In a normal project, each contractor brings its own insurance, and the owner relies on additional insured status and certificates. A wrap-up replaces that with one program for the job site. It usually covers workers’ compensation and general liability (and often excess liability) for all enrolled parties, sometimes builder’s risk too.
- OCIP: the owner buys and controls it. Common on large public, institutional and development projects.
- CCIP: the general contractor buys and controls it, often across multiple projects.
Wrap-ups typically exclude off-site work, suppliers, haulers and some high-risk trades, so those parties still carry their own coverage.
Why it matters
Wrap-ups change how subs price work. An enrolled sub should remove its own insurance costs for the covered lines from its bid, since the program provides them. Owners or GCs collect insurance cost worksheets to verify the credit. If bids are leveled without accounting for this, the comparison is wrong.
Wrap-ups also bring administration: enrollment, payroll reporting for workers’ comp, safety program requirements and certificates for non-covered lines. And completed operations coverage after the job matters, since construction defect claims can arrive years later.
Common mistakes
- Subs leaving insurance costs in their bid, so the owner pays twice.
- Leveling bids without normalizing the insurance deduction.
- Not enrolling a sub before it mobilizes, leaving a coverage gap.
- Assuming the wrap-up covers off-site fabrication or deliveries.
- Ignoring how long completed operations coverage runs.
How os.construction handles it
We’re building subcontract and compliance records that track enrollment status and insurance deductions per sub, next to their commitment. It’s in development.