COISoftware collects a certificate of insurance from every vendor your community associations hire, from landscapers and pool services to roofers, painters and paving contractors, reads each ACORD 25 with AI, checks coverage and limits against your requirements, and confirms each association is actually named as additional insured. Built for US community association management companies and self-managed HOA boards that have to prove every contractor is insured before work starts. Upload a COI above to see it read in seconds.
Last updated June 2026
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The contractors an HOA or condo association hires carry very different risks, so most associations require different coverage by job. These are common starting points, not legal or insurance advice.
| Vendor type | Coverage commonly required | Why the association requires it |
|---|---|---|
| Landscaping and grounds | General liability, workers compensation, auto liability | Crews, equipment and vehicles operate on common areas where owners and guests are present |
| Pool and spa services | General liability, workers compensation | Chemical handling and equipment near a shared amenity create injury and property risk |
| Roofing, painting and paving | General liability, umbrella, workers compensation | Higher-value reserve work at height carries larger injury and property exposure |
| Janitorial and pest control | General liability, workers compensation | Recurring on-site work and chemical use in shared spaces create ongoing liability |
| Snow and seasonal services | General liability, workers compensation, auto liability | Slip, fall and plow-damage claims are common and often disputed |
| Security and management vendors | General liability, professional liability where applicable | On-site service and professional decisions can create liability for the association |
Set requirements to your vendor contracts, governing documents, association master policy and state law. Limits and coverages shown are common starting points, not legal or insurance advice.
A homeowners association or condo association hires a steady stream of outside vendors to keep the community running: landscapers, pool and spa services, janitorial crews, pest control, snow removal, plus roofers, painters and paving contractors on larger reserve projects. Every one of them creates liability on association property, and the board has a fiduciary duty to confirm each carries insurance. The certificates usually land in an email or a file at onboarding and are never checked again, which is exactly where a claim finds the gap.
A community association management company runs the same vendor-insurance problem in parallel across dozens or hundreds of associations, each with its own board, budget and contractor mix. A single spreadsheet per community does not scale, and the manager carries the exposure when a certificate at one association quietly lapses.
A vendor contract may require the association as additional insured, but the certificate frequently lists it only as certificate holder, which gives notice and no coverage. Confirming the additional insured wording is really on the policy, for the right association entity, is detailed work that is easy to skip under time pressure.
Landscaping, pool, pest and snow contracts run year after year, and each renewal brings a new certificate with a new expiration date. Keeping every recurring vendor current across the calendar, on top of one-off reserve projects, is a steady stream of small deadlines no board volunteer can reliably watch.
Roofing, painting, paving, fencing and clubhouse work involve higher limits, umbrella coverage and workers compensation, and a board that approves a major contract without verifying insurance can expose owners to assessment. These are exactly the certificates that need the closest reading.
Boards change every year and management staff move on, so the knowledge of which vendor is insured and where the certificate lives walks out the door. Without one system of record, the association starts over each year and coverage gaps hide in the handoff.
When an owner questions a vendor, an insurer audits the association, or a claim lands, the board needs to show that the contractor was verified and current. Proof scattered across email and shared drives is slow to produce and rarely holds up.
The certificate a vendor hands the association is proof of coverage on the day it was issued, not on the day someone is hurt or property is damaged. Confirming that every contractor bought the limits the contract requires, named the association as additional insured, carried workers compensation, and kept the policy current is repetitive, rules-based work that a board volunteer or a stretched community manager cannot do well across many properties. Certificate of insurance management software reads every certificate, checks it against your requirements, and flags anything short, expired or missing, so proving a vendor was insured never depends on one person remembering to look.
COISoftware reads every vendor certificate, checks it against the coverage you require, confirms the association is named additional insured, and gives your management team or board one clear view of which contractors are actually covered across every community.
Upload a certificate from a landscaper, pool service, roofer, painter or paving contractor and the AI pulls the insurer, policy numbers, coverage types, limits, effective and expiration dates, and additional insured wording, even from scans and emailed PDFs.
See whether each certificate actually names the association as additional insured for the right entity, and whether the policy carries waiver of subrogation, so a claim from a vendor responds under the vendor coverage first instead of the association master policy.
A management company sees every community in one place, filtered by association, so a portfolio of dozens or hundreds of HOAs is no longer dozens of separate spreadsheets that fall out of date.
Confirm general liability limits, umbrella coverage and workers compensation are present and high enough for reserve and capital projects, so a roofing or paving contract is not approved on an unverified certificate.
Landscaping, pool, pest and snow vendors renew every year, and COISoftware tracks each expiration and chases the next certificate automatically, so recurring coverage stays current without a volunteer watching the calendar.
When a vendor certificate is about to expire or a required coverage is missing, the board and manager are alerted in time to act, instead of discovering the gap after a loss.
COISoftware reads the ACORD 25 and the broader certificate of liability insurance, then ties every vendor certificate into full certificate of insurance management software and ongoing vendor insurance compliance tracking. When a certificate looks off, the same checks behind certificate of insurance verification flag it for review. Reserve-project contractors are tracked the same way as subcontractor COI tracking for contractors, and managers who also run commercial property can use COI tracking for property management.
Tracking insurance across every vendor and every association follows the same four steps as tracking a single certificate.
Enter the coverages and limits you require from vendors and vary them by job, so a landscaper, a pool service and a roofing contractor each get the right rule. Include the additional insured and waiver of subrogation wording your management agreements and bylaws call for.
Tip: Align requirements to your vendor contracts, governing documents and your association master policy, and hold reserve and capital-project contractors to higher limits.
Request a COI from each contractor, or upload the certificates they send. The AI reads every one automatically, so onboarding a new vendor across many associations does not turn into hours of manual entry.
Each certificate is checked against your requirement. Short limits, missing workers compensation, expired policies and missing additional insured wording for the association are flagged before a contract is signed or work begins.
Automated reminders chase any expiring certificate, and a clear status by association gives the board and owners defensible evidence that every vendor is insured, without a year-end scramble.
Anyone responsible for proving that every vendor working on association property carries the coverage the contract and the board require.
A community manager or compliance lead at a management company is accountable for vendor insurance across an entire portfolio of associations, each onboarding its own contractors. COISoftware turns each requirement into a live status by association, so the manager sees a clear pass or flag instead of rebuilding spreadsheets every renewal season.
A self-managed board still carries the same fiduciary duty to verify every contractor, usually with volunteer time and no dedicated staff. The same dashboard reads each certificate and tracks renewals automatically, and reserve-project contractors are verified the same way as subcontractor COI tracking for contractors.
A manager who handles both associations and commercial property can track every vendor in one place. Pair this with vendor insurance compliance software to collect, verify and monitor every certificate, and if you are comparing platforms, our best COI tracking software roundup walks through the options honestly.
An HOA should track certificates of insurance so that a vendor that causes injury or property damage on association property responds under its own coverage first, not the association master policy. The board has a fiduciary duty to confirm every contractor is insured, so verifying a current COI for each vendor protects owners from claims and assessments and supports the board legal responsibility.
Yes, in most cases the association should be named additional insured on the vendor general liability policy, not just listed as certificate holder. Certificate holder status only gives notice, while additional insured status gives the association coverage and a defense if a claim arises from the vendor work. The certificate should show the additional insured wording for the correct association entity.
An HOA should require contractors to carry general liability, workers compensation and, for vehicles, auto liability, with higher limits and umbrella coverage for reserve and capital projects like roofing or paving. The right limits depend on the job and the association governing documents, and each certificate should be verified and name the association as additional insured before work begins.
A management company tracks COIs across associations by using one system that organizes every vendor certificate by community, checks each against the requirement, and flags expirations and gaps automatically. Instead of a spreadsheet per association, software gives the manager a single portfolio view with a clear pass or flag for every vendor, so nothing lapses unnoticed across the book of business.
If an HOA hires an uninsured contractor and that contractor causes injury or damage, the claim can fall back on the association master policy, raising premiums or leading to assessments on owners. The board can also face questions about its fiduciary duty. Verifying a current certificate with the right coverage and additional insured wording before work starts is what prevents that exposure.
Pricing depends on how many vendors and associations you track and whether you want self-serve software or a managed service. COISoftware lists transparent monthly pricing and offers a free tier, so a single self-managed board and a management company with hundreds of communities alike can start reading and verifying certificates without a sales call. You can test it on your own vendor certificates first.
