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Construction & Trades
Insurance for work done in someone else's home, while they are still living in it.
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A renovation contractor in Canada needs commercial general liability with completed operations for damage to the client's home and contents, a tools and equipment floater, commercial auto, and an installation floater or builder's risk for larger jobs. Workers' compensation rules apply, though Ontario exempts owners doing only home renovation for homeowners. Some provinces add licensing, such as BC's building envelope renovator licence and Alberta's prepaid contracting licence.
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Renovators work inside clients' lives: finished rooms, furniture, pets and live plumbing and wiring all around the work zone. The expensive claims are rarely about the new cabinets. They are about the flooded basement, the smoke-damaged house or the dust in every duct. That makes general liability with completed operations the core of the program, backed by an installation floater or builder's risk for the work itself.
We build renovation programs around your work mix and your province's rules: Ontario's consumer contract requirements and WSIB home renovation exemption, BC's building envelope renovator licence and Alberta's prepaid contracting licence. We add tools, vehicles and pollution cover for older homes, and issue certificates for clients, lenders and condo boards. See the construction and contractor guide for the sector view.
A renovator works inside someone's home, often while the family is still living there. The furniture, finishes, pets, children and live plumbing and wiring are all within reach of the work. A new-build site is empty and fenced. A kitchen renovation has a family cooking dinner on a hot plate in the next room.
That changes what goes wrong. The large claims are rarely about the work itself. They are about what the work does to the rest of the house: a nicked supply line behind a wall, dust through the whole HVAC system, a fire from a work light left on, a ceiling that falls during demolition. Renovation sits inside the wider construction and contractor sector, but its claims look more like property losses in an occupied home than site accidents. If you mainly sub for builders, our contractor insurance guide fits better. If you take on smaller repair calls, see handyman insurance.
A typical renovation program has five or six parts. General liability carries most of the risk. The rest protect your tools, vehicles and the project itself.
| Coverage | What it answers | Points to check |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial general liability (CGL) | Damage to the client's home, contents and neighbours, and injury to anyone in the house | Completed operations, care-custody-control wording, any residential or water damage restriction |
| Installation floater or builder's risk | Fire, theft or water damage to your work and materials before the job is handed over | Who insures the project under your contract; large additions or gut jobs may need a builder's risk policy |
| Tools and equipment | Theft or damage to tools on site, in vehicles and in storage | Per-item cap, locked vehicle condition, rented equipment |
| Commercial auto | Vans and trucks moving crews, tools and materials between homes | Business use declared, employees driving their own vehicles |
| Contractors' pollution liability | Mould, dust and asbestos disturbed during demolition in older homes | Standard CGL largely excludes pollution; confirm asbestos terms in writing |
| Employer's liability | Injury suits that workers' compensation does not bar | Important if you or your crew fall outside provincial coverage |
Renovators who also design layouts, specify structural changes or manage permits should ask about professional liability. Design advice is excluded from CGL.
The scenarios below are hypothetical. They are the patterns we see insurers ask about on renovation applications.
| Hypothetical scenario | Loss | Policy that responds |
|---|---|---|
| A screw through a bathroom wall pierces a supply line and floods the basement over a weekend | Damage to the finished basement and contents | Your CGL; the cost to redo your own wall is usually excluded |
| Demolition dust spreads through the ductwork to every room | Cleaning of contents, ducts and furnishings | CGL, subject to any pollution exclusion; check the wording before you start |
| A torch used to sweat copper ignites framing in an occupied house | Fire damage to the home | CGL; the homeowner's insurer may pay first and then pursue you |
| A client's child trips over a cord in the work zone | Bodily injury | CGL |
| Materials for a kitchen are stolen from the driveway before install | Theft of materials | Installation floater, if materials in transit and on site are covered |
| The new deck you built pulls away from the house a year later | Injury and property damage after completion | CGL under completed operations |
The fire line shows how renovation claims usually arrive. The homeowner claims on their own policy, and that insurer then sues you to recover what it paid. That recovery right is called subrogation, and it is why your liability limit has to be sized to the value of the homes you work in.
There is no single renovator licence across Canada. Some provinces license specific kinds of renovation work or the way you take payment. The rules below come from the statute, regulation or regulator page listed in our sources.
| Province | Rule | What it means for a renovator |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | The Home Construction Regulatory Authority licenses builders and sellers of new homes. It says renovations or upgrades to an existing home typically do not make the home new and do not require the builder to be licensed. | Most renovators need no HCRA licence. Work that produces a new dwelling, such as a coach, laneway or tiny home, generally does require licensing and warranty coverage. |
| British Columbia | Under the Building Envelope Renovation Regulation, a person must not engage in, arrange for or manage a building envelope renovation (repairing defects that let water in, or the damage it caused) unless licensed as a building envelope renovator. | Licensed renovators must provide materials and labour warranty insurance, and water penetration warranty insurance, on renovations that meet the regulation's thresholds. |
| Alberta | A business that solicits contracts in person away from its premises and accepts money before the work is done needs a prepaid contracting business licence. Work on private dwellings, including renovation and landscaping, is covered. | The application requires a security, a criminal record or police information check and copies of your standard contracts. Commercial work and contracts between contractors are exempt. |
| Other provinces we serve | Requirements vary. | Check with your provincial consumer protection office and your municipality before you start. |
Municipal business licences and building permits are separate again, and vary by city. Unpermitted structural, plumbing or electrical work is hard to defend after a claim, and electrical and plumbing work in Ontario fall under compulsory trades. Keep certified trades on that work, whether your own crew or subs.
A contract with a homeowner is a consumer agreement, and Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 adds rules a commercial contract doesn't have. The province's guide for home renovation and roofing businesses sets them out:
Insurance belongs in the contract too. State who insures the home and the work during the renovation, ask the homeowner to tell their own insurer about major work, and spell out who is responsible for securing the house while walls or roofs are open. Lenders and condo corporations may also ask for a certificate of insurance naming them as an additional insured.
When the family stays in the house, your site rules become their house rules. Underwriters ask how you manage the following, and so do claims adjusters after a loss.
In Ontario, people who own or run a construction business must generally have WSIB coverage, with or without employees. Renovators have a narrow exemption. The WSIB says individuals, partnerships or corporations performing home renovation work only, hired and paid directly by the homeowner or resident, are exempt from coverage for themselves. If they have employees, they must still register to insure them.
The exemption is fragile. The WSIB says that if you take on even one contract that is not a home renovation, you no longer meet the criteria, and you must register and pay premiums on both renovation and non-renovation earnings for at least three months. One job for a builder, a landlord or a commercial tenant can trigger it.
Clearance certificates work the same way. A principal that directly hires a contractor for construction work must get a WSIB clearance, but the policy does not apply to householders who occupy or will occupy the home when they hire a contractor for exempt home renovation work. Builders and property managers who hire you are not householders. Other provinces run their own workers' compensation systems, so check the rules with your provincial board. Our post WSIB is not enough explains why employer's liability sits alongside workers' compensation.
Most renovators act as the general contractor on their own jobs, hiring electricians, plumbers and drywall crews. Every one of those subs is a potential claim on your policy.
Large renovations, such as additions or full gut jobs, start to look like projects. Our construction project insurance guide covers builder's risk and contract terms at that scale.
Renovation CGL is usually rated on annual revenue or payroll, with subcontracted costs rated separately. The underwriter then looks at the work mix: kitchens and bathrooms involve plumbing and water, basements involve foundations and moisture, and structural changes, additions and roofing sit in higher-hazard classes. Interior finishing and painting rate lower.
Insurers also ask about the share of work in occupied homes, condo work, any hot work, the age of homes you work on, how you manage asbestos and mould, and whether you design or only build. Years in business, written contracts, subcontractor certificates and claims history all count, especially water damage claims. Limits and deductibles move the price, and tools and vehicles are priced on their own values and use.
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This page is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Coverage depends on your policy wording and the insurer. Speak with a licensed broker about your situation.
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