# Per-Project and Per-Location Aggregate Endorsements on Construction Contracts

URL: https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/per-project-aggregate
Updated: 2026-10-29 · Reviewed by the Principal, Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC
Publisher: My Contractors Insurance Quote, a website of Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC

A per-project aggregate endorsement gives each scheduled construction project its own general aggregate limit on a contractor's annual liability policy, so claims on one job cannot use up the limit another owner is relying on. Owners, lenders and upstream contractors require it because a shared aggregate is only as strong as the contractor's worst project that year. The endorsement usually applies only to ongoing operations, so it does not by itself dedicate completed operations limits to the project.

## Key Decision Points
- The ISO form ties the separate aggregate to damages attributable only to ongoing operations at one designated project.
- Claims that can't be pinned to a single project still draw on the policy's general aggregate.
- Completed operations payments reduce the shared products-completed operations aggregate, not the project aggregate.
- Check that the umbrella recognizes the project aggregate as underlying insurance.
- Exhibits often accept per-project or per-location wording, or a higher general aggregate, so read the alternative.

## What the Exhibit Line Is Asking For

Most contract insurance exhibits carry a line that reads something like this: if a general aggregate applies, it must apply separately to this project. The owner is not asking for a bigger number. It is asking for a number that belongs to its job. A contractor's annual general liability policy usually carries one general aggregate for the whole policy year, shared by every project, yard and office the contractor has. A crane incident on a warehouse in March can reduce what is left for an apartment project in October, and the apartment owner has no way to see that from a certificate.

Public owners write the requirement directly. Caltrans' published insurance excerpts require that the general aggregate apply separately to the contractor's work under the contract. The City of Sierra Madre's contractor requirements give a choice: the general aggregate applies separately to the project or location through ISO CG 25 03 or CG 25 04, or the general aggregate must be twice the required occurrence limit. Private owners and lenders use similar wording, and general contractors pass it down to their subcontractors.

When a scheduled endorsement isn't enough, the next step up is [project-specific liability insurance](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance).

## How the Designated Construction Project Endorsement Reads

The ISO endorsement Designated Construction Project(s) General Aggregate Limit (CG 25 03, 05 09 edition) does four things that matter in practice. First, for damages and medical payments that can be attributed only to ongoing operations at a single designated project, it creates a separate aggregate for that project equal to the general aggregate shown in the declarations. Second, payments on that project reduce only that project's aggregate, not the policy general aggregate or any other project's aggregate. Third, the each occurrence limit still applies, now subject to the project's aggregate.

Fourth, and most overlooked, a payment that cannot be attributed only to ongoing operations at one designated project is charged to the policy general aggregate or the products-completed operations aggregate. A claim from the contractor's equipment yard, its office or a job that is not scheduled falls there. The form also says a project that is abandoned or delayed, or abandoned and later restarted, or built with deviations from the plans or schedule, is still deemed the same project. That clause matters on development work, where a stalled phase may restart a year later under a new contract amendment.

The per-project line is one of several worth marking up when [reading an owner's insurance exhibit line by line](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/insights/reading-a-contract-insurance-exhibit).

### Illustrative scenario: Three Arizona Jobs, One Aggregate Question

Harlan Peak Constructors, a fictional GC, is running a 140-unit apartment project in Mesa, a charter school in Goodyear and a tilt-up warehouse in Buckeye on one annual policy with a $2 million general aggregate and a $2 million products-completed operations aggregate. The Mesa owner's exhibit requires a per-project aggregate, and Harlan's policy carries a scheduled CG 25 03 listing all three jobs. In May, a tilt-up panel falls onto a neighboring building at the Buckeye site, and that claim is charged to the Buckeye project aggregate, leaving Mesa's untouched. In August, a forklift from Harlan's shared Tempe yard injures a delivery driver, and because that claim can't be attributed only to one project, it reduces the policy general aggregate. When a roof drain defect surfaces at the finished Goodyear school, that payment reduces the shared completed operations aggregate, the one limit the Mesa owner's exhibit had not addressed.

## Scheduled Projects, Blanket Wording and Carrier Forms

The ISO form works from a schedule. A project receives the separate aggregate only if it is a designated construction project shown in the schedule or the declarations. Some carriers write the schedule as all projects, others list jobs by name and address, and many use their own forms in place of the ISO wording. The difference shows up when a new contract is signed mid-term. If the policy lists projects by name, the new job may need an endorsement before it qualifies, and an owner who reads the certificate before that change is reading a promise the policy does not yet make.

Carrier forms also vary in how they handle limits. Some cap the total of all project aggregates, which turns a per-project promise into a shared pool at a higher level. Others exclude residential or wrapped projects from the schedule. Ask for the form number and edition, read the schedule and check whether any overall cap applies before telling an owner the requirement is met.

A GC running several jobs at once has the most to gain from this review, which is part of [insurance and bonding for general contractors](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/who-we-serve/general-contractors).

## Per-Location Aggregates for Owners and Developers

The location-based counterpart, CG 25 04, schedules locations instead of projects, which tends to fit insureds whose exposure sits at premises: owners of land, operating property and multiple parcels. A developer holding several tracts, a master-planned community with a sales office and model homes, or an owner with a yard next to the site may see per-location wording in its own program and in lender exhibits. Whether a phased subdivision is one location or several is a definition question, so it is worth settling before a claim.

The edges of a location are where problems start. Off-site improvements such as street widening, sewer extensions and off-site storm drain work are often physically outside the parcel the location schedule describes. Ask how the form defines a location, whether off-site work tied to the project is included and how a claim from a sold lot or a model home is charged. For a developer whose contractors carry per-project wording and whose own program carries per-location wording, the two should describe the same site in the same terms.

Location wording matters most to owners holding entitled land, covered in more depth under [insurance for land developers](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/who-we-serve/developers-subdividers/land-developers).

## Why Completed Operations Stays Shared

The CG 25 03 form says that payments for bodily injury or property damage within the products-completed operations hazard reduce the products-completed operations aggregate, not the general aggregate and not the project aggregate. In plain terms, the separate project limit protects the build. Once the work is finished and turned over, a defect-related claim on that job draws on the same completed operations aggregate as every other finished job in that policy year.

That gap is why many owner exhibits now ask for something more: a products-completed operations aggregate that also applies per project, or completed operations additional insured status for a stated period after completion. Few standard forms dedicate completed operations limits by project, so the answer may be a carrier endorsement, a project-specific policy or a wrap-up. If the exhibit asks for per-project completed operations limits and the program can't provide them, raise it before signing rather than after a certificate is rejected.

How long that shared exposure lasts in each state is explained under [completed operations limits after turnover](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/completed-operations).

## Reinstatement on Multi-Year and Public Works Projects

Aggregates reset only when the policy says they do. On an annual program, a new policy year usually brings new aggregates, including new project aggregates for scheduled jobs. On a project-specific policy written for the full construction term, the aggregate may apply once to the whole term unless the form reinstates it. Caltrans' published excerpts require that the liability policies contain an annual reinstatement of limits during construction operations, which a single-term project policy may not provide without an endorsement.

Public agencies also read the documents. Caltrans asks the successful bidder for copies of the general liability and excess policies, including declarations and endorsements, not only a certificate. For a contractor bidding agency work in several counties, it helps to keep the per-project endorsement, the schedule and the reinstatement wording in one file that can be sent at contract execution without a scramble.

Agency submission requirements are part of [public works contractor insurance requirements](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/who-we-serve/general-contractors/public-works-contractors).

## Making the Umbrella Recognize the Project Aggregate

Most exhibits require total limits that can only be met with an umbrella or excess layer above the primary policy. That layer usually lists the primary general liability in a schedule of underlying insurance and responds after the scheduled limits are paid or reduced. If the umbrella does not recognize the per-project aggregate as underlying, a large loss on one project may be treated differently by the umbrella than by the primary, and the owner's expectation of dedicated limits can break at the attachment point.

The umbrella's own aggregate is a separate question. Even when the primary carries per-project aggregates, the umbrella aggregate is often shared across every job. Some umbrella carriers will endorse a per-project aggregate, and some will not. Ask the question in writing, and if the contract demands dedicated limits at every layer, compare the cost of endorsing the annual tower with buying a project-specific excess layer for the job.

How each layer attaches and where follow-form exceptions break the stack is covered in [project excess and umbrella towers](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/project-excess-liability).

## Proving It to Owners and Lenders

A certificate can show a per-project box checked, but the box is a summary. Owners and lenders who review insurance seriously ask for the endorsement itself, with the form number, edition and schedule. Lenders in particular may ask that the GC's aggregate apply per project so that claims on other jobs can't drain the limit protecting the collateral. A short package with the declarations page, the per-project endorsement, the additional insured endorsements and the umbrella schedule of underlying answers most of those questions at once.

Flow the requirement down the same way. A subcontractor with a modest annual aggregate and a dozen open jobs is the most likely to exhaust it, so the subcontract exhibit should ask for per-project wording and the GC should collect the endorsement before mobilization. Where a sub cannot obtain it, the documented alternative in the subcontract, such as a higher general aggregate, should be agreed in writing.

Per-project wording sits alongside the other evidence items in [construction lender insurance exhibits](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/resources/lender-insurance-requirements).

## Before You Ask for a Quote

### What to Gather
- The owner's insurance exhibit and the indemnity article it supports
- Current GL declarations and the full endorsement schedule with form numbers
- The per-project or per-location endorsement and its project or location schedule
- A list of active projects with addresses, contract values and schedules
- Loss runs showing paid and reserved amounts by project
- The umbrella or excess schedule of underlying insurance
- The subcontract insurance exhibit you plan to flow down

### What to Ask the Insurer or Surety
- Is this project scheduled by name, or does the endorsement apply to all projects?
- Is the form ISO CG 25 03 or a carrier form, and does any overall cap apply to project aggregates?
- Which kinds of claims are charged to the policy general aggregate instead of the project aggregate?
- Does the umbrella recognize the project aggregate as underlying insurance?
- Can the products-completed operations aggregate apply per project, and on what terms?
- Do aggregates reinstate annually if the project runs past one policy year?

## Broker Notes

**Quick Answer:** A per-project aggregate endorsement gives each scheduled project its own general aggregate for ongoing operations, so one job's claims don't erode the limit another owner relies on.

**Common Mistake:** Assuming the endorsement dedicates completed operations limits too; under the ISO form, post-turnover claims still draw on the shared products-completed operations aggregate.

**Broker Perspective:** A broker reads the endorsement schedule, any overall cap and the umbrella's schedule of underlying together, then tells the owner exactly which limits are dedicated and which are shared.

**Coverage Impact:** The endorsement typically changes how limits are allocated, not what the policy responds to; claims not attributable to one project usually fall back on the policy aggregates.

## Questions Buyers Ask

### Is a per-project aggregate the same thing as buying higher limits?

No. The occurrence limit stays the same, and each scheduled project gets its own aggregate equal to the general aggregate in the declarations. What changes is allocation: a bad claim on one job no longer reduces the limit available on another. Owners ask for it because it makes the limit on their job independent of the contractor's other work, at least during construction.

### Our exhibit says the aggregate must apply per project or per location. Which endorsement do we need?

For a contractor, the project-based form is usually the fit, because the exposure follows the jobs. The location-based form suits owners and developers whose exposure sits at premises they hold. Many exhibits accept either, and some accept a higher general aggregate as an alternative. Read the exact wording, then confirm with the owner which option it will accept before the certificate goes out.

### What happens to the project aggregate if the job shuts down and restarts later?

Under the ISO CG 25 03 wording, a project that is abandoned, delayed or abandoned and restarted is still deemed the same project, so it keeps one project aggregate rather than gaining a new one. Whether a new policy year resets that aggregate depends on the policy term and any reinstatement language, so check both when a stalled phase comes back.

### Does the project aggregate respond to an accident at our equipment yard?

Usually not. The separate aggregate applies to damages attributable only to ongoing operations at a designated project. An accident at a yard, an office or an unscheduled job is typically charged to the policy general aggregate. That is one reason a contractor with heavy yard or fleet activity should watch the general aggregate even when every project is scheduled.

### Can a subcontractor meet a per-project requirement some other way?

Sometimes. Some public and private exhibits accept a general aggregate of at least twice the occurrence limit in place of per-project wording. Others accept a project-specific policy or enrollment in a wrap-up. Whatever the alternative, put it in the subcontract in writing so that the certificate review at mobilization matches what the GC agreed to accept.

## Official Sources

1. [ISO CG 25 03 05 09, Designated Construction Project(s) General Aggregate Limit (reproduced in NY OGS Exhibit 21)](https://ogs.ny.gov/spc-exhibit-21), New York State Office of General Services. Separate aggregate for damages attributable only to ongoing operations at a designated project; payments elsewhere reduce the policy aggregates; products-completed operations payments reduce that aggregate only; abandoned or restarted projects remain the same project. Verified 2026-10-24.
2. [Caltrans Division of Construction, Insurance Requirements (excerpts of Standard Specifications 3-1.07 and 7-1.06, revised 08-2025)](https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/construction/documents/construction-safety-and-insurance/insurance-requirements-a11y.pdf), California Department of Transportation. General aggregate must apply separately to the contractor's work under the contract; policies must contain an annual reinstatement of limits during construction; the bidder submits GL and excess policies with declarations and endorsements. Verified 2026-10-24.
3. [City of Sierra Madre, Insurance Requirements](https://www.sierramadreca.gov/leadership-transparency/departments/human-resources/insurance-requirements/), City of Sierra Madre, California. General aggregate applies separately to the project or location (ISO CG 25 03 or 25 04) or must be twice the required occurrence limit; umbrella or excess may be used to meet limits on a following-form basis. Verified 2026-10-24.

## Related Decisions

- [project-specific general liability](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance)
- [project excess liability towers](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/project-excess-liability)
- [reviewing a contract insurance exhibit](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/insights/reading-a-contract-insurance-exhibit)
- [lender insurance requirements](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/resources/lender-insurance-requirements)
- [wrap-up insurance programs](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/wrap-up-insurance)
- [what a dedicated project aggregate does to premium](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/cost)

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