PPRBD Insurance Requirements for Contractors

The Limits Are the Easy Part

Every PPRBD contractor category carries the same general liability requirement: $1,000,000 each occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate. Building Contractor A through F, single trade, wrecking, moving, sign, fire suppression, electrical, fire alarm, mechanical, plumbing, water conditioning. Same number across the board.

If your certificate is getting rejected, it is almost never the limits. It's one of six other things.

Source: PPRBD, Insurance Requirements for Contractors

1. The Name Doesn't Match Exactly

The insured name on the certificate has to match the name on your license or registration exactly, including every trade name you operate under. Not close. Not the version your agent has on file from three years ago.

If you registered as one entity and do business under a DBA, both belong on the certificate. This is the most common rejection and the fastest to fix.

2. The Certificate Holder Is Wrong

It has to read: Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, 2880 International Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80910.

3. There's No Policy Number on It

A certificate showing a pending or temporary policy, or a binder, doesn't satisfy the requirement. Worse, the department treats the insurance obligation as expiring immediately, or when the temporary coverage expires. Once the carrier assigns a policy number, a new certificate has to go in.

This catches contractors who are mid-placement and trying to get registered on a deadline. Plan for the policy to be issued, not just bound.

4. The 10-Day Cancellation Endorsement Is Missing

PPRBD requires each policy to carry an endorsement obligating the carrier to notify the department at least ten calendar days before any cancellation or reduction in coverage.

It has to be an actual endorsement on the policy — standard certificate language doesn't obligate the insurer to notify anyone. If your agent sends a certificate with boilerplate notice wording and no endorsement behind it, you're relying on the department not to check.

Not every carrier will write a ten-day notice endorsement. If yours won't, that's a market problem, not a paperwork problem, and it's worth knowing before your registration lapses.

5. The Description of Operations Is Missing Required Wording

This is where certificates die. Depending on your work, specific language has to appear in the Description of Operations box:

XCU is worth understanding rather than just copying. It stands for explosion, collapse, and underground hazard. Plenty of general liability policies exclude those for exactly the classes of work PPRBD is asking about. If your policy actually excludes XCU, no amount of wording on the certificate makes it true, and a certificate claiming otherwise is a problem considerably larger than a rejected registration. The fix is removing the exclusion from the policy, or moving to a carrier that doesn't apply it.

Same logic for re-roofing and fire suppression. The certificate language is a statement about what your policy covers. Confirm it covers that.

6. Your Coverage Has to Match Your Full License Scope

If your license lets you work residential and commercial, your policy has to cover both. A policy written for residential work only, under a license that permits commercial, is a gap the department is explicitly looking for.

Workers' Compensation

If you have any employees, PPRBD needs a current workers' compensation certificate. If you have none, you file a Rejection of Coverage that complies with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's Division of Workers' Compensation. The form goes through CDLE, not through the building department.

Where to Send It

Certificates and rejection forms go to Licensing@pprbd.org, by fax to (719) 327-2951, by mail, or in person at 2880 International Circle.