Owners & Contractors Protective Insurance in NYC
Owners and Contractors Protective insurance, usually called OCP, is a policy an owner or general contractor buys for themselves. It covers liability that comes from the work of one specific contractor you hired. It sits apart from that contractor's own insurance and doesn't depend on it.
It's a narrower purchase than most of what we write. You buy it on purpose, for a named contractor and a defined job.
In New York it has a sharper reason to exist than in most states. State Labor Law can put liability for certain construction injuries on the owner and GC directly, even when they did nothing wrong. A contractor's general liability policy doesn't make that exposure go away. We cover the Labor Law side in depth on our commercial general liability page. This page is about the policy that protects you on your own paper.
Coverage Includes
- ✓Third-party bodily injury and property damage claims arising from a named contractor's work
- ✓Liability that lands on you directly as the owner or GC
- ✓Defense costs for claims tied to the contracted work
- ✓Coverage written around one contract and one scope of work
- ✓Protection independent of the contractor's own policy
Quick answers
Is being an additional insured the same as having OCP?
No. As an additional insured, you're borrowing space on the contractor's policy. Their limits, their exclusions, and their renewal decide what you get. With OCP, you own the policy. You pick the limits, you pay the premium, and it stays in force even if the contractor's coverage lapses.
Does OCP cover the contractor's employees?
No. If one of the contractor's workers gets hurt, their injury benefits come from the contractor's workers' compensation policy. OCP responds to claims made against you, the owner or GC, that come out of the contractor's work.
Is a wrap-up or OCIP the same as OCP?
No. A wrap-up, also called an OCIP when the owner sponsors it, is one program that covers many contractors on a project at once. OCP is built around a single named contractor and a single scope of work. It doesn't extend to every trade on the site.
What OCP covers and what it does not
What OCP covers
- Third-party injury and damage from the named contractor's work. Someone outside the job gets hurt, or a neighbor's property gets damaged, because of what your contractor did or failed to do under the contract.
- Liability that attaches to you directly. The claim names you as owner or GC, apart from any claim against the contractor.
- Your defense. Legal costs for claims brought against you that come out of the contracted work.
What OCP does not cover
- The contractor's own employees. That's the contractor's workers' compensation policy.
- Damage to the project itself. If the building under construction is damaged by fire, water, or theft, that's builders risk. Our builders risk guide walks through how that policy works.
- The contractor's liability for their own operations. That stays on the contractor's general liability policy. OCP protects you. It doesn't stand in for their coverage.
What's included and excluded can vary from one carrier to the next. We read the actual policy wording with you before you sign anything.
Why NYC OCP is different
Additional insured status is borrowed. OCP is owned.
The usual way an owner or GC protects itself is to get named as an additional insured on the contractor's GL policy. That's a normal ask, and you should keep making it. Just know what you're getting.
That protection is only as good as the contractor's policy. It depends on their limits. It depends on whether their carrier excludes the kind of claim you're worried about, and contractor GL policies in New York often carry exclusions that hit exactly this exposure. It depends on whether the policy is still active when a claim shows up, which can be months or years after the job wraps.
You don't control any of that. You see a certificate, and the certificate doesn't show you the exclusions.
OCP is a policy you control and pay for yourself. If the contractor's coverage lapses, gets cancelled, or turns out to have an exclusion nobody caught, your OCP is still there.
The New York piece
New York Labor Law 240 and 241 can make owners and GCs responsible for certain construction injuries, especially falls and falling objects, no matter who was actually at fault. So when you hire someone to work at height, you carry that exposure yourself. How good the contractor's insurance is doesn't change it.
In most states, relying on additional insured status is a reasonable bet. In New York, the law makes that same bet riskier. That's the gap OCP is meant to close. For how these laws work and how carriers treat them, see our general liability page.
Who buys OCP, and when
The most common buyers are:
- Property owners hiring a GC for a major capital project
- Co-op and condo boards running a building-wide job
- Developers on ground-up or gut renovation work
The projects that usually call for it are things like a gut renovation, a vertical expansion, or major facade or roof work. Height is the big trigger. If people will be on scaffolds, ladders, or roofs, Labor Law exposure is on the table and OCP deserves a hard look.
It's typically bought for the specific project and contract. The price is based on that contract's value and scope. That's different from general liability, which most owners and contractors carry year-round.
What gets missed
Treating additional insured status like it's the same thing as OCP. It isn't. One depends on someone else's policy. The other is yours.
Buying it for the wrong contractor relationship. OCP names a specific contractor and a specific scope of work. If you have five trades on site and you bought OCP for one of them, the other four aren't on it. If you want one program covering everyone on the job, that's a wrap-up conversation.
Assuming it covers the building. OCP is a liability policy. Damage to the work itself needs builders risk, bought separately.
Limits
There's no single right number. We set limits against the size and risk of the project and the contract.
A few things shape the decision:
What a serious injury claim costs in New York. Labor Law claims involving falls can be large. Set your limits with that kind of claim in mind.
Lender and institutional requirements. Lenders, institutional owners, and some management companies set minimum OCP limits in their contracts. Treat those minimums as a floor.
The scope of work. A facade job on a twelve-story building carries different exposure than interior work on a single floor.
We'll walk through the contract with you and recommend limits that fit the job.
Who we write it for
Building owners and boards
If you own a building or sit on a co-op or condo board, OCP is usually the piece that protects the building's owner when a big project gets going. It works alongside the property and liability coverage you already carry. See our building owners insurance page for how the full program fits together. If you own a brownstone and you're planning a major renovation, our guide on choosing an insurance broker for NYC brownstone owners is a good place to start.
Developers and general contractors
Developers buy OCP to protect themselves from the GC's work. GCs buy it to protect themselves from a subcontractor's work. Either way, it's your own policy tied to someone else's job. For how OCP fits with the rest of a contractor's coverage, see our NYC contractor insurance guide.
What drives the premium
OCP pricing comes down to a handful of things:
Contract value. Bigger contracts usually mean higher premiums.
Scope of work. Interior finish work prices very differently from structural or exterior work.
Height exposure. Roofs, facades, and scaffolding push the price up because that's where Labor Law claims come from.
The contractor's coverage and claims history. A contractor with solid insurance and a clean record helps.
The fastest way to get a real number is to send us the contract and the scope of work. We'll tell you whether OCP makes sense for the job and what it would take to place it. Email team@serheydavidson.com or request a policy review.
FAQ
- I'm already an additional insured on my contractor's GL policy. Do I need OCP too?
- It depends on the job, but it's worth asking. Additional insured status only works if the contractor's policy has enough limits, doesn't exclude the claim, and is still in force when the claim comes in. You don't control any of that. OCP is your own policy, so it doesn't depend on the contractor keeping theirs in good shape. On larger projects and anything involving work at height in New York, many owners carry both.
- Does OCP cover the contractor's employees if they get hurt?
- No. The contractor's employees are covered by the contractor's workers' compensation policy. OCP covers claims made against you as the owner or GC that come out of the contractor's work.
- Is OCP the same as a wrap-up or OCIP?
- No. A wrap-up or OCIP is one program covering many contractors on a project. OCP is written for one named contractor and one scope of work. They solve different problems, and on some projects you'll talk about both.
- Do I need OCP for every contractor I hire?
- No. Most owners don't buy it for small or low-risk jobs. It makes the most sense on larger contracts, higher-risk scopes, and any work at height where New York Labor Law exposure comes into play. We'll help you figure out which jobs call for it.
Request a policy review
Send us the contract and the scope of work. We'll look at what your contractor carries, where the gaps are, and whether OCP belongs on the job.
Prefer email? Write to team@serheydavidson.com.
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