Illinois Subcontractor Insurance Requirements: What GCs Must Require from Subs
What coverage general contractors should require from subcontractors on Illinois job sites — where every construction worker must be covered by workers' comp, and an uninsured sub's injured crew becomes the GC's to pay.
The most common mistake: accepting a "1099 crew" with no workers' comp. Construction is extra-hazardous under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, and if the sub is uninsured, the Act makes the general contractor pay its injured workers' benefits.
Illinois sets no general liability minimum for private construction, so GCs set it in the subcontract — typically $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate general liability, $1M commercial auto, workers' compensation with employer's liability, and an umbrella on larger jobs. Workers' comp is mandatory and automatic for construction, and under 820 ILCS 305/1(a)(3) a general contractor owes benefits to an uninsured subcontractor's employees. Knowingly operating without coverage can be a felony.
In this guide
Standard insurance requirements for Illinois subcontractors
Apart from workers' comp, these are commercial standards set in the subcontract; your prime contract with the owner often sets the floor you pass down.
| Coverage | Typical minimum | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial General Liability | $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate | Bodily injury and property damage from the sub's operations and completed work |
| Workers' Compensation | Statutory — required by law | Medical costs and lost wages for the sub's injured employees |
| Employer's Liability | $500K–$1M each accident / disease | Employee injury suits outside WC; part of the WC policy |
| Commercial Auto | $1M combined single limit | Vehicles used in the sub's operations |
| Umbrella / Excess | $1M–$5M, by project | Limits above GL, auto and employer's liability |
Workers' compensation — mandatory in Illinois
Illinois is the opposite of Texas here. Construction is one of the businesses the Workers' Compensation Act declares extra-hazardous, so its employees are covered automatically and their employer must insure that liability.
Why an uninsured sub is the GC's problem
Under 820 ILCS 305/1(a)(3), a general contractor is liable to pay compensation to a subcontractor's employees unless the subcontractor has insured that liability. The sub owes the GC indemnity afterwards — which is worth little from a sub that couldn't buy a policy.
Penalties for going without
An employer that knowingly fails to carry required coverage faces daily fines, stop-work orders and, for knowing violations, felony charges. A sub operating without workers' comp is breaking the law, not just skipping a line on the certificate.
Watch the classification. The Illinois Employee Classification Act presumes people doing construction work are employees unless strict criteria are met. A sub that calls its crew independent contractors to avoid workers' comp is a sub whose workers may be the GC's to cover. Payroll matters too: on many private projects the GC is also liable for a sub's unpaid wages — see the Illinois license requirements.
Additional insured and waiver of subrogation
- Additional insured status for your company (and the owner, where required) on the sub's GL and auto, on a primary and non-contributory basis, for ongoing and completed operations — see CG 20 10 vs CG 20 37.
- Waiver of subrogation in your favor on GL, auto and workers' comp.
The endorsements on the policy grant these, not a line in the Description of Operations box. Illinois voids construction-contract clauses that indemnify a party for its own negligence, which makes the additional insured endorsement — insurance the sub buys — the more important of the two protections. Have your broker or counsel review the indemnity and insurance exhibit together.
Adjusting minimums by project type
| Project type | Suggested GL | Suggested umbrella |
|---|---|---|
| Residential remodel / small commercial | $1M / $2M | Often not required |
| Mid-size commercial ($1M–$10M) | $1M / $2M | $1M–$2M |
| Large commercial / high-rise ($10M+) | $2M / $4M | $5M+ |
| High-hazard trades (demolition, roofing, structural) | $2M / $4M | $5M+ |
Collecting and tracking certificates of insurance
- Collect a current certificate before work begins, and check the workers' comp line first.
- Track each policy's own expiration date — GL, auto and workers' comp rarely renew together.
- Check state and Chicago licenses alongside the certificate.
- Keep certificates where you can retrieve them in an audit or a claim.
How TrackMyVendor automates this
- Every certificate is read on upload — carrier, policy numbers, each coverage row’s limits and its own dates — and measured against the minimums you set, so a missing WC line shows as short.
- IDFPR licences are re-checked every day and shown beside the certificate.
- Per-deadline reminders at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days go to your team and to the sub, with the upload link in the sub’s copy. Starter and above
- The endorsement pages are read too — additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory. Pro
Collecting COIs from Illinois subs?
Everything above is a check you can run by hand. This is what it looks like when it runs itself.
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Per-deadline alerts at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days, sent to your team and to the sub, start on Starter. Compare plans
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