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Two public owners, two insurance exhibits: Oregon DOT and Sonoma County compared
Public owners publish their insurance requirements, which makes them a rare window into how requirements are actually written. We read two side by side.
By The editors, COI Journal ·
The questionWhat insurance requirements do public owners put on construction contractors, and how much do they differ?
Key findings
- Oregon DOT's subcontractor exhibit sets fixed minimums: $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate on general liability, $1 million auto, $500,000 employer's liability.
- Sonoma County scales limits with project size, from $1 million to $10 million per occurrence, and sets completed operations durations of one to five years.
- Oregon DOT names the endorsement forms, CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 or equivalent. Sonoma requires endorsements as proof and says a certificate alone isn't enough.
- The two differ on waivers, aggregates, notice and renewal timing. A GC working for both has to flow down two different rule sets.
Why public exhibits are worth reading
Private subcontract insurance exhibits are rarely published. Public owners post theirs. That makes them a useful benchmark for anyone writing or reviewing requirements. We compared two: Oregon DOT's exhibit for its grantees' subcontractors, and Sonoma County's template for construction and public works.
Line by line
General liability. Oregon DOT: occurrence form, $1 million per occurrence, $2 million annual aggregate, including products and completed operations. Sonoma: tiered by project size. Under $1 million, $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregates. $1 million to $5 million, $2 million and $4 million. $5 million to $10 million, $5 million across the board. $10 million and up, $10 million across the board. Trades have their own tiers, with framing, mechanical and electrical trades required to carry more than others.
Auto. Oregon DOT: $1 million combined single limit, owned, non-owned and hired. Sonoma: $1 million under $1 million, $2 million above, for the prime. Trades $1 million.
Workers' comp and employer's liability. Oregon DOT: statutory, with $500,000 employer's liability each accident. Sonoma: statutory, with $1 million employer's liability limits and a required waiver of subrogation endorsement.
Umbrella and excess. Both let primary and excess combine to meet the minimums. Oregon DOT requires the excess to be true following form or broader.
Additional insured. Oregon DOT names the state, the Transportation Commission and ODOT on general liability and auto, specifies CG 20 10 07 04 for ongoing and CG 20 37 07 04 for completed operations, or equivalent, and requires the endorsements with the certificates. Sonoma names the county and its people for ongoing and completed operations, without form numbers in its standard language.
Primary and noncontributory. Both require it.
Waiver of subrogation. Sonoma requires it. Oregon DOT's exhibit doesn't state it.
Per project aggregate. Sonoma requires the general aggregate to apply separately to each project. Oregon DOT's exhibit doesn't state it.
Completed operations duration. Sonoma: one, two, three or five years after the work and guarantee period, by project size. Oregon DOT: not stated beyond the CG 20 37 requirement.
Carrier quality. Sonoma: A.M. Best A:VII or better, except California's state fund, and owner approval for deductibles over $25,000. Oregon DOT: insurers authorized in Oregon and acceptable to the grantee.
Notice and renewal. Oregon DOT: 30 days' written notice before cancellation, material change, potential exhaustion of aggregate limits or non-renewal. Sonoma: the contractor must give immediate notice of a termination or reduction, renewal evidence is due 10 days before expiration, and certified policy copies within 30 days of a request.
Proof. Both want endorsements, not just certificates. Sonoma says so in as many words: a certificate alone is not sufficient for additional insured or primary and noncontributory status.
What GCs should take away
- Flow-down is real work. A GC on an ODOT-funded job and a Sonoma job is running two different rule sets for the same trades. See One set of rules per project.
- Specificity helps everyone. Oregon DOT's named forms make review a yes or no. Unnamed forms require judgment about equivalence.
- Both owners distrust the certificate alone. That's the strongest signal in either document.
Our field guide to subcontract insurance requirements uses both exhibits as worked examples.
How we wrote this
Based on Oregon DOT's Exhibit F, Subcontractor Insurance Requirements, and Sonoma County's Template 2 for construction and public works, as published online when we read them. Neither document shows an issue date beyond Sonoma's 2022 copyright line. Owners revise these exhibits; check the current version. General information, not legal or insurance advice.
Sources
- Exhibit F: Subcontractor Insurance Requirements, Oregon Department of Transportation
- Insurance requirement Template 2 (construction and public works), County of Sonoma
General information, not legal or insurance advice. Read your contracts and policies with your broker or attorney. COI Journal is published by Forsured, which sells construction insurance compliance software. How we keep editorial separate.
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