Completed Operations

GL coverage for damage or injury that shows up after you finished a job — the deck you built collapses months later.

Completed operations is the part of a general liability policy that responds to bodily injury or property damage caused by your work after you’ve finished the job and left the site. The deck you built collapses six months later; the pipe you soldered leaks and floods a finished basement; the wiring you ran is blamed for a fire the following year. Those are completed-operations claims.

This matters enormously for contractors and tradespeople because the claim is covered by the policy in force when it happens — not the one you had when you did the work. That’s why letting coverage lapse between jobs is so dangerous, and why continuous coverage is worth protecting. A fire attributed to electrical work you finished two years ago needs a policy active today.

What completed operations does NOT cover is the cost to redo your own faulty workmanship — that’s a warranty and quality issue, not insurance. It responds when your finished work injures someone or damages other property. Contracts often require that additional-insured status extend to completed operations (the CG 20 37 endorsement), not just ongoing work, so read the wording carefully.

This is a friendly general explanation, not legal or policy language. Exact coverage depends on your policy, carrier, and state. 🤝

Written and reviewed by the We Insure Things team — licensed independent insurance agents. Last reviewed July 23, 2026. Questions? Ask a licensed agent.