CG 20 32: Additional Insured, Engineers, Architects or Surveyors Not Engaged by the Named Insured

Legal purpose and coverage scope

Section A of CG 20 32 amends Who Is An Insured to include the architects, engineers or surveyors shown in the schedule, for bodily injury, property damage and personal and advertising injury caused, in whole or in part, by the named insured's acts or omissions, or those acting on its behalf, in the performance of its ongoing operations. The form recites that these design professionals, while not engaged by the named insured, are contractually required to be added. The 04 13 edition applies the standard limiters: only to the extent permitted by law, and no broader than the contract requires.

Section B adds a professional services exclusion for these additional insureds: no coverage for injury arising out of the rendering of or failure to render professional services, including preparing or approving maps, drawings, opinions, reports, surveys, change orders, designs or specifications, and supervisory, inspection or engineering services, even when the claim is framed as negligent supervision or hiring. Section C caps limits at the lesser of the contract requirement or the available limits.

The companion form for design professionals the named insured did engage, such as a design-build contractor's own engineer, is CG 20 07, Additional Insured, Engineers, Architects or Surveyors.

Where the requirement comes from

AIA A201 General Conditions (2007 and 2017 editions) ask the contractor to cause its commercial liability coverage to include the owner, the architect and the architect's consultants as additional insureds for claims caused in whole or in part by the contractor's negligent acts or omissions during the contractor's operations. Owner-drafted agreements carry similar requirements. A GC that accepts that clause needs its own policy to reach the architect, and needs its subcontractors' policies to reach the architect too if the requirement flows down.

CG 20 10 can schedule the architect by name, but its grant is tied to the named insured's ongoing operations performed for the additional insured, and the GC is not performing operations for the architect. CG 20 32 is written for that relationship.

How CG 20 32 behaves in a tender or claim

Construction injury suits commonly name the architect on the theory that it should have caught an unsafe condition during site visits. When the architect tenders under the GC's CG 20 32, the carrier will accept defense of the allegations tied to the contractor's operations and reserve rights on, or deny, the allegations that the architect negligently performed construction administration, because those are professional services excluded by Section B.

The architect's own professional liability carrier covers that part. The practical value of CG 20 32 is that the architect's defense on the construction-operations theory comes from the contractor's CGL, which is what the owner-contractor agreement promised, and the architect's professional carrier has no basis to pursue the contractor for breach of the insurance clause.

Edition history

Earlier editions used the broader "arising out of" causation common to ISO additional insured forms of the 1990s. The 07 04 cycle moved ISO's additional insured forms to "caused, in whole or in part, by," and the 04 13 edition added the extent-permitted-by-law, not-broader-than-contract and limits provisions. The 12 19 edition updates the limits cap to refer to the limits available rather than the limits shown in the Declarations.

What to require, and how Pikorua Security verifies it

Where the prime contract requires the design team as additional insureds, require CG 20 32 (or a carrier form at least as broad) scheduling the architect and each named consultant by legal name, from the GC and from any subcontractor whose subcontract flows the requirement down. Do not expect it to cover professional services; that is the design firm's own professional liability.

Pikorua Security stores the design team on the project record from the prime contract. When a vendor's file includes CG 20 32, the validator matches each scheduled name against that list and flags omissions, such as a structural engineering consultant added after award. When the exhibit requires the architect and the only additional insured forms are CG 20 10 or CG 20 38, the file is flagged for review with the reason: those forms may not reach a party the named insured performs no operations for.

• Require: CG 20 32 scheduling the architect and named consultants by legal name when the prime contract requires them.
• Require: the same primary and non-contributory and waiver terms that apply to the other additional insureds.
• Do not require: coverage for the design professionals' own professional services; it is excluded by design.