OCIP and CCIP Wrap-Up Insurance
OCIP and CCIP wrap-up insurance, also called a controlled insurance program, consolidates coverage for the owner, general contractor, and enrolled subcontractors on a single project under one set of policies, typically general liability and often excess, and sometimes workers’ compensation. An OCIP is owner-controlled and a CCIP is contractor-controlled, differing by who sponsors and administers the program.
The limits are dedicated to the project but shared by every enrolled party, so one large claim reduces what is left for the others. California requires only that the limits be disclosed, not that they be sufficient.
What does OCIP and CCIP wrap-up insurance cover?
- Enrolled parties on a defined project: owner, general contractor, and subcontractors, under one program.
- Typically general liability and often excess coverage, and sometimes workers’ compensation.
- Uniform coverage across enrolled parties, with shared project limits that every participant draws on.
Who needs it? Larger or more complex California projects with many parties involved. Owners (OCIP) or general contractors (CCIP) who want consistent coverage across everyone on site. Projects built to reduce cross-claims among enrolled parties, and work where shared project limits and potential cost efficiency are worth the added administration.
Wrap-ups are common on large California projects, partly because construction-defect and completed-operations exposure runs long here and uniform, dedicated limits can simplify how that exposure is handled. Considerations include enrollment and payroll reporting, deductibles and retentions, coordination with each party’s own practice program, and the fact that off-site work is often excluded.
How we help: We help you understand whether a wrap-up fits the project, walk through enrollment and reporting expectations, and coordinate the program with the coverage individual parties still need to carry.
OCIP and CCIP wrap-up insurance in California, explained
What must a California builder disclose to a subcontractor enrolled in a residential wrap-up?
Four things, in the contract documents. On a private residential project that first began construction after 1 January 2009, Civil Code section 2782.95 requires the sponsor to disclose the premium credit taken from your bid. That means the total amount, or the method of calculating it. To the extent known, the contract must also disclose the policy limits, the scope of coverage, the policy term, and how the deductible or occurrence is triggered. On written request you are entitled to a copy of the policy, or a binder or declaration if the policy is not yet issued. You may share it only with your insurance broker or attorney. Read those four items against your own practice policy before you sign, because the differences are where the gaps sit.
What must be disclosed on a public works or commercial wrap-up?
The bid credit, in the bid documents. For a public work, or any non-residential project put out to bid after 1 January 2009, Civil Code section 2782.96 applies. It requires the total amount or method of calculating any premium credit to be clearly set out in the bid documents. The named insured must also disclose, to the extent known, the policy limits, known exclusions, and how long the policy is intended to stay in effect. Once the policies exist you may request copies. A separate policy the sponsor buys for extra coverage is exempt from the disclosure rule only if no credit is taken from you for it.
Am I bound by my bid if the wrap-up credit was not disclosed before I bid?
On a residential wrap-up, not automatically. If the sponsor did not disclose the credit amount or method before you submitted your bid, section 2782.95 says you are not bound. The exception is where you are allowed to raise the bid by the difference between what you included for insurance and the credit actually demanded. That protection does not apply where the sponsor never asked you to deduct insurance from your bid in the first place. On public and commercial projects the statute requires the credit to be in the bid documents but spells out no bid-increase remedy, so that question goes to your attorney.
Can the builder make me pay the wrap-up deductible on a residential project?
Only within limits. Civil Code section 2782.9 lets a builder or general contractor require a reasonably allocated contribution to the wrap-up’s deductible or self-insured retention. The maximum amount and the method of collection must be disclosed in your contract. The contribution must also be limited so that each participant carries some financial obligation for claims alleged to arise from its own scope of work. The section cannot be waived by contract. On commercial wraps section 2782.9 does not apply at all, and the deductible clause is an ordinary contract term for your attorney to read.
Does enrolling in a wrap-up change my indemnity obligations to the general contractor?
On a residential wrap-up, yes. Section 2782.9 makes contract clauses that require an enrolled subcontractor to indemnify, hold harmless or defend another party unenforceable for any claim the program covers. Equitable indemnity still exists for claims the wrap-up does not cover, which is why “reduces cross-claims” is the honest description and “eliminates” is not. On commercial projects the general anti-indemnity rule for subcontractors, Civil Code section 2782.05, states that it does not apply to any wrap-up insurance policy or program, so the indemnity clause in your subcontract still matters. This is contract law rather than insurance, and it belongs with counsel.
How long does a wrap-up need to carry completed operations coverage?
Long enough to reach the end of California’s defect exposure, and the sponsor decides how long that is. For latent defects, Code of Civil Procedure section 337.15 bars any action brought more than 10 years after substantial completion. Under the Right to Repair Act, claims on new homes sold on or after 1 January 2003 are also capped at 10 years, with shorter windows for specific components. Public agency wraps must carry completed operations coverage for at least three years. The wrap-up’s completed operations term is one of the disclosures you are entitled to. If the tail is shorter than the exposure, ask what covers your work after it ends, because the exclusion on your own policy usually does not go away when the wrap’s tail does.
Can a California public agency require a wrap-up on its project?
Yes, with conditions. Government Code section 4420 lets a state or local agency use owner-controlled or wrap-up insurance on a construction or renovation program costing more than $50 million. The agency must certify bidder safety qualifications, including each contractor’s workers’ compensation experience modification, and a saving of public funds. It must also provide at least three years of completed operations coverage, bid specifications that state the coverage, no ban on contractors buying additional insurance, and no surety in the program. School and community college districts have their own version without the dollar threshold, and a separate 1998 section lets state agencies use a wrap-up above $125 million. The University of California and CSU count as state agencies. The statute also says a public wrap does not limit any liability that exists at law.
What happens to my own workers’ comp policy and experience mod when I enroll?
Your on-site payroll and any on-site injuries move to the wrap-up policy, and your own policy is endorsed to exclude that project so you do not pay premium twice. Insurance Code section 11751.82 requires the wrap-up insurer to report each contractor’s losses and payroll to the rating bureau under the statistical plan, and to give you a copy within 10 days on request. That reporting is how the experience follows your company. How it enters your experience modification is governed by the WCIRB’s Experience Rating Plan, so ask before you assume a wrap-up injury stays off your mod. Labor Code section 3602 separately bars cross-employer coverage agreements made to dodge an appropriate experience rating.
What does the wrap-up exclusion on my own liability policy do?
It removes the enrolled project from your practice policy, usually for both ongoing and completed operations, so that the wrap-up is the only policy responding to that site. The exclusion does not lift when the wrap-up’s tail ends or its shared limits are used up by other participants’ claims. Basic wrap-ups also leave out auto, professional and pollution liability, off-site work, suppliers and off-site fabricators, so those stay on your own program. Before you sign, compare the wrap-up’s completed operations term and limits with the exclusion on your own policy, and ask how any gap is handled.
How do you get help with a wrap-up enrollment from us?
Sponsoring a wrap-up is a large-account placement, and most of our readers are the subcontractor or general contractor being enrolled in one. Send us the enrollment package with your business insurance quote or your current policies. We read the disclosures against your practice program: the exclusion endorsement, the off-site and completed operations gaps, and what the certificate needs to show. Some of that we can place directly and quickly. Other pieces go to underwriting for approval, or need a wholesale market, and those take longer. Either way you know before you decide. Our construction insurance page covers the practice program itself.
Statutory references current as of September 2026 and specific to California. Form descriptions refer to standard policy mechanics; no form text is reproduced. Contract and allocation questions belong with the contractor’s attorney.
