A condo association in a 12-story building has eight ongoing service vendors: elevator maintenance, HVAC service, landscaping, cleaning, pool service, pest control, security, and valet trash. Each vendor sends an ACORD 25 once a year. A coordinator files it.
When an elevator maintenance worker was injured during a routine service call, the association's board pulled the vendor's COI. It showed $1 million in general liability-but the management contract with the elevator company required $2 million. The COI had been on file, unreviewed against the contract, for three years.
The elevator company's insurer paid out on the workers' comp claim. The unit owner who was present during the incident, and who alleged she sustained a minor injury from the elevator's sudden stop, also filed a claim. The association's insurer covered the $45,000 settlement-and added a $3,200 annual surcharge to the renewal premium.
The compliance gap cost the association $10,000+ in premium increases over three years, plus months of management distraction.
The Ongoing Vendor Compliance Challenge
Unlike project contractors who are on-site for a finite period, service vendors have continuous access to the condo property. The elevator company is there every month. The landscapers are there every week. The cleaning crew is there every day.
Every one of those vendor interactions creates liability exposure. And most condo associations check the insurance box at contract signing-then forget about it until there's a problem.
Insurance Requirements by Vendor Category
Elevator Maintenance
Elevator incidents produce some of the highest personal injury verdicts in condominium litigation. Elevator maintenance vendors require:
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $2,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $4,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| Employers' Liability | $1,000,000 |
| Umbrella | $3,000,000 |
HVAC and Mechanical Systems
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| Employers' Liability | $500,000 |
| Commercial Auto | $1,000,000 CSL |
Landscaping and Exterior Grounds
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| Employers' Liability | $500,000 |
| Commercial Auto | $1,000,000 CSL |
Cleaning and Janitorial Services
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| Employers' Liability | $500,000 |
| Crime/Dishonesty | $25,000 |
Crime and dishonesty coverage matters for cleaning vendors who have unsupervised access to common areas and sometimes individual units-protects against theft claims.
Pool Service and Aquatic Management
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| Aquatic Liability | Confirm included on GL |
For associations with pools, confirm the vendor's GL policy does not exclude pool-related liability-some policies carve out aquatic risk as a separate endorsement.
Security Services
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| GL Per Occurrence | $1,000,000 |
| GL Aggregate | $2,000,000 |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory |
| False Arrest/Civil Rights | Confirm included or separate |
| Umbrella | $2,000,000 |
Security vendor contracts should also address false arrest and civil rights coverage-policies that exclude these risks leave the association exposed for security personnel's actions toward residents or guests.
The Annual Renewal Cycle for Vendor Certificates
Most vendor insurance policies renew annually. The condo association's compliance program must account for this:
90 days before vendor policy expiration: Send a renewal reminder and confirm the vendor's renewal date with their insurer or broker.
60 days before expiration: If no renewal has been received, send a formal renewal request with your specific requirements attached.
30 days before expiration: Follow up. Any vendor who hasn't provided a renewal at this stage is approaching an active compliance gap.
At expiration: A vendor with no current COI is an uninsured vendor. Do not allow them to access the property until a compliant certificate is on file.
Upon receipt of renewal: Compare it to your vendor agreement requirements. Limits may have changed. Additional insured endorsements may have been removed or modified.
That last step-comparing the renewal to requirements-is the most frequently skipped. A vendor who was compliant at $2 million last year may have renewed at $1 million this year to cut costs.
Building a Pre-Approved Vendor Register
The most efficient compliance structure for ongoing vendors is a pre-approved vendor register:
Vendor onboarding: When a new vendor is contracted, they complete an onboarding checklist including insurance requirements, submit a compliant COI, and are added to the approved register.
Ongoing compliance: The register tracks each vendor's current compliance status. Compliant vendors are approved for dispatch. Non-compliant vendors are suspended from dispatch until compliance is restored.
Annual audit: Once per year, all registered vendor COIs are reviewed for renewal status and compliance against current contract requirements. Any gap triggers immediate follow-up.
Project-specific additions: When a new vendor is needed for a project, they follow the same onboarding process before being allowed access.
This structure means the people dispatching vendors to the property don't have to verify insurance-they dispatch from the compliant register. The compliance function is centralized.
What to Do When a Vendor Refuses to Comply
Some vendors-particularly small operators who've worked with the association for years-may resist updating or increasing their coverage. Common responses:
"Our current coverage is all we can get." This may be true for very small operators with limited risk appetite. Evaluate whether the vendor's coverage, even if below your standard minimum, provides meaningful protection. If not, find an alternative vendor.
"We've never had any claims." Claims history is not the same as risk profile. The absence of past claims doesn't reduce future exposure.
"Our policy has been the same for 10 years." That means their limits haven't kept up with construction costs and litigation trends. A $1 million GL limit that was adequate in 2010 may be clearly insufficient for the same work today.
The right response: Compliance is a condition of the contract. Non-compliance is a contract breach. Be willing to enforce it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can a vendor provide a blanket certificate that covers all the associations we manage, or do they need separate certificates for each? A: A vendor working across multiple associations in a managed portfolio can typically provide one certificate with the management company named as certificate holder, or multiple certificates for each association. The key is that each association's entity is named as additional insured. Confirm with the vendor's broker what format best accomplishes this.
Q: What if two vendors in our building are owned by the same parent company-do both need separate certificates? A: Yes. The operating entity performing the work is the insured entity. Even if owned by the same parent, separate legal entities require separate policies and certificates. Don't assume a parent company policy covers a subsidiary's operations at your property.
Q: Should the association maintain its own vendor COI file, or rely on the management company's records? A: Both parties should maintain records. The association board should have access to current compliance status for all vendors-this is part of the board's fiduciary duty. The management company maintains the operational file. Confirm in your management agreement that the association has access to all vendor compliance documentation upon request.
Q: What's the right way to handle a vendor injury incident from a compliance perspective? A: Immediately pull and review the vendor's current COI. Confirm additional insured status is intact. Notify the association's insurer. Do not make statements to the vendor's insurer about the incident until you've spoken with your own legal counsel.
Bramble helps condo associations and HOA management teams verify vendor insurance against contract requirements automatically-with expiration tracking, deficiency alerts, and a complete audit trail for every review.