The ACORD 25 is the standard Certificate of Liability Insurance used across US construction. If you manage subcontractors, you will read hundreds of them.
Knowing where compliance actually lives on the form saves rejections, rework, and silent coverage gaps.
What is an ACORD COI?
An ACORD COI is a certificate of insurance issued on an ACORD form. For subcontractor liability coverage, that form is usually ACORD 25, officially called the Certificate of Liability Insurance.
The form summarizes policies, limits, dates, and certificate holder information. It does not change the underlying insurance policy. For GCs, the ACORD 25 is the document to review before approving a subcontractor certificate of insurance.
Top section: producer and insured
- Producer — The insurance agent/broker. Call here to verify policy status.
- Insured — Must match subcontract legal name and W-9 exactly.
- Mailing address — Should match business records; less critical than legal name.
Policy table: the core grid
Each row is a policy line. Key columns:
| Column | What to check |
|---|---|
| Type of insurance | CGL, auto, umbrella, WC |
| Policy number | Matches endorsements |
| Policy effective date | On or before sub start |
| Policy expiration date | After project completion or renewal planned |
| Limits | Per occurrence, aggregate, CSL, etc. |
Workers' comp and GL are separate rows with separate expirations — verify both.
Limits shorthand
Common GL limits notation:
- $1,000,000 / $2,000,000 — $1M per occurrence, $2M general aggregate
- Products / completed ops aggregate — separate bucket; confirm not exhausted on other projects
Auto may show CSL (combined single limit) — one number covering bodily injury and property damage combined.
Certificate holder box
Lists who received the certificate. This is not additional insured status.
Description of operations / locations / vehicles
The free-text box where agents list:
- Project name and address
- Additional insured language
- CG 20 10 / CG 20 37 references
- Waiver of subrogation and PNC wording
- Special instructions
This box is informational. It does not amend the policy. Treat it as a checklist of what to verify on endorsements — not proof those items exist.
Cancellation notice
If the box indicates cancellation notice will be delivered to certificate holder, understand limitations:
- Notice practices vary by carrier and state
- COI notice is not a substitute for your own expiration tracking
- Do not rely on 30-day notice as your only renewal trigger
Signature and date
Certificate should be signed by authorized representative and dated. Undated or unsigned certificates get rejected by sophisticated compliance teams.
Common ACORD 25 rejection reasons
- Named insured mismatch with contract
- Expired or soon-to-expire policies
- Limits below requirements
- Missing WC row for sub with employees
- AI language in description without endorsements
- Wrong certificate holder name/address
- Altered wording attempting to expand coverage beyond policy
From ACORD to action
Reading the form is step one. Your workflow:
- Parse limits and dates
- Compare to subcontract insurance exhibit
- Pull endorsements for AI, WOS, PNC
- Log expirations
- Approve or reject with specific feedback to sub
Manual review works at low volume. At scale, GCs use tools that extract ACORD fields and flag gaps automatically.
Learn more
- How to verify a subcontractor COI
- What is a certificate of insurance?
- Subcontractor certificate of insurance checklist
- Certificate holder vs additional insured
Try CoiLoop free for 20 subs — upload checklist, inline review, expiration reminders.