This guide explains what is checked and where it is written. What you must carry is set by each client’s contract, and what you do carry is in your policies. It is not legal or insurance advice. Every source was opened and checked on October 14, 2026.
Every policy renewal produces a new certificate of insurance, and every hiring client reads it against its own list. Below is what the networks and some operators publish about that check, and a routine that keeps one renewal from turning into a lapse with three clients.
1. Who checks your certificate
- ISNetworld. ISN’s Review and Verification Services (RAVS) team reviews submitted documents, including insurance certificates, against regulatory and hiring client requirements (ISNetworld for contractors). Kinder Morgan’s page says ISN’s insurance review checks your certificate against Kinder Morgan’s own requirements (Kinder Morgan).
- Avetta. Avetta’s page for clients says its certified insurance monitoring team reviews and validates coverage against client requirements, that contractors or their insurance agents upload the documents, and that it monitors coverage and sends notifications to avoid lapses (Avetta insurance verification).
- Veriforce. Veriforce lists insurance certificates among the documents contractors upload (Veriforce for Contractors), and its page for Williams says Williams uses Veriforce to vet contractors for safety, insurance and pipeline regulations (Veriforce: Williams).
2. What is usually checked
The table follows the ACORD 25 certificate of liability insurance, a standard form whose current edition is posted on New York’s insurance regulator’s website (ACORD 25, 2025/12 edition). Devon Energy’s public minimums show how an operator’s list maps onto it (Devon Energy requirements).
| Item | Where it shows on the certificate | A published example |
|---|---|---|
| Policy types and limits | One row per policy: general liability, auto, umbrella or excess, and workers’ compensation with employers’ liability, each with its limits. The form warns that limits shown may have been reduced by paid claims. | Devon: general liability of at least $1 million, which can range up to $10 million by type of service; auto liability and workers’ compensation of at least $1 million each. |
| Additional insured | The “ADDL INSD” column. The form says that if the holder is an additional insured, the policy must have additional insured provisions or be endorsed. | Devon lists additional insured status. |
| Waiver of subrogation | The “SUBR WVD” column. The form says certain policies may need an endorsement, and that a statement on the certificate does not replace it. | Devon lists a waiver of subrogation. |
| Insurer | The insurers affording coverage, with their NAIC numbers. | Devon: insurers rated A- or higher by AM Best. ISN says hiring clients can receive insurer financial ratings directly from rating groups. |
| Certificate holder | The certificate holder box. | Devon: the holder name must include every Devon entity listed on the agreement. |
| Dates | The effective and expiration date of each policy. | Avetta says clients can set requirements for expirations, and that it monitors coverage and sends notifications to avoid lapses. |
| Cancellation | A box saying notice of cancellation will be delivered according to the policy provisions. | See section 4 on what a certificate can promise. |
3. Why every client differs
The networks say so plainly. ISN writes that insurance requirements must reflect a company’s risk tolerance and its exposure from the type of work, and that hiring clients can set insurance requirements per contractor with tools such as an insurance pre-questionnaire, an insurance classification and a variance tool (ISN insurance and financial risk management). Avetta says requirements vary by region, site and contractor, and that clients can add specialty coverage to their standard list.
So one certificate can satisfy one client and not the next: a higher limit, another additional insured, a different list of entities in the holder box. Kinder Morgan, for example, has its own requirements; Devon’s general liability minimum depends on the service. PG&E’s published insurance requirements set different ranges for low, medium and high-risk work and ask for additional insured, primary and noncontributory and waiver of subrogation endorsements (PG&E). Spire asks Missouri ISRS bidders for $25 million per occurrence in general liability from insurers rated A- or better (Spire). Keep each client’s written insurance requirements, not only the certificate that last passed.
4. The certificate is not the policy
The ACORD 25 form states that it is issued for information only, gives the certificate holder no rights, and does not amend, extend or alter the coverage of the policies listed. Some states put this in law:
- Texas. The Texas Department of Insurance says a certificate cannot say anything that is not in the policy. The additional insured or waiver of subrogation box is checked when the policy has an endorsement naming the holder; with only a blanket endorsement, the certificate cannot name the holder but can say that a blanket endorsement exists. A certificate may not refer to the insurance requirements of another contract, such as a construction or service contract, though a job or contract number may appear for identification. A promise of 30 days’ notice of cancellation is allowed only if it mirrors the policy. Penalties can apply to certificate holders, agents and insurers. (TDI certificates of insurance FAQ)
- New York. New York Insurance Law § 502 bars anyone from requiring a certificate to contain terms the policy does not include, and bars a certificate from amending, extending or altering coverage. For liability insurance, no one may require, as a condition of a contract for work, a certificate on any form other than the insurer’s own or one the Superintendent approved. (NY DFS, Certificates of Insurance)
What counts is the endorsement in the policy. Devon’s FAQ also says to send a certificate, not the policy itself (Devon supply chain FAQ).
5. At each policy renewal
- List who holds the old certificate. Every client, on every network, that will need the new one.
- Send your agent each client’s written requirements before the policy renews: limits, additional insured, waiver of subrogation, insurer rating and the exact holder names.
- Check the new certificate against each list: policy dates, limits, the two endorsement columns, the insurer and the holder box.
- Upload it on every network, or have your agent do it. Devon’s FAQ says it cannot upload your certificate to ISNetworld for you; you or your agent must.
- Follow it until each review is done, well before the old policy expires, so a rejection leaves time to fix it.
- Update the expiry date for every client that relies on the policy, not only for the one you uploaded first.
6. Working with your agent
- Give your agent access. ISN lets contractors give their agent or broker access to submit and monitor insurance documents at no extra fee, and runs webinars for contractors on that tool; one is listed for November 12, 2026 (ISN event page). ISN’s FAQ adds that an agent or broker administrator can set up access for more employees and is responsible for monitoring them. Avetta also lets agents upload.
- Ask for the endorsements, not only the certificate. In Texas the certificate rules do not stop an agent or insurer from providing a copy of the policy or endorsements.
- Ask whether the policy says it, rather than asking for wording on the certificate. In Texas an agent may not complete a supplemental questionnaire or an affidavit about a contract’s insurance requirements, but may show the certificate holder the relevant policy language.
7. Sources
Every source was opened on October 14, 2026. Where a page shows no date, we say so.
- ISNetworld, For contractors and suppliers, Insurance and financial risk management and FAQs (no date on the pages); agent/broker webinar (event dated November 12, 2026).
- Avetta, Insurance verification (no date on the page).
- Veriforce, Veriforce for Contractors and Getting Started with Veriforce: Williams (no date on either page).
- Devon Energy, Supplier qualification requirements and FAQ; Kinder Morgan, Safety Compliance (no date on any of them).
- PG&E, Supplier Insurance Requirements (PDF; titled July 2026); Spire, ISRS pre-qualification requirements (no date on the page).
- ACORD 25 Certificate of Liability Insurance, 2025/12 edition as published by NY DFS (form dated 2025/12).
- Texas Department of Insurance, Certificates of Insurance FAQ (last updated October 31, 2022, as shown on the page).
- New York Department of Financial Services, Certificates of Insurance (no date on the page).
Requirements change. Confirm each item with your hiring clients, your agent and the network. PrequalReady is not affiliated with ISNetworld, Avetta, Veriforce, ACORD or any hiring client, and their names belong to their owners.
8. Where PrequalReady fits
PrequalReady is a workspace that keeps each hiring client’s requirements, your documents and every expiry date in one place, and emails reminders before your dates. One certificate can be linked to every client that needs it, and its page lists every requirement it is used for. It does not log in to the networks for you, you enter the dates yourself, and it does not judge whether a certificate meets a client’s requirements. It is free during early access. Policy dates differ per company, so they are not in our yearly dates calendar (.ics); the ISNetworld renewal checklist covers the fixed dates. See the 3-minute demo with a sample company, or the consultant view if you keep many contractors qualified.