What does manual COI tracking cost? Reading the one published estimate

The estimate

BCS, which sells COI tracking software, estimates that tracking contractor certificates by hand costs $36,400 a year. The math: 20 hours a week, times 52 weeks, is 1,040 hours, at $35 an hour.

It's the only published figure we found that shows its arithmetic, which is why COI Journal runs it as The Number.

How to read it

• It's a vendor estimate. BCS has a commercial interest in the number being large. That doesn't make it wrong. It means you should check it against your own company.
• The 20 hours is the key input. Our read of the post is that the 20 hours sits at the top of a range BCS says its own clients report saving. It's a marketing estimate, not a time study.
• It's labor only. It counts the hours someone spends collecting, logging and chasing certificates.

What it leaves out

The costs that matter most don't show up in a time sheet.

• Claims. A trade's uninsured or underinsured loss that lands on the GC's policy. See When coverage lapses mid-project.
• Deductibles and retentions the GC pays on those claims.
• Premium. A worse loss history can mean a costlier renewal.
• Delay. Work stopped while a trade fixes its coverage.
• Owner exposure. Contract claims from an owner whose requirements weren't met.

None of these can be estimated in general. All of them can be estimated for your company.

A worksheet for your own number

1. Volume. Trades per year, times certificates per trade (initial plus renewals), times endorsements per certificate.
2. Time. Minutes to collect, read, compare, chase and file each one. Time yourself on ten.
3. Rate. The loaded hourly cost of whoever does it.
4. Misses. Over the last five years, how many claims involved a trade whose coverage didn't meet requirements? What did each cost you, including deductible and staff time?
5. Total. Labor, plus your average annual cost of misses.

Then compare options with the method in Spreadsheet, service or software.