Water, fire, and mold restoration is one of the hardest trades to insure, because the single biggest exposure, mold, is excluded from standard general liability, and in Texas mold remediation is a licensed activity with its own insurance mandate. ContractorsInsured.net (CA Lic #6015321, TX Lic #3305690) places restoration GL with the mold and microbial coverage most policies strip out, meets the Texas TDLR insurance requirement, and issues COIs right after binding, often the same business day.
Insurance for restoration contractors
ContractorsInsured.net is an independent insurance brokerage for water, fire, and mold restoration contractors in California and Texas. What makes restoration one of the hardest trades to insure is a single coverage gap: the exposure you are literally hired to handle is the one a standard policy excludes.
Standard commercial general liability carries the ISO Fungi or Bacteria Exclusion (form CG 21 67), which bars all bodily injury and property damage arising from mold, fungi, or bacteria, including the cost to remediate it. So a restoration contractor can carry a full GL policy and still have no coverage for the microbial claims that define the trade. The fix is a limited fungi buyback (form CG 24 25, usually written as a sublimit) or contractors pollution liability written to include microbial matter. We check the exclusion and the buyback sublimit before you bind, not after a claim.
Category 3 water, meaning sewage and grossly contaminated water under the IICRC S500 standard, carries pollution characteristics too, which is another reason pollution coverage matters on a restoration file. Because of that profile, restoration risks are frequently placed in specialty and excess and surplus lines (E&S) markets, where an underwriter can rate the mold and microbial exposure instead of excluding it.
No policy yet? We quote restoration GL with the mold buyback most policies strip out, bind, and issue the certificate right after.
What restoration contractors typically need
Core policies (start here)
- General Liability (GL) with a fungi buyback. The anchor policy, but for restoration the detail that matters most is the CG 21 67 Fungi or Bacteria Exclusion and whether a CG 24 25 buyback sublimit is present. A base GL without it leaves the mold exposure uncovered, so we confirm the wording before you bind.
- Contractors Pollution Liability (CPL). Covers pollution conditions created by your work and can be written to include microbial matter, the mold and Category 3 water exposure that standard GL excludes. On many restoration files this is what actually responds.
- Workers' Compensation (WC). Texas leaves workers comp optional for private employers, but GCs and property managers demand it before you set foot on a loss. Owner-only subs sometimes satisfy a comp requirement with a ghost policy, and most of those packets also require $1M GL, which we quote in one pass.
- Commercial Auto. Crew trucks and vans carrying extraction and drying gear between losses, plus any box trucks hauling equipment and debris.
Add-ons restoration operations commonly need
- Tools and Equipment (Inland Marine). For the air movers, dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, and extraction rigs that move between losses and live in trucks and warehouses. Restoration is equipment-heavy, so this line often carries real value.
- Umbrella / Excess. Contract-driven when a GC, property manager, or insurance carrier requires higher limits than your base GL and auto.
Not sure what you need? Start the quote flow and describe your work mix.
What restoration contractor insurance costs
There is no widely published restoration-specific general liability rate, which is part of why quotes vary so much. The closest published benchmark is renovation and remodeling contractors at roughly $87 per month for $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate (Insureon), but restoration prices above that once mold buyback, pollution, and Category 3 water exposure are rated. For comparison, Insureon benchmarks general contractors near $142 per month.
The cost drivers underwriters actually price
- Mold and Category 3 water share of work. The higher the microbial and contaminated-water percentage, the more specialist the placement.
- Buyback sublimits. A broader fungi buyback or CPL limit costs more than a stripped base form.
- Revenue and payroll. The rating basis for GL and comp.
- Subcontractor use. Whether you sub out abatement, drying, or reconstruction, and how you collect certificates.
- Claims history. Frequency, severity, and recency all matter.
- The Texas mold license. Whether you carry it, and the $1,000,000 per occurrence GL it requires.
| Operation profile | Typical position in the range |
|---|---|
| Water mitigation and structural drying | Near the renovation benchmark: contained water work, faster to rate |
| Fire and smoke rebuild | Above the benchmark: closer to general contractor pricing as reconstruction scope grows |
| Mold remediation with buyback and CPL | Highest and specialist-placed: microbial exposure drives the mold buyback and pollution rating |
Reality check: Requirements and pricing vary by carrier, operations, and project. This page is general information, not legal advice.
What Texas and California actually require
Texas: mold is a licensed activity
Texas licenses mold work through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) under Occupations Code Chapter 1958 and 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 78. A Mold Remediation Contractor license is separate from a Mold Assessment Consultant, and by conflict-of-interest rule the same company generally cannot both assess and remediate the same project.
- No license is required to clean up visible mold under 25 contiguous square feet, but a licensed remediator hired for any size job follows the full rules.
- License fees run $450 for an individual remediation contractor and $850 at the company level.
The Texas insurance mandate: 16 TAC 78.40
This is the anchor fact on the page. Under 16 TAC Section 78.40, a Texas mold licensee must carry commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence for the license term. The certificate of insurance must name TDLR as certificate holder with 30 days written notice of cancellation, and the insurer must be Texas-authorized or eligible surplus lines. A net worth of $1,000,000 by affidavit is the only self-insurance alternative.
After the work, the contractor issues a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation. Texas Insurance Code Section 544.303 bars an insurer from making an underwriting decision on a home based on prior mold damage once it has been remediated and that certificate issued, so the paperwork you produce protects your customer's insurability.
California: no state mold license
- There is no separate California state mold license and no CSLB mold classification. Restoration work is performed under the B General Building license or the relevant C specialty classifications for the trades involved.
- Fire and water restoration rebuild work falls under B or the applicable C classes.
- Asbestos work of 100 square feet or more requires the CSLB C-22 Asbestos Abatement classification plus Cal/OSHA (DOSH) registration.
We build the COI and endorsements to the TDLR mandate, the GC packet, or the property manager checklist before you submit, TDLR certificate holder and 30-day cancellation wording included. See COI basics and additional insured endorsements, or request a COI if you are already a client.
The IICRC standards underwriters expect you to follow
Restoration is a standards-driven trade, and two documents come up constantly in claims and underwriting. IICRC S500 covers professional water damage restoration, and IICRC S520 covers professional mold remediation. Both are ANSI consensus standards, which means they are voluntary rather than law, but carriers and courts reference them when a loss is disputed, so how closely you follow them affects both your claims outcomes and how an underwriter reads your file.
The water Category classes
S500 sorts water losses into three categories by contamination level, and the category changes the scope, the protective equipment, and the coverage that responds:
- Category 1. Clean water from a sanitary source, such as a supply line, that has not contacted contaminants.
- Category 2. Gray water carrying significant contamination that can cause discomfort or illness if contacted.
- Category 3. Grossly contaminated water, including sewage and floodwater, that carries pollution characteristics and is the reason pollution coverage belongs on a restoration file.
S520 similarly sets condition levels for mold, and documenting which standard you followed on a job is part of what makes a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation and a clean claims file hold up later.
How we work (multi-carrier, compliance-first)
What you should expect
- We shop multiple carriers, including specialty and E&S access for the mold and microbial exposure that admitted markets exclude or decline.
- We are coverage-first: we read the CG 21 67 exclusion and the CG 24 25 buyback sublimit before we quote, so the policy we bind actually covers the mold work you are doing.
- The COI is issued right after binding, often the same business day, with the TDLR, certificate holder, and additional insured wording taken from your checklist.
- Renewals are re-shopped, not auto-rolled, because appetite for mold and microbial risk shifts year to year and a buyback sublimit can quietly change.
What we do not do
- We do not promise lowest price or guaranteed approvals.
- We do not provide legal advice. License and contract requirements vary by city, carrier, and project.
Common restoration scenarios (what to do next)
Scenario 1: You are a Texas contractor getting your mold remediation license and discover your base GL excludes mold.
What to do:
- Confirm the exclusion. A base GL with the CG 21 67 Fungi or Bacteria Exclusion will not cover the microbial claims your license work creates.
- We place the fungi buyback (CG 24 25) or CPL that covers microbial matter, at the $1,000,000 per occurrence limit 16 TAC 78.40 requires.
- We file the certificate naming TDLR as certificate holder with 30 days notice of cancellation, so the license application clears the first time.
Scenario 2: Your water mitigation crew opens a wall and finds Category 3 sewage.
What to do:
- Category 3 water carries pollution characteristics, so the coverage that responds is contractors pollution liability, not a base GL alone.
- Document the category under IICRC S500 as you scope the loss, because the file and the coverage need to match.
- If pollution coverage is not on your program, tell us the mix of contaminated-water work you do so we can rate and place it before the next loss, not after.
Scenario 3: Your GL renewal quietly drops the fungi buyback sublimit to zero.
What to do:
- Send us the renewal before you sign. We compare the CG 24 25 buyback sublimit against the expiring policy so a silent reduction does not slip through.
- If the sublimit was cut or removed, we re-shop the buyback and CPL rather than auto-rolling a policy that no longer covers your core work.
- We line the restored sublimit up with the TDLR mandate and any GC or carrier requirement you are working under.
Restoration is a specialist trade, so if a carrier declines or endorses away the mold exposure you need, our multi-carrier approach gives you more places to land. Related reading: certificate of insurance basics, additional insured endorsements, and general liability for contractors.
Fast quote checklist for restoration contractors
When you request a quote, have this ready (or approximate it).
- Trade description. Water mitigation vs fire and smoke rebuild vs mold remediation, and the rough split between them.
- Mold and Category 3 water share. The microbial and contaminated-water percentage of your work drives the buyback and pollution rating.
- Texas mold license status. Whether you hold or are applying for the TDLR Mold Remediation Contractor license.
- Revenue and payroll ranges. The rating basis underwriters start from.
- Subcontractor use and their COIs. Whether you sub out abatement, drying, or reconstruction, and how you collect certificates.
- Equipment list. Air movers, dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, extraction rigs, trucks, and trailers.
- Claims history. The last 3 to 5 years, with short details on anything open.
- The TDLR mandate, GC packet, or carrier requirement itself. Upload it. This is the single fastest way to get a certificate accepted on the first pass.
- Desired limits. Including any umbrella and the buyback sublimit the contract or license requires.