Completed operations is the part of your general liability policy that answers for work you already finished. It has its own aggregate limit, separate from the one your ongoing jobs erode, and it is triggered by when the damage happens, not by when you did the work or when you get sued. That single mechanic decides almost everything that goes wrong in this area: a roof installed in 2022 that leaks in 2027 is a 2027 claim, and the policy that has to answer it is the one in force in 2027 — which, if you retired, sold the company or let the policy lapse, does not exist.
The products-completed operations hazard picks up bodily injury and property damage occurring away from premises you own or rent and arising out of your work, once that work is complete. Standard forms treat work as completed at the earliest of three points: when all of the work called for in your contract is done, when all the work at the site is done if your contract calls for work at more than one site, or when the part you were hired for has been put to its intended use by anyone other than another contractor working on the same project. Service calls, repairs, corrections and maintenance after that point are still treated as completed operations rather than as new ongoing work.
That "put to its intended use" trigger catches people. The homeowner moves in, the tenant takes occupancy, the plant runs the line — and the job is complete for insurance purposes even if you have a punch list open and have not been paid.
A standard general liability policy carries a general aggregate and a separate products-completed operations aggregate, commonly both at $2,000,000 behind a $1,000,000 occurrence limit. Claims arising from finished work erode the completed operations aggregate; premises and ongoing-operations claims erode the general aggregate. Two consequences follow. First, a bad year on active jobs does not automatically wipe out the limit available for your past work. Second, a contractor with several years of completed projects is relying on a single annual aggregate to stand behind all of them at once — which is why a contractor whose exposure is mostly behind them often needs more limit than their current revenue suggests. The per-project or per-location aggregate endorsement that general contractors require applies to the general aggregate and typically does nothing for completed operations, so read what you actually bought.
An occurrence-form general liability policy responds to injury or damage that takes place during the policy period, regardless of when the work was performed or when the claim is made. Three practical results:
Claims-made general liability is written for a minority of trades and behaves differently: it responds to claims made during the policy period, and leaving the carrier requires buying an extended reporting period. If you are not sure which form you have, start with occurrence versus claims-made.
General liability is not a warranty on your workmanship, and courts across the Southeast have held the line on that. The forms do it through a set of property damage exclusions: damage to your own product, damage to your work arising out of it, and damage to impaired property that can be fixed by repairing your work. The practical rule contractors use is this: the cost to tear out and redo your defective work is generally yours; the damage that defect causes to the rest of the building is generally the policy's. A mis-flashed window is your cost; the drywall, flooring and framing the water ruined behind it is the claim. A failed pipe joint is your cost; the three floors of finished space below it is the claim.
This is also why a contractor's first instinct — "my insurance will cover the callback" — is usually wrong, and why warranty and workmanship disputes end up in contract rather than in coverage.
The "your work" exclusion carries an exception: it does not apply if the damaged work, or the work the damage arose out of, was performed on your behalf by a subcontractor. That exception is the reason a general contractor's policy can respond to defect-driven damage on a project built almost entirely with subs. It is also the reason carriers attack it. Watch for endorsements that remove or restrict the exception, that exclude work performed by subcontractors unless the sub carried specified limits and named you as additional insured, or that condition coverage on written subcontract agreements being in place. Those conditions are enforceable, and they are met with paperwork discipline rather than at claim time — see certificate tracking and subcontractor compliance and additional insured for ongoing versus completed operations, which covers the endorsement side of the same problem.
The other half of that exposure is the sub who is gone. If the framer who built it has dissolved, the claim comes to you and stays with you. For how larger builders transfer that specific risk, see subcontractor default insurance versus bonding.
Two different clocks run against finished work. The statute of limitations starts when a claim accrues or a defect is discovered, and it is usually a few years. The statute of repose is the outer wall: it bars claims arising from improvements to real property after a fixed number of years from substantial completion, no matter when the defect appears. Commonly cited repose periods in the Southeast are eight years in Georgia and South Carolina, seven in Florida, six in North Carolina and four in Tennessee, with meaningful differences in how each state measures the starting point and in what exceptions apply — Florida in particular has changed both the length and the trigger in recent years. Treat those numbers as the planning horizon for how long to keep a policy in force after your last job, and confirm the current rule for your state and project type with counsel before relying on it.
Residential work generally carries the longer practical tail, because damage shows up when someone lives with it. Industrial and infrastructure work tends to produce fewer, larger claims later.
Completed operations is not usually a separately priced line item; it is built into the general liability rate for your classification, which is why class code and payroll or receipts drive the cost. Roofing, framing, structural concrete, exterior envelope and anything involving water intrusion carry the heaviest completed operations loading; interior finish trades, service work and light commercial carry less. Three things change the number more than shopping does: your loss history on finished work, whether your subcontract agreements and certificates are in order, and whether you are asking for the limit to be available to past projects as well as current ones. For trade-level general liability pricing, see general liability cost by trade. Keeping a policy in force after you stop working, purely to protect completed operations, is typically a small fraction of a working contractor's premium since there is no new payroll to rate — ask for it as a standalone quote rather than assuming it cannot be done.
We are an independent agency in Statesboro working contractor accounts across Georgia and the Southeast, and on this subject the review is short and specific: whether your completed operations aggregate is separate and adequate, whether an endorsement has quietly cut off your past work, whether the subcontractor exception survives on your form, and what it would cost to keep coverage in force for the repose period after your last job. More on how we work: Statesboro and Savannah. If your contracts also require bid, performance or payment bonds, our sister brand BettrBonds handles that — see bid versus performance versus payment bonds.
Send your general liability declarations with the complete endorsement list and one representative subcontract agreement. We will tell you what your completed operations aggregate is, whether anything on the policy cuts off work you finished before inception, whether the subcontractor exception is intact, and what keeping coverage in force after your last job would cost.
Get a free coverage reviewIt is the part of the general liability policy that responds to bodily injury and property damage arising out of work you have already finished, occurring away from premises you own or rent. Standard forms group it with products liability under the products-completed operations hazard and give it its own annual aggregate limit, separate from the general aggregate that premises and ongoing-operations claims erode. Work counts as completed when the contract work is done, or when the part you performed has been put to its intended use by someone other than another contractor on the same project, whichever comes first. Service, repair, correction and maintenance visits after that point remain completed operations rather than becoming new ongoing work.
Not once the policy ends. An occurrence-form general liability policy responds to damage that takes place during the policy period, so a defect from a job you finished five years ago is covered only if a policy is in force when the resulting damage occurs. Closing the business and dropping coverage leaves that exposure uninsured, while the statute of repose can keep claims alive for several more years. The usual fix is to keep a policy in force, with no new operations, for the length of your state's repose period, which is commonly eight years in Georgia and South Carolina, seven in Florida, six in North Carolina and four in Tennessee. Because there is no new payroll or receipts to rate, this is typically a small fraction of a working contractor's premium. Ask for it as a standalone quote and confirm the applicable repose period with counsel.
Generally no. The property damage exclusions in a standard general liability form remove damage to your product, damage to your work arising out of that work, and damage to impaired property that can be restored by repairing your work. The working rule is that tearing out and redoing the defective work is your cost, while the damage that defect causes to other property is what the policy addresses. If a poorly installed window leaks, the window is yours and the ruined drywall, insulation and flooring is the claim. This is also why callbacks and warranty disputes are contract problems rather than insurance problems, and why a policy should never be described to a customer as a workmanship guarantee.
The your-work exclusion in standard general liability forms contains an exception: the exclusion does not apply if the damaged work, or the work the damage arose out of, was performed on your behalf by a subcontractor. For a general contractor who builds almost entirely with subs, that exception is what allows the policy to respond to defect-driven damage on a completed project. Carriers restrict it in two common ways: by endorsing it away entirely, or by conditioning coverage for subcontracted work on written subcontract agreements, specified limits and additional insured status from each sub. Those conditions are met with paperwork before the job, not at claim time, so review the endorsement list and the subcontract file together.
Two clocks run. The statute of limitations starts when the claim accrues or the damage is discovered and typically runs a few years. The statute of repose is the outer limit and bars actions arising from an improvement to real property after a fixed number of years from substantial completion, regardless of when the defect appears. Georgia and South Carolina commonly cite eight years, Florida seven, North Carolina six and Tennessee four, with real differences in how the clock starts and what exceptions apply, and Florida has changed both the length and the trigger in recent years. Fraud, willful misconduct and written warranties can extend exposure. Use the repose period as the planning horizon for how long to keep coverage in force, and confirm the current rule for your state and project type with qualified counsel.
Yes on standard forms. A general liability policy usually shows a general aggregate and a products-completed operations aggregate, often both at two million dollars behind a one million dollar per-occurrence limit. Claims from finished work erode the completed operations aggregate, which means a heavy year of premises or ongoing-operations claims does not automatically exhaust the limit standing behind your past projects. One caution: the per-project or per-location aggregate endorsement that general contractors often require modifies the general aggregate and usually does nothing for completed operations. Check both numbers on the declarations page rather than assuming the required endorsement covers everything.
Almost certainly, because most construction contracts require it, and the endorsement granting additional insured status for ongoing operations only will not respond to a claim made after the project is finished. That distinction between ongoing and completed operations additional insured endorsements is where a surprising number of tenders are denied years later, and it is covered in detail on our page comparing the two endorsement forms. Confirm three things before signing: that your policy actually grants completed operations status, that the status is required to last at least as long as the contract says, and that the endorsement edition your contract specifies is the one your carrier is willing to issue.
For general information only. Not legal advice and not a quote or contract of insurance. Policy forms, endorsements, sublimits and exclusions vary by carrier and form edition — the definition of the products-completed operations hazard, the products-completed operations aggregate and its relationship to general, per-project and per-location aggregates, the damage to your product, damage to your work and impaired property exclusions and the subcontractor exception, prior work and prior acts exclusions, subcontractor warranty and minimum insurance requirement endorsements, occurrence versus claims-made triggers and extended reporting periods, additional insured endorsements for ongoing versus completed operations and their edition dates, waiver of subrogation endorsements, and continuing or runoff coverage after operations cease must all be read as actually issued. Statutes of limitation and repose for improvements to real property, their accrual and tolling rules and exceptions, right-to-repair and notice procedures, implied and express warranty obligations, indemnity and contractual risk transfer provisions and contractor licensing requirements are governed by state law and by qualified counsel, not by this page, and are amended over time — the repose periods described here are commonly cited figures and must be confirmed for your state, project type and date of substantial completion. Classification, rating and premium audit procedure are set by the applicable rating bureau and carrier. Coverage subject to policy terms, conditions, exclusions and carrier appetite.