Contractor Insurance Requirements in Minnesota

Minnesota residential building contractors, remodelers and roofers must file a certificate of insurance covering general liability and property damage. The statutory minimums are commonly stated as $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate and $25,000 property damage, though project owners often require $1,000,000. The citation trail is Minn. Stat. §§ 326B.805, 326B.86, subd. 2. Treat the quoted number, when one exists, as a licensing floor rather than a safe project limit. A homeowner should request a current Certificate of Insurance showing the exact legal name, policy number, effective dates, occurrence and aggregate limits, products/completed operations, and any additional-insured wording required by the contract or permit office. Where Minnesota does not publish a statewide GL minimum, ProFix describes market ranges only as verification guidance, not as law. Roof, structural, excavation, mold, fire, solar and multi-trade projects should usually be reviewed for umbrella or excess liability because standard GL can contain residential, roofing, pollution, subsidence or subcontractor exclusions.

Workers' compensation is required for Minnesota employers. A contractor applying for or renewing a residential license must submit a certificate of compliance with Minnesota workers' compensation law or explain why it is exempt. Cite Minn. Stat. §§ 176.181, 176.182. Coverage is placed through private carriers, self-insurance or the assigned-risk plan. Minnesota is not monopolistic, but DLI treats the WC compliance certificate as a licensing document. For residential hiring, the key question is not only whether the contractor has a policy, but whether the people entering the home are covered by that policy. Ask whether subcontractors are employees, independent businesses with their own WC, or excluded owners. If the contractor says it is exempt, request the state exemption form or written statutory basis and keep it with the contract file. A GL policy does not pay statutory wage-loss and medical benefits for an injured worker, and an occupational accident policy is not always a substitute for workers' compensation.

The residential contractor recovery-fund fee is not the same as a surety bond. Separate bonds apply to some specialty trades: electrical and mechanical contractors commonly file bonds, and residential roofers have a roofers bond requirement. The legal anchor is Minn. Stat. §§ 326B.89, 326B.46, 326B.197. A license bond is not the same thing as liability insurance: it is a surety promise that may reimburse a claimant only after a covered violation, and the surety normally seeks reimbursement from the contractor. It also is not always a performance bond guaranteeing completion of one homeowner's project. For residential work, ask who the obligee is, the bond amount, the effective dates, cancellation notice, and whether the bond is tied to the state license, a city registration, a right-of-way permit or a specific contract. For public or large commercial work, separate bid, performance and payment bonds can be required even when no residential license bond exists.

The residential license requirement is tied to acting as a residential building contractor, remodeler or roofer for compensation and includes a $15,000 gross-receipts exemption for small annual volume. Commercial GCs do not follow the same residential license path, but trade licenses still matter. For insurance review, residential work should be tested against the homeowner contract, permit office, lender, HOA or condo requirements, and the license classification. Commercial work usually scales faster because leases, architects, public owners and general contractors often require additional insured status, waiver of subrogation, primary-and-noncontributory wording, higher auto limits and umbrella coverage. A contractor who is legal for a small repair may still be underinsured for a structural addition, roof replacement, fire restoration or job involving subcontractors.

Electrical, plumbing, mechanical bond, refrigeration and manufactured-home work are separate Minnesota checks. Pre-1978 renovation invokes lead-safe rules, and asbestos work is regulated outside ordinary residential contractor licensing. Mold remediation should be paired with insurance endorsements for pollution or microbial exclusions. Federal overlays still matter in every state: renovation of pre-1978 painted surfaces can require EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting compliance under 40 C.F.R. Part 745, and asbestos disturbance can trigger OSHA construction asbestos rules at 29 C.F.R. § 1926.1101 plus state notification or licensing. Specialty insurance should match the hazard. Ask about professional liability for design-build advice, pollution or microbial coverage for mold and sewage, rigging/crane coverage for HVAC rooftop units, and hot-work controls for welding or torch-down roofing. A general liability COI with a low premium can be misleading if the trade that caused the loss is excluded.

Search DLI's license lookup for the residential or trade credential, then request the DLI-style certificate of liability insurance and WC compliance proof. Use the Minnesota Commerce Department to confirm insurer authority. For roof work, confirm both the residential credential and any roof-specific bond. Use three documents together: the state or local license record, the COI, and the bond or workers' compensation proof. The license board URL for Minnesota is https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/residential-contractor-licensing, and the insurance regulator URL is https://mn.gov/commerce/insurance/. Match the business name, DBA, address and license number across all documents; mismatches are the fastest way to spot borrowed insurance or an unlicensed subcontractor. Call the producer listed on the COI, not a phone number supplied only in a text message. For larger residential jobs, require updated certificates before each draw and before final payment. This is an insurance-compliance checklist, not legal advice, and the local permit office can impose stricter conditions than the statewide baseline.