# COI Journal > A publication about construction insurance compliance: contractor certificates of insurance (COIs), endorsements, project requirements and who pays when coverage fails. Published by Forsured (https://forsured.ai), a construction insurance compliance software company. COI Journal does not rank or review software vendors. ## Articles - [Why we're starting COI Journal](https://coijournal.com/articles/why-coi-journal/index.md): COI Journal is a new publication on construction insurance compliance, published by Forsured. What we'll cover, what we won't, and how we'll earn your trust. ## Reports and white papers (Resource Center, https://coijournal.com/resources/) - [R-23: What does manual COI tracking cost? Reading the one published estimate](https://coijournal.com/reports/cost-of-manual-coi-tracking/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on the BCS estimate that manual COI tracking costs $36,400 a year: how it's built, what it leaves out, and how to build your own. - [R-22: Fake certificates and phantom insurers: what state regulators have warned](https://coijournal.com/reports/certificate-fraud-regulators/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on what New Jersey, Maryland, Texas and Florida regulators have said about false certificates, fake insurers and how to verify coverage. - [R-21: Wrap-ups and certificates: what changes for contractor COIs on an OCIP or CCIP](https://coijournal.com/reports/wrap-ups-and-cois/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on owner and contractor controlled insurance programs, what they cover and exclude, and which COIs a GC still has to collect. - [R-20: Two public owners, two insurance exhibits: Oregon DOT and Sonoma County compared](https://coijournal.com/reports/public-owner-requirements-compared/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief comparing the published contractor insurance requirements of Oregon DOT and Sonoma County, line by line, with what GCs should take away. - [R-19: How the ISO additional insured endorsements changed: 2004, 2013 and 2019](https://coijournal.com/reports/iso-additional-insured-editions/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on how ISO's additional insured endorsements changed in 2004, 2013 and 2019, and why the edition date on an endorsement matters. - [R-18: Underreported payroll: what six construction workers' comp fraud cases show GCs](https://coijournal.com/reports/workers-comp-premium-fraud/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on six construction workers' comp premium fraud cases from 2022 to 2026, the common pattern, and what a GC can check. - [R-17: Checking workers' comp yourself: what public proof of coverage lookups can and can't tell you](https://coijournal.com/reports/workers-comp-coverage-lookups/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on public workers' comp proof of coverage lookups in New York, Florida and elsewhere, what they show, and their limits for GCs. - [R-16: What insurance regulators say about AI, and what it means for AI-assisted COI review](https://coijournal.com/reports/naic-ai-bulletin-and-coi-review/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on the NAIC's AI model bulletin, its adoption by 24 states and D.C., the 2026 pilot, and lessons for buyers of AI-assisted COI review. - [R-15: The Q3 2026 insurance market for contractors: casualty up, property down, and what it means for endorsements](https://coijournal.com/reports/construction-insurance-market-q3-2026/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on Q3 2026 commercial insurance rates from Marsh's index, construction carrier growth, and what it means for contractor requirements. - [R-14: The ACORD 25's new limits sentence: what changed in the 2025/12 edition, and what GCs should do](https://coijournal.com/reports/acord-25-limits-wording/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on the ACORD 25 (2025/12) limits wording: certificates may now show requested limits rather than full policy limits. - [R-13: What to require from any COI tool: a vendor-neutral specification](https://coijournal.com/reports/coi-tool-specification/index.md): A COI Journal white paper with a vendor-neutral specification for COI tracking tools: what to require, how to test it, and the questions to ask in a demo. - [R-12: Closing a coverage gap without the email chain: a deficiency workflow for GCs and brokers](https://coijournal.com/reports/fixing-gaps-brokers-gcs/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on a deficiency workflow that helps GCs, trades and brokers close contractor coverage gaps in one pass instead of an email chain. - [R-11: One set of rules per project: tracking requirements and renewals across active jobs](https://coijournal.com/reports/per-project-requirements-and-renewals/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on running different insurance requirements per project and keeping every contractor renewal current across a portfolio of jobs. - [R-10: Can AI review a COI? What machines do well, and where people stay in the loop](https://coijournal.com/reports/can-ai-review-a-coi/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on what AI can and can't do when reviewing contractor COIs and endorsements against project requirements, and where people stay in charge. - [R-09: Spreadsheet, service or software: a vendor-neutral way to choose how to manage contractor COIs](https://coijournal.com/reports/spreadsheet-service-software/index.md): A COI Journal white paper comparing spreadsheets, outsourced tracking services and software for contractor COIs, with a scoring method that names no vendors. - [R-08: The broker's side of the COI: why requests pile up and how to answer deficiency notices](https://coijournal.com/reports/broker-coi-request-load/index.md): A COI Journal white paper for construction brokers on where COI and endorsement requests come from, why deficiency notices repeat, and a way to cut the load. - [R-07: What goes into subcontract insurance requirements: a field guide for GCs and brokers](https://coijournal.com/reports/subcontract-insurance-requirements/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on the insurance requirements GCs put in subcontracts, piece by piece, with real examples from two public owners' published exhibits. - [R-06: When a contractor's coverage lapses mid-project: the exposure and the playbook](https://coijournal.com/reports/coverage-lapse-mid-project/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on what a GC is exposed to when a trade's insurance lapses or is cancelled mid-project, and a step-by-step playbook to respond. - [R-05: Additional insured endorsements, explained: CG 20 10, CG 20 37 and the automatic forms](https://coijournal.com/reports/additional-insured-endorsements/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on additional insured endorsements: what CG 20 10, CG 20 37, CG 20 38 and the automatic forms do, and how to check them. - [R-04: How to read a COI against contract requirements, line by line](https://coijournal.com/reports/reading-a-coi-against-requirements/index.md): A COI Journal white paper: a box-by-box method for reading an ACORD 25 certificate against a project's insurance requirements, with what each box can't show. - [R-03: Why every trade sends a certificate: the COI's job in construction risk transfer](https://coijournal.com/reports/why-contractors-send-certificates/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on what a certificate of insurance is, why general contractors collect one from every trade, and what it can and can't prove. - [R-02: Rented, falsified, excluded: what 2026's cases say about trusting a contractor COI](https://coijournal.com/reports/rented-falsified-excluded/index.md): A COI Journal analyst brief on four 2026 fraud and coverage cases, what a certificate could and couldn't have shown in each, and the checks that matter. - [R-01: A certificate is not coverage: six ways contractor COIs fail project requirements](https://coijournal.com/reports/certificate-is-not-coverage/index.md): A COI Journal white paper on why contractor certificates of insurance pass a glance and still fail the project, and the six failure modes worth checking. ## About the publication - [About COI Journal](https://coijournal.com/about/): COI Journal reports on construction insurance compliance: contractor COIs, endorsements and project requirements. Published by Forsured. Here's why and how. - [The COI Digest](https://coijournal.com/digest/): The COI Digest is COI Journal's weekly email: Worth Reading, our picks of the week's best COI reporting, plus one term and one gap. Tuesdays. - [Gap of the Month](https://coijournal.com/gap-of-the-month/): Tell COI Journal about a contractor insurance gap that caught you out. We pick one a month, explain it, and credit you only if you want. - [Methodology and the COI Gap Index](https://coijournal.com/methodology/): How COI Journal research is built: where the data comes from, how it's anonymized, and the minimum sample sizes behind every number we publish. - [Publishing principles](https://coijournal.com/principles/): How COI Journal reports: ownership disclosure, sourcing, corrections, how we cover competitors, and the line between editorial and Forsured's business. ## The COI Dictionary - [Certificate of insurance (COI)](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/certificate-of-insurance/index.md): A one-page summary of a contractor's insurance at the moment it was issued. In construction it is almost always the ACORD 25, the Certificate of Liability Insurance. - [Additional insured (AI)](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/additional-insured/index.md): A person or company added to someone else's liability policy, usually the owner and the general contractor on a trade contractor's policy. Status comes from an endorsement, not from the certificate. - [Completed operations](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/completed-operations/index.md): Liability for injury or damage that shows up after a contractor's work is finished, such as a leak or a collapse months after turnover. For an additional insured, it usually needs its own endorsement. - [Primary and noncontributory](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/primary-and-noncontributory/index.md): Wording that makes the contractor's policy pay first for the additional insured, without asking the additional insured's own policy to share the loss. - [Waiver of subrogation](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/waiver-of-subrogation/index.md): A promise by the contractor's insurer not to sue you to recover what it paid on a claim. Construction contracts usually require it on general liability, auto and workers' compensation. - [Per project aggregate](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/per-project-aggregate/index.md): An endorsement that gives each construction project its own general aggregate limit, so claims on one job can't use up the limit for yours. - [Notice of cancellation](https://coijournal.com/dictionary/notice-of-cancellation/index.md): Advance notice that a contractor's policy is being cancelled. The certificate itself doesn't promise to tell you. ## Masthead - [Zach Servideo](https://coijournal.com/people/zach-servideo/), Editor. Zach is an executive at Forsured, which publishes COI Journal. - [Colby Galipeau](https://coijournal.com/people/colby-galipeau/), Associate Editor. Colby works for Forsured, which publishes COI Journal. - [Steve Massei](https://coijournal.com/people/steve-massei/), Contributing editor, construction. Steve is part of the Forsured team. Massei Construction uses Forsured. - [Stephanie Massei](https://coijournal.com/people/stephanie-massei/), Contributing editor, operations. Stephanie is part of the Forsured team. Milestone Construction Group uses Forsured. - [Erik Wenstone](https://coijournal.com/people/erik-wenstone/), Contributing editor, brokerage. Erik is part of the Forsured team. CMR Risk & Insurance Services is a Forsured partner. ## For AI agents - [COI review skill (SKILL.md)](https://coijournal.com/resources/agents/skill/coi-review/SKILL.md): teaches an agent to check a contractor COI and endorsements against project requirements. Zip: https://coijournal.com/resources/agents/skill/coi-review.zip ## Reference explainers (on the publisher's site) - [A COI on file isn't proof of coverage](https://forsured.ai/blog/compliance-isnt-coverage/) - [How to check a contractor COI against your project requirements](https://forsured.ai/blog/how-to-check-a-contractor-coi/) - [What does primary and noncontributory mean on a COI?](https://forsured.ai/blog/primary-and-noncontributory/) - [What does waiver of subrogation mean on a COI?](https://forsured.ai/blog/waiver-of-subrogation-coi/) - [Will a COI tell you if a contractor's policy is cancelled?](https://forsured.ai/blog/notice-of-cancellation-coi/) - [Does additional insured status cover you after the job is done?](https://forsured.ai/blog/completed-operations-additional-insured/)