Owners and Contractors Protective (OCP) Liability Insurance

Owners and contractors protective (OCP) liability insurance is a standalone policy that protects a designated party, most often the project owner, in that party’s own name for one project. It covers liability arising from the named contractor’s operations and the owner’s general supervision of that work, giving direct coverage rather than additional-insured status on the contractor’s policy.

Owners and contractors protective liability, usually shortened to OCP, is a standalone general liability policy that protects a designated party, most often the project owner, in that party’s own name. It is written for one project and it gives you direct coverage, which is different from being listed as an additional insured on someone else’s policy.

What does OCP liability insurance cover?

• Liability arising from the operations of the named contractor performed for you on the project.
• Liability arising from your own general supervision of that contractor’s work.
• Direct protection, because you are the named insured (the protected party), not a party added to the contractor’s policy.

Who needs it? Project owners who want coverage in their own name rather than relying solely on additional-insured status; owners engaging a single primary contractor on a defined project; situations where a contract calls specifically for OCP coverage; and parties who want a clean, project-specific set of limits for their supervision exposure.

Because you are the named insured, an OCP policy can respond directly to a covered claim rather than depending on how a contractor’s carrier interprets additional-insured wording. In California, where construction-defect and completed-operations exposure runs long, owners often value having their own project record and their own limits. OCP is typically written per project, so it usually needs to be arranged before work begins.

How we help: We help you decide whether OCP, additional-insured status, or a combination fits your project, and we make sure the coverage lines up with what your contract requires.