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Event takeaways3 takeaways from day 1 of IRMI's Construction Risk Conference
Margins are thin, umbrella is where the pain is, and underwriters are starting to ask how contractors manage the trades they hire.
Day 1 at IRMI's Construction Risk Conference in National Harbor is in the books. Here are the three things that stuck with us from Monday, and what each one means for anyone collecting contractor COIs.
1. Margins are thin, and bids are crowded
Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, opened CRC's Monday general session. His recent numbers, reported by Construction Dive, set the tone: projects that once drew two to four bids are now drawing as many as 12 to 16, and about 32% of contractors surveyed expect profit margins to decline over the next year, up from 26% in July.
When the low bid wins, a contractor's insurance gap isn't a paperwork problem. It's a margin problem. A trade contractor that trimmed its umbrella to sharpen a number is the one whose gap lands back on the GC's program after a loss.
2. Umbrella is where the pain is
WTW expects umbrella and excess rates for construction to rise another 5% to 15% in 2027, the same range it gives auto liability, while general liability runs flat to up 10%.
A broker we sat down with asked for something simple: show me how many of last year's contracts required a high umbrella limit, so I can walk into renewal with data instead of guesses. That data exists in every GC's contractor COI file. It just isn't searchable when the certificates are PDFs in an inbox.
3. Contractor management is becoming an underwriting factor
WTW's outlook says carriers give favorable underwriting consideration to firms with strong management of the trades they hire, alongside loss experience and fleet controls. "When Compliance Isn't Coverage" was on Monday's agenda for a reason: a contractor COI in a file isn't proof of coverage, and underwriters know it.
For a GC, that turns COI review from back-office cleanup into something you can show a carrier at renewal: every contractor checked against project requirements, every gap tracked to a fix.
Want to see what your own contractor COI file would tell a carrier? That's what our free COI risk check is for.
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Common questions
What is IRMI's Construction Risk Conference?
The Construction Risk Conference (CRC) is an annual event run by the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) for construction risk managers, brokers, carriers and attorneys. The 2026 conference ran October 25 to 28 at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.
Are umbrella and excess rates for contractors still going up in 2027?
WTW's Insurance Marketplace Realities 2027 report forecasts umbrella and excess liability rates for construction up 5% to 15%, with general liability flat to up 10%.
Sources
- 3 economic factors determining construction's winners and losers: ABC, Construction Dive, Oct 13, 2026
- Insurance Marketplace Realities 2027: Construction, WTW, Oct 1, 2026
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