Checking a subcontractor’s certificate of currency
In short
- Check the insured entity name against the entity on your contract first. A name mismatch is the most common and most serious defect.
- Then check the classes of cover, the limit against your requirement, the period against the work dates, and any notation your contract requires.
- Collecting certificates once is not the control. Tracking expiry dates is, because a policy that lapses mid-project takes your protection with it.
Head contractors collect certificates of currency because their own liability policy usually requires it. A subcontractor insurance warranty is a condition of the policy, not just a contractual nicety, so a file full of expired or misnamed certificates is an insurance problem rather than a paperwork problem.
This page is the check itself, in the order that catches the most consequential defects first.
Check the insured name against the contracting entity
The certificate has to name the entity that is doing the work and signing the contract. A certificate in the name of a director personally, a related trust, or a former company name does not evidence cover for the entity you engaged.
Confirm the name against a business register lookup, never against the letterhead. Trading names differ from registered entity names, and the policy responds to the entity, not the brand.
Check the cover, the limit and the period
Read the classes listed on the certificate against what your contract requires. Public liability and products liability are frequently on one certificate; professional indemnity, contract works and plant are separate covers with separate certificates.
Check the limit against your stated minimum, and check the period of insurance against the dates the subcontractor will actually be on site. Work continuing past the expiry date is the gap that matters.
Check the notations your contract requires
If your contract requires you to be noted as an interested party or covered by a principal’s indemnity extension, the certificate has to show it. A certificate that is otherwise perfect but silent on a required notation does not comply.
Where the contract asks for a waiver of subrogation, the waiver has to be granted by the insurer. A promise in the subcontract does not create one.
Build the register, not the folder
The useful artefact is a list of subcontractors with the expiry date of each certificate and a reminder before each one lapses. A folder of PDFs collected at induction tells you what was true on induction day and nothing about today.
Re-request certificates at each policy renewal, not at each new job, because renewal is when cover actually changes.
Questions
- Is a screenshot or a photo of a certificate acceptable?
- It is usable if every field is legible, but a forwarded document straight from the broker or insurer is better because it carries the issuer details. If anything about a certificate looks altered, ask the issuer to confirm it directly.
- What if a subcontractor’s cover expires mid-project?
- Ask for the renewal certificate as soon as it is issued and record the new expiry date. Continuing to engage a subcontractor whose cover has lapsed is the situation a subcontractor insurance warranty is written to catch.
- Do sole traders with no employees still need workers compensation?
- That depends on the jurisdiction and on whether the scheme treats them as a worker of your business rather than as an independent contractor. It is a scheme question, and each state and territory answers it differently.
- Can I rely on a certificate to prove the premium is paid?
- No. A certificate confirms a policy is recorded as in force at issue. It does not confirm the premium is fully paid or that the policy will not be cancelled for non-payment.
Sources
- Australian Business Register (ABN Lookup) — Primary source for confirming a contracting entity’s registered name and status.
- Safe Work Australia — Source for the duties that apply when engaging contractors alongside insurance requirements.