Does general liability cover damage after a contractor finishes work?

The California Department of Insurance describes a CGL policy as having three primary coverage sections: premises liability, products liability and completed operations. In its words, completed operations covers your potential liability for bodily injury or property damage that arises out of your completed work.

The same guide includes "damage to your work" in its list of major CGL exclusions. It names the exclusion without defining it, and it urges readers to read and understand all exclusions. If an exclusion or limitation is unclear, the guide says to contact the broker-agent and discuss it until a working understanding is reached.

The Texas Department of Insurance says products/completed operations coverage pays for bodily injury and property damage that occurs away from your business premises and is caused by your products or completed work.

On exclusions, TDI states that CGL policies generally exclude coverage for property damage to your work. It adds an exception to that exclusion if a subcontractor working for you caused the damage. TDI also says coverage varies by insurer, that policies include exclusions beyond its examples, and that policyholders should carefully review the policy and any endorsements to know what it does and does not cover.

The following sorting method is PolicyBenchmark's own framing of the two regulator guides, not a rule from either one. After a job is finished and a problem appears, a contractor can ask two questions. First, is the claim about bodily injury or property damage described in the completed-operations language? Second, is it about damage to the contractor's own work, which both guides address as an exclusion (TDI says "generally" excluded; California lists it among major exclusions)? Neither guide says a CGL policy guarantees workmanship, and the Texas exception for subcontractor-caused damage depends on the policy's actual wording.

These five items are PolicyBenchmark preparation suggestions, not legal duties or universal insurer requirements:

1. Where does my policy show completed-operations coverage?
2. What exact wording applies to damage to my work, and do endorsements change it?
3. How does the policy word any exception when a subcontractor working for me caused the damage?
4. Which exclusions beyond the common examples appear in my policy?
5. Which policy form and endorsements apply to the project I am finishing?

For general background on this coverage line, see General Liability Insurance: Coverage, Exclusions and Cost Factors and Business Insurance for Contractors: A Buying Checklist. The state pages for California and Texas are the site's state-level entries. The free business insurance quiz is an educational assessment that turns your own answers into an editable checklist, with an on-device print/PDF option.

Have a question about your own situation? Send it to PolicyBenchmark.