Wrap-ups and certificates: what changes for contractor COIs on an OCIP or CCIP

What a wrap-up is

A wrap-up is a single insurance program bought for a whole project. In an owner controlled insurance program, or OCIP, the owner buys it. In a contractor controlled program, or CCIP, the GC or construction manager does, according to IRMI. A wrap-up administrator usually handles enrollment and paperwork.

The usual lines are general liability, workers' comp and employer's liability, excess or umbrella and builder's risk, according to an AGC continuing education paper. Enrolled trades get a certificate confirming enrollment and don't need their own policies for the covered project work.

What a real program covers and excludes

The San Diego Community College District publishes its OCIP terms. Its program covers workers' comp and employer's liability, general and excess liability, builder's risk and contractors pollution liability, for prime and subcontractors of all tiers doing direct labor on site. It lists $125 million general liability per occurrence.

It doesn't cover consultants, vendors, suppliers, delivery drivers, truckers, surveyors, off-site fabricators or firms providing only off-site services. Coverage applies only to work at the project site after enrollment approval, and contractors must keep their own coverage for off-site operations and vehicle use, the district says.

IRMI notes that excluded parties typically include abatement contractors, design professionals, suppliers merely delivering to the site and equipment rental companies, with the sponsor setting the exclusions.

Where the gaps are

• Enrollment. It isn't automatic. IRMI says contractors should not start work until they receive written confirmation. A trade that starts before enrollment may have no project coverage at all.
• Excluded parties and operations. Anyone or anything the wrap excludes still needs the trade's own coverage, and a certificate proving it.
• The trade's own policy exclusions. Most contractor policies exclude wrap-up work, IRMI notes. If the wrap lapses or ends while that exclusion applies, the trade can be left with nothing.
• Completed operations. IRMI recommends an extended products-completed operations endorsement aligned with the state's statute of repose. Check how long the program's completed operations coverage lasts and what triggers it.
• Partial enrollment on CCIPs. The AGC paper flags potential gaps when subcontractors aren't fully enrolled.

What a GC still collects on a wrap

1. Enrollment confirmations for every enrolled trade, before work.
2. Certificates for excluded coverage: auto, off-site work and anything else the program excludes, with the usual endorsements. See additional insured.
3. Full certificates for non-enrolled parties: suppliers, haulers, design firms and others outside the program.
4. Completed operations evidence for the period after the program's coverage ends. See completed operations.

A wrap changes which certificates you need. It doesn't remove the need to check them.