CONDO ARCHIVES

Contractor Liability During Renovations

November 2022

Insurance coverage is an integral part of any renovation or capital project.  The purpose of contractor insurance is to ensure condominium corporation owners don’t get stuck paying for mistakes or injuries during renovation or construction projects where contractors fail to maintain proper coverage for their work and actions.

Prior to any renovation or capital project, make sure insurance coverage is in order.

A single major project may involve four or five contractors.  Each is expected to have insurance to protect the corporation, and owners, against errors and unforeseen events.  Keeping track of this coverage including expiration dates, liability limits, and everything else falls to the condominium manager.  Maintaining this information for the many dozens of contractors working in a building over the course of a year is a major undertaking.

Condominium management isn’t in the business of managing insurance policies for contractors. Monitoring the status of insurance coverage for all contractors, and ensuring their renewals are timely, requires a dedicated and knowledgeable project manager.  This is one of the reasons condominium corporations prefer to work with an engineering firm that fully manages all aspects of their projects.  Others may rely on back-office services provided by their management company.

Insurance is one aspect of project management that helps ensure major projects remain within budget.