Why does the subcontract ask for a per-project aggregate, and what does CG 25 03 do?
By the Rayon research desk · Last reviewed
CG 25 03 gives each designated construction project its own general aggregate limit, equal to the general aggregate shown in your declarations. Without it, one annual aggregate is shared by every job you work, so claims on another project can use up the limit this project is relying on. The endorsement covers ongoing operations only and does not raise the each-occurrence limit.
How does the aggregate work without the endorsement?
The standard general liability form CG 00 01 has two aggregate limits. The General Aggregate Limit is the most the insurer will pay in the policy period for the sum of medical expenses, personal and advertising injury damages, and bodily injury and property damage other than completed work. The Products-Completed Operations Aggregate Limit is a separate cap for claims that arise from your finished work.
Both caps apply to the whole policy, not to a job. A contractor with twenty projects in a year has one general aggregate for all twenty. From an owner’s side, that means the limits shown on your certificate may already be partly spent on claims from sites the owner has never heard of. Asking for a per-project aggregate is the owner’s way of getting a general aggregate that only this project can draw on.
What does CG 25 03 change?
| Type of claim | Without CG 25 03 | With CG 25 03 |
|---|---|---|
| Injury or damage from ongoing operations that can be attributed only to one designated project | Reduces the one General Aggregate Limit | Reduces that project’s own Designated Construction Project General Aggregate Limit, which equals the General Aggregate Limit in the declarations |
| Claims that cannot be attributed only to a single designated project | Reduces the General Aggregate Limit | Still reduces the General Aggregate Limit, and does not reduce any project aggregate |
| Claims within the products-completed operations hazard | Reduces the Products-Completed Operations Aggregate Limit | No change. They reduce the Products-Completed Operations Aggregate Limit and no project aggregate |
| The each-occurrence and medical expense limits | Apply as shown in the declarations | Continue to apply, but sit under the project aggregate instead of the general aggregate |
What does it not do?
- It does not increase the amount available for any one occurrence. The each-occurrence limit in the declarations is unchanged.
- It does not give each project its own completed operations limit. Defect claims after handover from every project still share one Products-Completed Operations Aggregate Limit.
- It applies only to projects designated in its schedule. One specimen reproduced by an Iowa public agency has the schedule completed as applying to all construction projects of the named insured. A schedule that names a single job reaches only that job.
- It does not by its own terms change an umbrella or excess policy. Whether those limits apply per project depends on that policy’s wording.
- The form says a project that is delayed, abandoned and restarted, or changed from its plans is still treated as the same construction project, so a restart does not create a fresh aggregate.
Where do I look, and what do I ask?
The wording described here was read from the 03 97 edition. A later 05 09 edition is in circulation and an insurer may use its own version, so read the edition on your own policy.
- Find CG 25 03, or an insurer form with “per project” or “designated construction project” in its title, in the forms schedule.
- Read the schedule on the endorsement. Check whether it names specific projects or describes all projects.
- Ask whether the policy carries any overall cap on the total paid across all project aggregates. The ISO wording read for this article does not state one, but an insurer’s own form may differ.
- Ask how the umbrella or excess policy treats the per-project aggregate, if the contract limit depends on that layer.
- Compare the contract wording with the form. A contract that asks for a per-project aggregate on completed operations is asking for something CG 25 03 does not provide.
Sources
- Iowa State University Institute for Transportation, insurance forms (reproduces specimen ISO CG 25 03 03 97, Designated Construction Project(s) General Aggregate Limit)
- ISO CG 25 03 05 09, Designated Construction Project(s) General Aggregate Limit (later edition; form text not fetched)
- ISO CG 00 01 04 13, Commercial General Liability Coverage Form
- Insureon, Per-project aggregate endorsement
General information, not legal advice or an interpretation of your policy. Policy forms and endorsements control. Form numbers are © Insurance Services Office, Inc. and are cited for reference.