Being a general contractor is great. The money is good, your working hours are flexible, and you are your own boss.
Being a general contractor, however, also comes with huge responsibilities. After all, as a general contractor, you are the person in charge of an entire project.
You are the main contractor, and it’s your job to oversee every single aspect of the project. You manage personnel and deal with suppliers and subcontractors. More importantly, you are responsible for reporting to clients on the progress of the construction project you’re running.
With all the employees, subcontractors, equipment, tools, and construction materials under your care, all of them must have the right type of construction contractors insurance coverage. Let’s take a look at how you, a general contractor, can benefit from contractors insurance.

Protection From Claims

As a general contractor, you are entirely aware of how dangerous construction work can be.
Construction workers are exposed to risks that could lead to them suffering injuries or even losing their lives. They could also cause an accident that could result in an injury to a third party visiting a job site. Damage to property is another thing that could happen within a construction site, like a wayward tool hitting the hood of a supplier’s delivery van.
As a general contractor, you have to make sure that your workers all have worker’s compensation insurance and general liability insurance coverage.
Worker’s compensation will cover not only the medical expenses of a worker injured while on the job but their lost wages as well. General liability insurance, on the other hand, will pay for personal injury or property damage claims that concerned third parties will likely make. With workers covered by proper contractors insurance, you are, in effect, shielded from liability in case of accidents at the construction site.

Protection For Tools, Equipment, and Construction Materials

If you’re the general contractor of a construction project, you are responsible for the tools, equipment, and construction materials on site. However, theft is a common occurrence on construction sites. They may also suffer damage over time because of negligence or accidents.
General contractors can protect themselves and benefit from builders’ risk insurance, which may pay for the loss or damage of equipment, tools, and construction materials. With builders’ risk insurance, general contractors won’t have to take the loss.

Compliance With Regulations

Wherever you are in the United States, you will be hard-pressed to operate as a general contractor if you don’t have the right contractors insurance, mainly worker’s compensation and general liability insurance.
Most states require contractors to be appropriately insured. So if you have the right contractors insurance coverage, then you are fully compliant with state requirements, and therefore operating legitimately as a general contractor.

Added Reputation

Construction clients are so much smarter these days. They do their due diligence when they’re looking for a general contractor to handle their building project, and one of the things they try to dig up is whether a prospective contractor is properly insured or not.
Naturally, candidates with appropriate contractors insurance coverage shoot right to the top of clients’ lists. After all, clients these days fully understand that hiring insured contractors ensures that they have shielded from liability themselves should something untoward happen at the construction site.
Clearly, a general contractor benefits from the boost in the reputation that the right contractors’ insurance policies can bring. With the added reputation, your construction company’s chances of getting hired for projects also become better.

Peace of Mind

As stated above, being a general contractor is no picnic, with the countless things that could go wrong at any time as your projects move forward.
The job may have plenty of perks, but being a general contractor brings on a ton of stress as well. Some big general contractors may be able to handle claims and lawsuits against them financially, but for many smaller companies in the industry, a single accident without insurance coverage is all it would take to endanger their existence.
Of course, you won’t have to worry about any of that as long as you have proper contractors insurance policies. Whatever happens at your construction site, you can continue your operations, knowing that you are covered. Your insurance provider will cover any claims that will be made against your company, and your company won’t have to take a financial hit that could shut it down.
There is, indeed, no greater benefit to having contractors insurance than the peace of mind it can give you.
About the Author
 Rachel Porter is the content specialist for Custom Contractors Insurance, LLC, an Arizona roofing and contractors insurance company. When not writing, she enjoys reading and mountain biking with her friends.