San Diego International Airport Construction: Wrap-Ups, Safety Rules and Insurance

Section 2.21 of the Construction Safety Manual (Version 3.05, January 2020) defines the Owner Controlled Insurance Program as the program under which workers' compensation, employer's liability, commercial general liability, excess or umbrella liability and builders risk are procured by the Owner for contractors and subcontractors "while performing operations at or emanating from the Job Site." Section 7.3 adds that some contractors or subcontractors may not be enrolled, that those firms are told in advance of starting work and that they keep the same incident reporting obligations as enrolled firms.

New Terminal 1 is a different arrangement. The Turner-Flatiron joint venture's Health, Safety and Environment Site Specific Plan for ADP Package 1, Terminal and Roadways, which the Authority publishes as Exhibit B (Revision 7, September 1, 2023), tells subcontractors to submit proof of additional insured status on their own corporate insurance and, if available, to enroll in the Contractor Controlled Insurance Program before starting on site. A subcontractor on the New T1 job should not assume the Authority's OCIP terms apply to it; the joint venture's program and subcontract set the terms.

The Authority's draft performance specifications for the Terminal 1 program, dated January 2019, name an OCIP Contractors and Subcontractors Information Manual. We could not find that manual online, so its enrollment steps, deductible rules and bid pricing instructions are not stated here. Ask for it, or for the CCIP manual on a joint venture project, before pricing a bid.

The OCIP definition names five lines and limits them to operations at or emanating from the job site. Lines outside that list, such as commercial auto, contractor's equipment, professional liability for design-build work and coverage for off-site operations, typically stay with each contractor's own program. That reading comes from the definition itself; the OCIP manual issued with a solicitation sets the actual exclusions and any required limits for those corporate lines.

The Authority's current construction insurance exhibit was not available to us. The on-call trade services template leaves its insurance exhibit as a placeholder, so no limit is stated on this page. The template's general insurance wording does show what the Authority expects of the policies themselves: additional insured status for the Authority, a severability of interest (cross-liability) clause on liability policies, primary and noncontributing coverage and insurers with a minimum Best financial rating of A- VII.

On the New T1 program, the safety plan's instruction to show proof of additional insured status on corporate insurance means subcontractors carry their own coverage alongside any CCIP enrollment. Endorsement wording, completed operations duration and the required limits sit in the subcontract, so compare them with current policy forms before signing.

Section 1.3 of the Construction Safety Manual is a prequalification rule with insurance consequences. The prime contractor's experience modification rate must be 1.00 or lower from the time it bids until the project is complete, and a bid may be rejected if it is not. The contractor proves it with a letter from its insurer stating the rate was set under NCCI standard practices.

Subcontractors face the same 1.00 limit for the same period, and the prime may reject a subcontractor's bid that does not meet it. A firm with a higher rate can try to show it is a safe employer on Form J.6.1 (the EMR waiver), and the Authority decides whether to accept the bid or the subcontractor.

Because the rate has to hold through completion, a multi-year terminal job can outlast a contractor's current rating period. A claim on another project can move a firm's rate above 1.00 mid-job, so track the next rating calculation before committing to a long Authority contract.

The Authority's Airport Operational Safety and Security Requirements, updated in 2026, tell contractors to follow the construction safety measures in FAA Advisory Circular 150/5370-2G, Operational Safety on Airports During Construction. The New T1 safety plan from 2023 cites the earlier 150/5370-2F edition, so check which edition a contract names.

Under section 12.42.1 of the safety manual, AOA badges are the contractor's and subcontractors' responsibility, and the contractor appoints a Badge Administrator to work with the Authority's Access Control Office. Visitors without a badge may enter only under direct escort by authorized badged persons. Vehicles operating on the AOA must meet the state's registration and insurance requirements as well as the Authority's safety and equipment rules.

Foreign object debris is a named hazard. The manual requires a foreign object debris team to inspect airside work areas, and debris has to be cleared every work shift. These duties add supervision, labor and escort cost to an airside bid, and an incident involving aircraft can reach liability lines that ground-side work rarely tests.

• Badge Administrator coordinating with the Access Control Office
• Direct escort for unbadged visitors
• FOD inspections and cleanup each work shift
• Vehicle registration and insurance for AOA driving

We did not find a published bond percentage for Authority construction contracts, so none is stated here. The on-call template makes the contractor responsible for buying all bonds the agreement requires, and each solicitation sets bid security and performance and payment bond terms. California's statewide public works bond rules are summarized on our state page.

The on-call template states that state prevailing wage rates apply to public works contracts and puts the duty to determine and pay them on the contractor. Certified payroll and apprenticeship duties typically follow.

Draft action minutes from the Authority board's July 9, 2026, meeting report Resolution 2026-0060, approved 6-1, authorizing staff to negotiate a project labor agreement for Capital Improvement Program projects above $2 million. Those minutes are a draft, so treat the action as reported rather than final and confirm in the solicitation whether a labor agreement applies.

On October 7, 2021, the Authority board approved a maximum contract price of $2.6 billion and a master schedule for New Terminal 1, with Turner-Flatiron as the delivery partner. The release set small business goals for that work of 25 percent SBE participation, 80 percent local participation and 3 percent veteran-owned participation.

Phase 1A of the new terminal opened with 19 gates on September 23, 2025. The Authority describes the New T1 as a $3.8 billion project. That figure is the Authority's description, not a board-approved contract price. The opening release said Phase 1B construction would begin in early 2026. For federal DBE rules on any federally funded package, check the current solicitation, because we did not verify the Authority's present DBE approach.