Insured Issues—Part 2 (Jack Gibson, July 2009).

Evidence hierarchy

Sources for this section: City of Riverside, California: Sample certificate package: ACORD 25 with CG 20 26 04 13, CG 24 04 05 09, CG 20 01 04 13, CA 04 44, and workers compensation waiver endorsements; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs: CG 20 10 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Scheduled Person or Organization (sample); Independent Insurance Agents of Texas: CG 20 37 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Completed Operations; International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): The 2013 Edition of the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, March 2013); International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Subrogation and the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, December 2013).

Vendor evidence file

• Describe actual work, access, vehicles, subcontractors, and specialized services.
• Use the correct owner, association, manager, affiliate, and lender legal names.
• Collect current certificate and actual required endorsements or policy pages.
• Review workers' compensation, auto, professional, pollution, and umbrella evidence where the work warrants it.
• Calendar expiration, scope changes, subcontractors, and renewal re-verification.
• Document exceptions and approvals; never alter a certificate or imply coverage.

Hypothetical: Hypothetical — certificate without additional-insured endorsement

A landscaping certificate lists the manager and owner in a notes field, but the contract requested an additional-insured endorsement. A later injury occurs. The notes field does not answer insured status; the issued endorsement, policy, contract, allegations, and facts must be reviewed.

Sources

• City of Riverside, California: Sample certificate package: ACORD 25 with CG 20 26 04 13, CG 24 04 05 09, CG 20 01 04 13, CA 04 44, and workers compensation waiver endorsements — accessed 2026-10-18; supports the ACORD 25 certificate's own notice that it is issued as a matter of information only, confers no rights on the certificate holder, does not amend, extend, or alter the policies, and that additional-insured status or a waiver of subrogation requires a policy endorsement; the package also reproduces CG 20 01 04 13, which makes the CGL primary and noncontributory toward other insurance on which the additional insured is a named insured only where the named insured agreed to that in a written contract, and shows that the general liability, auto, and workers compensation waivers are separate endorsements..
• ACORD: Certificates of Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions — accessed 2026-10-18; supports ACORD's statement that a certificate of insurance is not an insurance policy and does not provide, endorse, amend, extend, or alter policy terms; only an endorsement, rider, or amendment to the policy changes coverage, and a reference to a contract on a certificate does not provide coverage..
• New York City Department of Cultural Affairs: CG 20 10 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Scheduled Person or Organization (sample) — accessed 2026-10-18; supports the April 2013 edition of CG 20 10: coverage for injury or damage "caused, in whole or in part" by the named insured's acts or omissions in the performance of ongoing operations, the "to the extent permitted by law" and "not broader than required by the contract" provisos, the exclusion for injury or damage after the work is completed or put to its intended use, and the limits paragraph paying the lesser of the contract-required amount and the declarations limit..
• Independent Insurance Agents of Texas: CG 20 37 04 13, Additional Insured—Owners, Lessees or Contractors—Completed Operations — accessed 2026-10-18; supports the April 2013 edition of CG 20 37: coverage for injury or damage "caused, in whole or in part, by 'your work'" at the scheduled location and included in the products-completed operations hazard, with the same "to the extent permitted by law," "not broader than required by the contract," and lesser-of limits provisions as the 2013 CG 20 10..
• International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): 2013 ISO Additional Insured Endorsements: Putting the Changes into Context for the Construction Industry (Mark Bell, August 2013) — accessed 2026-10-18; supports the edition history of the owners/lessees/contractors additional-insured endorsements: the 1985 'arising out of your work' grant with no ongoing/completed distinction, the 1993 'ongoing operations' limitation, the 2001 completed-operations exclusions and the introduction of CG 20 37, the 2004 'caused, in whole or in part' causation standard, and the 2013 'to the extent permitted by law,' 'not broader than required by contract,' and lesser-of limits provisions, with the anti-indemnity-statute background for those changes..
• International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Questions and Answers on Additional Insured Issues—Part 2 (Jack Gibson, July 2009) — accessed 2026-10-18; supports that a certificate of insurance confers no coverage, that completed-operations additional-insured coverage for a post-completion period requires an endorsement such as CG 20 37 on each successive policy during that period, and that anti-indemnity statutes in some states limit the additional-insured coverage a contract may require..
• International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): The 2013 Edition of the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, March 2013) — accessed 2026-10-18; supports that CG 20 01 applies only if the named insured agreed to primary and noncontributory terms in a written contract or agreement, and that its practical effect is to let 'primary and noncontributory' be shown on a certificate because the unendorsed ISO CGL does not use that phrase..
• International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Subrogation and the CGL Policy (Craig Stanovich, December 2013) — accessed 2026-10-18; supports that the CGL policy's operative wording is the Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us condition, that the waiver endorsement is titled Waiver of Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us (CG 24 04 05 09), and that under it only the insurer, not the named insured, waives rights of recovery against the scheduled party..
• Federal Trade Commission: Data Security — accessed 2026-09-13; supports Administrative and technical data-security practices for businesses holding personal information..
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: Recognize and Report Phishing — accessed 2026-09-13; supports CISA's Secure Our World guidance explains how to recognize, resist, and report phishing, which is relevant to payment-change and account-takeover procedures; it does not establish a funds-transfer, crime, or cyber coverage response..