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Commercial Tenant Certificates of Insurance: What Landlords and Property Managers Should Require

By SubCover HQ · Updated Oct 29, 2026 · 3 min read

Vendors come and go, but a commercial tenant may be in your building for ten years. Most commercial leases require the tenant to carry insurance and name the landlord and manager as additional insureds. The trouble is keeping proof of that coverage current year after year. Here's what to require and how to keep it from slipping.

How tenant COIs differ from vendor COIs

• The lease is the source of the requirements. Insurance terms are in the lease, and they can differ from tenant to tenant in the same building. Pull them from each lease rather than using one template for everyone.
• The coverage lasts as long as the lease. You need a current certificate for every policy year of the term, plus any renewals and extensions.
• Property coverage matters too. Tenants often insure their own improvements, fixtures, and contents, and may carry business interruption coverage. A vendor certificate rarely involves property coverage.

What leases commonly require

Every lease is different, so treat this as a list of things to look for, not a standard:

• Commercial general liability at stated per-occurrence and aggregate limits, often on a per-location aggregate basis for multi-site tenants.
• Additional insured status for the landlord, the ownership entity, the property manager, and sometimes the lender. Look for a managers or lessors of premises endorsement or a blanket form triggered by written contract. See additional insured vs. certificate holder.
• Property insurance on the tenant's improvements and personal property, sometimes with the landlord named as loss payee for improvements.
• Waiver of subrogation, often mutual between landlord and tenant for property losses. See waiver of subrogation explained.
• Workers' compensation and employers' liability if the tenant has employees.
• Umbrella or excess liability for higher-risk uses such as restaurants, bars, gyms, and light industrial. See umbrella vs. excess liability.
• Liquor liability for any tenant that serves or sells alcohol.
• Notice of cancellation wording, which a certificate can't guarantee by itself. Ask the agent what the policy actually provides.

The ACORD forms you'll see

Liability coverage usually comes on an ACORD 25. Property coverage and loss payee or mortgagee interests are typically shown on an ACORD 28 (evidence of commercial property insurance). See ACORD 25 vs. ACORD 28 for the difference.

Where tenant compliance breaks down

• The certificate collected at move-in is the only one on file five years later.
• The tenant changed agents or insurers and no one requested a new certificate.
• The ownership entity changed after a sale or refinance, and certificates still name the old owner.
• A tenant's own contractors work on a buildout with no certificates collected at all.
• Lease requirements live in a PDF no one rereads, so certificates are checked against memory.

A simple tenant COI process

1. Abstract each lease's insurance terms into a short requirement list per tenant.
2. Request certificates from the tenant's agent, with the exact names for additional insureds and the certificate holder.
3. Check each certificate against that tenant's list, not a generic standard.
4. Track every policy's expiration separately and request renewals 30 days ahead.
5. Re-send requirements after any ownership, lender, or management change.
6. Require certificates from the tenant's contractors before any buildout or alteration starts.

Our free COI expiration tracker handles a few tenants, and the COI request letter generator drafts the request. For a full portfolio, SubCover HQ collects tenant and vendor certificates, checks them against each lease's terms, and chases renewals for you.

This guide is general information, not insurance or legal advice. ACORD is a trademark of ACORD Corporation; SubCover HQ is not affiliated with ACORD. Your lease, insurance professional, and attorney determine what you should require.