Construction Insurance Checklist: What to Have in Hand Before You Break Ground

What to Gather Before You Ask for a Quote

A broker cannot rate what you cannot describe, and a vague application gets rated as a vague risk. The calculator writes most of it onto a quote request sheet for you.

• A one-paragraph description of the project: new house, square feet, storeys, basement type, garage, who is building it.
• The hard construction cost, labour and materials, land excluded. The broker rates on this.
• Soft costs you want covered: interest, permit re-fees, design fees, rent. An optional endorsement.
• Start date and expected completion. Pick a term with slack in it.
• Construction type: wall system (wood frame, ICF, log, SIP), roof, floors, heating.
• The site address, or the legal description if there is no civic address yet.
• Distance by road to the responding fire hall (within 8 km is protected), volunteer or full-time, and whether there is a hydrant within about 300 metres.
• Who manages the build, their experience, and the general contractor’s liability certificate if there is one.
• A list of trades and whether each carries its own liability and WSIB.
• Site security: fencing, locked container, cameras, monitored alarm, lighting.
• Prior losses, refusals or cancellations, liens on the property, and the percent of budget already spent if work has started.
• Site plan, drawings or best sketch, schedule, signed contract.
• The lender’s exact legal name and address for the mortgagee clause.

What to Confirm With the Builder

A certificate of insurance is the receipt; the policy is the groceries. Pin these down in writing before the contract is signed; the who pays page has the contract clause itself.

• Which of you carries builder’s risk, named in the contract’s insurance clause. Usually the lot owner, with the lender named. Not “to be arranged”.
• The builder’s certificate of general liability, with you named as additional insured, limits of at least $2,000,000 and $5,000,000 common, and an expiry past your completion date.
• Written notice to you, with the number of days stated, if the builder’s policy is cancelled or not renewed.
• Whether the builder’s liability covers the subcontractors or each trade carries its own.
• A current WSIB clearance for the builder and every trade. Clearances are free and run out on the 20th of February, May, August and November.
• Who pays the deductible when a trade causes the damage. Expect $1,000 to $5,000 on a house build, often higher for water.
• The builder’s HCRA licence number and confirmation the home will be enrolled with Tarion.
• The builder’s own tools and equipment are the builder’s problem; builder’s risk does not cover them.

What to Confirm With the Lender and the Broker

The lender’s letter says “full appraised completion value”; the broker rates on hard construction cost. The gap is yours to close before draw one, because a lender will not advance a draw without proof of insurance naming the lender. The mortgage requirements page walks through the reconciliation.

• The insured amount: the lender’s full appraised completion value, land excluded. If the broker’s hard cost is lower, raise it.
• The lender named as mortgagee and loss payee, legal name spelled the way its lawyer spells it.
• The certificate delivered to the lender’s lawyer before the first advance.
• The term covers the whole draw schedule plus slack and expires after the conversion to a regular mortgage; what an extension costs if the build runs long.
• The form: all-risk or named perils, in plain words, and what water, flood, sewer backup and earthquake each need as endorsements.
• Whether premises liability is a line on the quote. If not, assume property only and arrange liability separately.
• Soft costs, transit and off-site storage: in or out, and the sublimits.
• The deductible, in dollars, per occurrence, and whether water carries a higher one.
• The premium: one-time for the term or monthly, any minimum premium, and Ontario’s 8% retail sales tax on top.
• What ends the policy: completion, occupancy, expiry, or the first of the three. Your home policy must start the same day.

November 2026. Planning numbers assume a 9 to 12 month build by a licensed builder in a protected area with a $2,500 deductible. The cost page has what moves the number.

Do Not Start Until

We have seen materials walk off sites and weather get into open framing, and the difference between a bad week and a bad year was whether the paper below was done. “The broker says it is fine” is not a bound policy; a binder or policy number in writing is.

1. The builder’s risk policy is bound in writing, at the right insured amount, with the lender named, and you have the binder in hand.
2. Liability is in place: the builder’s certificate naming you, or your own policy if you are the owner-builder. An owner-builder is legally responsible for the people and the public on the site, and a worker injured on a site with no WSIB coverage and no liability policy can sue the homeowner.
3. WSIB clearances are collected for the builder and every trade that will set foot on the lot.
4. The contract is signed with the insurance clause filled in and the deductible assigned.
5. The lender’s lawyer has the certificate and has confirmed the first draw is clear on the insurance side.
6. The permit is issued and posted. The policy can be bound before the permit; the digging cannot start before it.
7. The site is secured the way you told the insurer it would be.

If you are building the house yourself, the owner-builder insurance page covers lines 1 and 2 when there is no builder. We build houses and carry these policies on every one of them; we do not sell insurance. The binding answer on any policy comes from a RIBO-licensed broker.

When Something Happens

A fire, a theft, a windstorm through the open framing, a burst line in the slab. The first hours decide the claim.

1. Make it safe. People first, then shut off power, water or gas if the damage touches them. Theft and vandalism need a police report number.
2. Call the broker the same day and follow up in writing. Late notice is a standard denial reason.
3. Photograph everything before anyone touches it. Keep the damaged material; do not haul it to the dump.
4. Secure the site against further damage: tarp the roof, board the opening, pump the water. Reconstruction waits for the adjuster.
5. Pull the paper together: the policy, invoices and delivery slips for material on site, the schedule, the contract.
6. Meet the adjuster, walk the site with them, and get the claim number and the adjuster’s name in writing.
7. File the proof of loss inside the policy deadline. The deductible comes off the top; that is the part of the dent you pay yourself.
8. Tell the lender. A loss changes the draw schedule.

Bad workmanship is a different file: the policy excludes redoing the work, and the route is the contract and, on a builder-built home after possession, Tarion. This is general information from a builder, not insurance, legal or tax advice. Policies differ; confirm every line above with a RIBO-licensed broker and your lender, and keep the construction insurance hub for the three policies and who carries each.

Questions people ask

Sources and further reading

• A major bank: solicitor instructions for construction mortgages: insurance at the full appraised completion value before any advance, inspections, and the Ontario 10 percent lien holdback.
• WSIB clearance certificates FAQ: clearances before work starts and for the duration, the resident-homeowner renovation exemption, 90-day validity, the $100,000 maximum fine.
• RIBO consumer fact sheet: brokers must be licensed by the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, and how to complain about one.