Use a broker who lets you issue your own certificates online, instead of emailing a request and waiting. A certificate of insurance is a one page summary of your policies, limits, and dates, and a property manager wants one before you touch a unit. Morrow clients log in and send one in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge. Changes to the policy itself still go through your broker. Who this is for: plumbers who need proof of insurance before a job or a service call.
The short version
- A plumbing certificate usually shows general liability, workers comp, commercial auto, and an umbrella.
- Property managers, general contractors, homeowners, water districts, and hospitals all ask for one.
- Morrow clients make their own certificates online in about a minute, at night or on a weekend, at no charge.
- Property managers ask plumbers for higher limits, because one failed fitting soaks a building.
What does a plumbing certificate have to show?
Four policies cover most requests, and a fifth turns up on healthcare work.
| Policy | What it covers | Limit customers usually ask for |
|---|---|---|
| General liability | Water damage and injury from your work, including a later leak | $1,000,000 for one incident and $2,000,000 for the year |
| Workers comp | Burns, cuts, and trench work that hurt your employees | Whatever your state requires, plus three limits for employee suits, commonly $100,000 each accident, $500,000 for disease in a policy year, and $100,000 for disease per employee. Contracts often ask for all three at $500,000 or $1,000,000 |
| Commercial auto | Service vans and trailers your crew drives | $1,000,000 for each accident |
| Umbrella | A second layer above your liability and auto limits | $1,000,000 on houses, $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 on apartments |
| Contractors pollution | Sewage backups, a missed backflow device, and mold behind a wall | $1,000,000 when asked |
One state note. In North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming, workers comp comes from the state fund, and fund policies pay nothing when an employee sues. Ask your broker for stop gap cover, which fills that hole.
Who asks a plumber for a certificate?
- Property managers, before you touch a unit and again at renewal.
- General contractors, through a compliance portal.
- Homeowners, on repipes, water heaters, and sewer lines.
- Water districts, to keep you on the backflow tester list.
- Hospitals and schools, with their own forms and limits.
Why do property managers ask plumbers for higher limits?
Because water travels. One fitting that fails on the fourth floor can ruin ceilings, floors, and tenant property all the way down. A $1,000,000 limit that suits a fence company looks thin to someone running a 60 unit building.
Sewage and mold sit in two different places. Sewage is left out by the pollution exclusion printed in the standard liability form, which prints a few narrow give backs of its own, such as fuel from your own mobile equipment and fumes from materials you brought into a building you are working in. A total pollution exclusion added by your insurer deletes even those. Mold sits somewhere else entirely, on a separate fungi or bacteria page that almost every contractor policy carries. Read whether plumbing work needs pollution insurance.
What extra wording do plumbing contracts ask for?
| What the contract asks for | What it means | How it gets there |
|---|---|---|
| Additional insured | Your customer can use your liability policy if they get sued because of your work | Blanket wording (CG 20 33) adds the customer you signed the contract with, for work in progress, when the contract required it in writing before the loss. It does not reach the owner, the lender, or the architect above your customer. A broader blanket form (CG 20 38) can reach them, but it leaves out coverage after the job is finished |
| Coverage after the job ends | It keeps going once the work is finished, when leaks show up | A scheduled change (CG 20 37). Carriers make blanket versions by typing that wording into its schedule, or on their own form |
| Your policy pays first | Your policy pays first and your customer's does not chip in | Its own added line (CG 20 01), not a line inside the form above |
| No claim against your customer | Your insurer agrees not to go after your customer for its money back | One change on liability (CG 24 04) and another on workers comp (WC 00 03 13) |
Typing extra names into the description box adds nobody to your policy. More on that last one on a certificate.
How do I issue one myself in about a minute?
- Log in from the van.
- Pick the policies the contract lists.
- Type your customer's legal name exactly as the contract spells it.
- Add the building address and the work.
- Email it or upload it.
No charge, and no wait for Monday, which matters when a burst line puts you on site at 11 p.m. See getting a certificate instantly.
What still has to go through my broker?
- Naming a customer your policy does not already pick up.
- Raising a limit or adding an umbrella.
- Adding a waiver on workers comp, which some states handle their own way.
- Adding pollution cover for sewage claims.
You get a reply usually within the hour on business days. Insurers almost never backdate. A change added today does nothing for something that already went wrong, and a customer saying you can start does not create coverage for the gap.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A plumbing shop in Florida has been on a property manager's call list for six years. A new management company takes over 11 buildings and sends every vendor a fresh packet: $2,000,000 of total liability, plus a promise that the plumber's insurer will not chase the manager. Certificates are due in 48 hours.
What went wrong: The shop carries $1,000,000 with no umbrella. Its broker takes six business days to place the extra layer, and the deadline passes with no certificate uploaded.
What it cost: Two weeks off the emergency call rotation, roughly $9,000 of service work sent to another shop.
The fix: The certificate was never the hard part. Reading the packet the day it arrived would have bought the umbrella in time.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I get a free, instant certificate of insurance for my plumbing business?
Use a broker whose clients issue their own. Morrow clients log in, pick the customer, and send one in about a minute, at any hour, at no charge.
Q: Why do property managers want $2,000,000 from a plumber?
Because water damage runs downhill through every unit below the leak. Managers set the number for the worst case, not the average job, and an umbrella is the usual way to get there.
Q: Will my certificate show cover for sewage or mold?
Only if you own a pollution policy. Sewage is left out by your liability policy's pollution exclusion, and mold by a separate fungi or bacteria page that almost every contractor policy carries. Tell your broker before you sign.
Q: Does a certificate of insurance cost money?
It should not. Brokers issue them at no charge as part of servicing your policy. A charge per certificate is unusual.
Q: My management company wants 30 days notice if my policy is cancelled. Does the certificate do that?
No. A certificate reports what the policy says; it does not promise anyone notice. Some insurers will add wording that sends your customer a copy of a cancellation notice, so ask your broker before you sign that clause.
Q: What do I do when a certificate gets rejected?
Look at the reason first. A wrong legal name or missing job address is a two minute fix you can make yourself. A short limit or missing wording needs your broker.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Plumbers get certificate requests from property managers, general contractors, and water districts every week, and our clients issue every one of them themselves.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.