GL vs. Floater
GL covers third-party injury and property damage. An installation floater covers materials you're installing that aren't yours to keep. Here's why carpenters need to understand both.
Carpenters hear "your materials are covered" and often assume that means their general liability policy has it handled. It doesn't. GL and an installation floater protect against two entirely different kinds of loss, and confusing them is one of the more common coverage gaps we catch when building a quote.
General liability covers third-party bodily injury and property damage caused by your work — a client tripping over staged lumber, dust damaging a finished floor, a nail gun mishap denting drywall. See our GL page for the complete breakdown. It does not cover the value of materials you're bringing to a job that aren't yet part of the structure.
An installation floater protects custom cabinetry, millwork, or building materials from the moment they're delivered through completed installation — theft, damage, weather, whatever happens while those materials exist in that in-between state of not being yours to keep, but not yet part of the house either. Standard GL doesn't touch this window at all.
This gap is exactly where carpenters get caught off guard. A set of custom cabinets delivered and staged in a garage for a week before install, a trim package sitting in a locked room on a commercial site — during that window, neither your GL nor the homeowner's or GC's insurance necessarily covers those materials. See our cost breakdown for how this coverage gets priced separately from GL.
A framing or trim carpenter working with standard lumber and hardware has limited exposure here — those materials are typically lower value and installed quickly. A cabinetmaker, millwork shop, or anyone regularly delivering high-value custom materials ahead of installation has real exposure that GL alone doesn't address.
Tell us whether cabinetry, millwork, or custom materials are a regular part of your work, and our agents will confirm whether your GL is sufficient on its own or whether an installation floater makes sense for your specific business.
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Related Coverage
FAQ
No — GL covers third-party injury or property damage caused by your work, not the value of materials you haven't installed yet. That's what an installation floater is for.
Generally no — homeowner's insurance covers the homeowner's own property, not materials you delivered that aren't yet part of the structure and aren't yours to claim either.
Usually not significantly — framing lumber is typically lower value and installed quickly, so the exposure window is much smaller than with high-value custom cabinetry or millwork.
No — tools and equipment coverage protects gear you own and keep, like saws and nail guns. An installation floater covers materials you're installing that become part of someone else's property.
Yes, increasingly on jobs involving high-value custom millwork or cabinetry, since unsecured materials on an active job site are a real loss exposure they want confirmed is covered.
Tell us whether cabinetry or custom millwork is part of your business — our agents will confirm what you actually need.