Technical Advisory #340

October 24, 2024
Updates to Contractor’s Board Insurance Requirements

TA #340

Updates to Contractor’s Board Insurance Requirements

October 24, 2024

In an effort to protect consumers by better regulating contractors practicing without appropriate insurance coverage, the contractors licensing board (LSLBC) has, again, updated their requirements around insurance coverage notification for home renovation contractors. This change should only affect the three types of home renovation contractors which need to be licensed by LSBLC: Home Improvement Contractors, Residential Home Contractors, and Mold Remediation Contractors.

Contractors and insurance agents should receive this letter from the contractors board detailing the changes, but IIABL wanted to provide a brief summary for our members.

For agents the key points in the policy change are:

  1. LSLBC is once again requiring that they be listed as a certificate holder on the insurance certificate.

Certificate Holder information:

Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (or LSLBC)

600 North Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

  • Certificates only need to be provided during initial application or renewal of the contractor’s license with LSLBC and at renewal of the insurance policy. Agents should not have to send certificates for every contractor in their book at this time.
  • The certificate should include the below specific wording relative to the contractor’s license type.
  1. Home Improvement Registration – “The Commercial General Liability Policy represented on this Certificate of Insurance provides general liability coverage for home improvement contracting operations subject to the terms and conditions of the policy.”
  • Residential License – “The Commercial General Liability Policy represented on this Certificate of Insurance provides general liability coverage for residential home contracting operations subject to the terms and conditions of the policy.”
  • Mold Remediation License – “The Commercial General Liability Policy represented on this Certificate of Insurance provides general liability coverage for mold remediation operations subject to the terms and conditions of the policy.”

For additional details about the different types of residential contracting licenses and their insurance requirements, please reference IIABL Technical Advisory 301.

Louisiana Revised Statute R.S. 37:2167.B.(1) requires residential building contractors to provide evidence of insurance to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) as part of their application for new or renewal contractor license. Over the years, IIABL has worked with the LSLBC to resolve problems with certificates of insurance required as part of the contractor licensing process. IIABL published TA 285 on August 12, 2010 and TA 301 on August 9, 2012 with details of the statutory requirements and regulatory requirements of LSLBC related to contractor certificates of insurance to LSLBC.

The LSLBC reached out recently to IIABL to advise that they have changed some of the insurance requirements for contractor licensing. This Technical Advisory provides the information agents will need to conform to the new LSLBC insurance requirements.

MAIN POINTS:       The LSLBC updated their Contractor Licensing Law and Rules and Regulations effective December 20, 2018. LSLBC issued a memo outlining the changes on January 3, 2019. The memo outlines the following changes to the insurance requirements:

  1. Proof of insurance (certificates) only need to be provided at the time of license application or renewal. Agents do NOT need to issue a certificate at the time policies renew.
  2. LSLBC no longer requires that they be listed as a certificate holder on the certificate.
  3. LSLBC no longer requires the specific wording in the Description of Operations on the insurance certificate. However, the contractor should be properly insured for their scope of operations.

The LSLBC memo can be found HERE.

Please distribute this Technical Advisory to any agency personnel who are involved in providing certificates of insurance for residential contractors.

The information provided by IIABL is intended for educational and informational purposes only. IIABL does not make any warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of the information provided. Information provided represents the views of one or more experienced insurance professionals and is not a recommendation that a particular course of action be followed.  Please note that this information is not legal advice upon which you should rely. Please seek any legal opinion you may need from a qualified attorney. IIABL is not liable for any liability or damage which may result from the use of this information.