What Every Property Owner and Manager Needs to Know About Snow Removal, Landscaping, and Maintenance Contractors.

Last winter, a tenant slipped and fell in an apartment complex parking lot after a snowstorm. The injury was serious. When the property owner went to report the incident, they discovered a problem that made everything worse: they had never obtained a certificate of insurance from the snow removal company they had hired.

When they reached out to that contractor, they found out the company had no insurance at all.

The property owner — who had done nothing wrong except skip one piece of paper — was now the only party with any coverage. Their general liability policy became the only line of defense against a significant injury claim that should have been the contractor's responsibility.

This is not a hypothetical. It happened to one of our clients. And it is one of the most preventable exposures in property management.

If you own or manage a large apartment complex in Massachusetts, you rely on outside vendors every single day — snow removal companies, landscapers, plumbers, electricians, painters, HVAC technicians, and more. Every one of those vendors brings their risk onto your property. The certificate of insurance is how you make sure that risk stays with them.

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a document issued by an insurance company or its agent that summarizes the key details of a vendor's coverage. It confirms that the vendor had active insurance at the time the certificate was issued and lists the types of coverage, the policy limits, and the policy expiration dates.

For apartment complex owners and managers, requiring a COI before a vendor sets foot on your property is the baseline standard of risk management. It is not optional. It is not bureaucratic paperwork. It is the document that determines whether a claim arising from that vendor's work lands on their policy — or yours.

The Four Vendor Categories Every Apartment Complex Relies On

Large multi-family properties depend on outside contractors for the work that keeps the property safe, functional, and attractive. Each category carries its own risk profile — and each one requires a COI before work begins.

1. Snow Removal Contractors

Snow and ice removal is the highest-liability vendor relationship a property owner in Massachusetts will have. Slip-and-fall claims are among the most common and expensive incidents at apartment complexes, and winter conditions are the primary driver.

When you hire a snow removal company, you are essentially transferring responsibility for the safety of your walkways, parking lots, and entryways to that contractor during weather events. If they fail to show up, plow improperly, or miss a dangerous patch of ice — and someone gets hurt — the question of who is liable depends heavily on your contract and whether that contractor was insured.

 What to require from your snow removal contractor:

●       General liability insurance — minimum $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate for a large property

●       Commercial auto insurance covering all vehicles used on your property

●       Workers' compensation coverage for all employees

●       Your property listed as an additional insured on their general liability policy

●       A certificate updated annually, before the first snowfall of the season

2. Landscaping Companies

Landscaping crews work on your property regularly throughout the growing season. They operate equipment — mowers, trimmers, blowers, chippers — that can cause property damage or injure bystanders. They work near tenant vehicles, near buildings, and in common areas where residents and guests are present.

A flying rock from a mower, a damaged vehicle from equipment contact, or a worker injured on your property all become claims. Without a valid COI naming you as an additional insured, those claims have a path to your policy.

What to require from your landscaping contractor:

●       General liability covering property damage and bodily injury

●       Workers' compensation — even if the crew appears to be small

●       Commercial auto for all vehicles and trailers

●       Additional insured status for your property entity

●       Updated certificate at the start of each season

3. Maintenance and Repair Contractors

This is the broadest and often the least-controlled vendor category. Maintenance contractors include plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, painters, roofers, drywall workers, appliance repair companies, pest control services, and general handymen. Some are established businesses. Some are one-person operations with a truck and a phone number.

The risk here is not just injury on your property. It is work-related damage — a plumber who causes a water leak that damages three units, an electrician whose work results in a fire, a roofer whose crew leaves debris that injures a tenant. In each case, their liability insurance should respond first.

What to require from maintenance and repair contractors:

●       General liability — limits appropriate to the scope of work

●       Workers' compensation if they have any employees (including day laborers)

●       Professional liability / errors and omissions for licensed trades (electricians, plumbers, HVAC)

●       Additional insured endorsement for your entity

●       COI on file before work order is issued — not after

4. Other Vendors: Elevators, Cleaning, Security, and More

Beyond the big three categories, large apartment complexes typically engage a range of other service vendors — elevator maintenance companies, commercial cleaning services, security firms, pest control, pool maintenance, waste removal, and fire safety inspection companies.

Every one of these vendors operates on your property and interacts with your tenants. The same standard applies: COI before they start, additional insured endorsement, appropriate limits for the scope of their work.

Collecting a certificate of insurance is step one. Getting listed as an additional insured on the vendor's policy is step two — and it is the step that actually protects you.

When you are named as an additional insured on a vendor's general liability policy, you gain direct coverage rights under that policy. If a claim arises from the vendor's work and names you as a defendant, the vendor's insurer has an obligation to defend you and pay covered claims — not just the vendor.

Without additional insured status, the COI confirms the vendor had insurance. But if a claim names you, you are on your own. Your policy responds. Your limits erode. Your premium history is affected.

The breakdown we see most often is not that property owners refuse to require COIs — it is that their system for collecting and tracking them is informal enough that vendors fall through the cracks. Here is what a functional COI management process looks like for a large apartment complex.

Before Any Vendor Is Approved

●       Establish minimum insurance requirements in writing for each vendor category

●       Require vendors to submit a current COI and additional insured endorsement before being added to your approved vendor list

●       Verify that the certificate names your property entity correctly — the legal name of your LLC or ownership entity, not just a street address

●       Confirm the policy expiration dates and flag renewals proactively

Before Each Season or Project Begins

●       Require updated COIs at the start of each contract year — not just at initial onboarding

●       For snow removal, require a current certificate before the first weather event of the season

●       For landscaping, require an updated certificate at the start of each growing season

●       For any major project (roof replacement, parking lot resurfacing, major renovation), require project-specific documentation

Ongoing

●       Keep a centralized log of all vendor COIs, expiration dates, and coverage limits

●       Set calendar reminders 60 days before any certificate expires

●       Do not issue work orders to vendors with expired certificates

●       Require vendors to notify you immediately if their coverage changes or lapses

This is the scenario the 35-unit property owner in our opening story lived through. Here is what it looks like in practice.

A claim is filed — in this case, a slip and fall with a legitimate injury. The injured party or their attorney names every potentially responsible party, including the property owner. The property owner's general liability insurer is notified. An investigation begins.

When it is determined that the snow removal contractor was uninsured, the property owner has no subrogation rights to pursue — there is no insurance policy on the other side to recover against. The property owner's insurer handles the claim entirely. Depending on the severity of the injury, that could mean defense costs, a settlement, or a judgment — all running through the property owner's policy.

The consequences compound:

●       The claim exhausts a portion of the liability limits the property owner paid for

●       The claim goes on the property owner's loss history, potentially affecting future premiums

●       If the claim is large enough, it can trigger the commercial umbrella policy

●       The property owner may be personally exposed if limits are insufficient

None of this needed to happen. One piece of paper — obtained before the season started — would have changed the entire outcome.

There is no universal standard, but for a large apartment complex, we recommend the following minimum thresholds as a starting point. Your specific property, location, and risk profile may warrant higher requirements.

These are floors, not ceilings. For vendors performing high-risk work — roofing, structural repairs, major mechanical work — requiring a commercial umbrella in addition to the underlying limits is reasonable and increasingly common in vendor contracts.

Is it enough to require a COI, or do I actually need to be listed as an additional insured?

Both. A COI confirms the vendor had insurance when the certificate was issued. Additional insured status is what actually gives you rights under that policy if a claim names you. Collecting a COI without requesting additional insured status leaves a meaningful gap in your protection. Require both, in writing, before any vendor begins work.

What if a vendor refuses to provide a COI or add me as an additional insured?

Do not hire them. A legitimate, properly insured vendor has no reason to refuse this request. A vendor who pushes back on providing insurance documentation is almost certainly telling you something important about the state of their coverage. The short-term convenience of using an uninsured vendor is not worth the exposure.

Does my property's general liability policy cover me if a vendor causes an injury?

It may respond, but that is exactly the problem. Your general liability policy is designed to cover your operations — not your vendors' negligence. When an uninsured vendor causes a claim and your policy has to respond in their place, your limits erode and your loss history is affected. The goal of requiring vendor COIs is to keep vendor-caused claims off your policy entirely.

How do I handle a vendor who has an expired COI but needs to do emergency work?

For true emergencies — a burst pipe flooding multiple units, a heating system failure in winter — use your judgment and document everything. Get the work done. Then immediately require an updated COI before the vendor returns for any non-emergency work, and reassess whether they belong on your approved vendor list. Do not let one emergency exception become a permanent workaround.

Should I include COI requirements in my vendor contracts?

Absolutely. Your vendor agreements should spell out the minimum coverage requirements, the obligation to maintain coverage throughout the contract period, the requirement to name your entity as an additional insured, and the obligation to notify you of any coverage changes or cancellations. A verbal agreement or informal understanding is not enforceable when a claim arises.

Can HCC Insurance help me set up a COI tracking system for my property?

Yes. We work with apartment complex owners and property managers to establish vendor insurance requirements appropriate for their property, review COIs when questions arise, and help ensure that the overall coverage program — your policy and your vendor requirements — fits together properly. Contact us for a complimentary consultation.

The Bottom Line

The snow removal company that left a property owner exposed after a serious slip-and-fall claim was not a bad actor. They were just uninsured. And because no one asked for a certificate of insurance before the season started, a claim that should have been someone else's problem became entirely the property owner's problem.

Requiring certificates of insurance from every vendor — snow removal, landscaping, maintenance, and every other contractor who sets foot on your property — is one of the most effective and lowest-cost risk management steps available to apartment complex owners and managers. It costs nothing to require. It can cost everything to skip.

If you are not sure whether your current vendor COI process is adequate, or if you want a second opinion on your property's overall coverage program, we are here to help.

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