Your Work Exclusion
The Your Work Exclusion is a commercial general liability policy provision that limits coverage for certain property damage involving work performed by or on behalf of an insured after that work has been completed.
Definition
The Your Work Exclusion is a property-damage exclusion commonly associated with commercial general liability insurance and the products-completed operations hazard. It addresses damage to the insured’s own completed work when the damage arises from that work or a portion of it.
The provision distinguishes liability for damage to the insured’s work itself from liability involving other property or other covered interests. Its application depends on the policy wording, the nature of the damaged property, the source of the damage, when the damage occurred, and whether applicable exceptions or endorsements alter the exclusion.
Structural Components
- Insured’s work: Work or operations performed by the insured or performed on the insured’s behalf, together with certain materials, parts, or equipment furnished in connection with those operations.
- Property damage: Physical injury to tangible property or another form of property damage recognized by the applicable policy definition.
- Causal relationship: The exclusion generally requires a relationship between the damaged work and the work from which the damage arose.
- Completed-operations context: The provision commonly applies when the affected work falls within the policy’s products-completed operations framework.
- Exceptions and modifications: Policy forms or endorsements may preserve, restrict, modify, or remove exceptions associated with work performed by subcontractors or other parties.
Parameters & Conditions
Application of the Your Work Exclusion is determined by the specific policy form and the facts associated with the alleged property damage. Relevant conditions may include:
- Whether the damaged property qualifies as the insured’s work under the policy definition.
- Whether the damage arose from the insured’s work or from a separate cause.
- Whether the work had been completed when the applicable damage occurred.
- Whether damage extends beyond the insured’s own work to other property.
- Whether the work was performed directly by the insured or by another party on the insured’s behalf.
- Whether an endorsement modifies the standard exclusion or an associated exception.
Topic Relationships
- General Liability Insurance — the broader liability policy framework in which the exclusion commonly appears.
- Completed Operations — the coverage context associated with liability arising after work has been completed.
- Exclusions — policy provisions that remove or limit coverage otherwise potentially within a policy’s insuring agreement.
- Endorsements — policy modifications that may alter exclusion language or related exceptions.
- Liability Insurance — the broader risk-transfer category addressing insured liability to third parties.
- Proximate Cause — a causation concept that may be relevant when determining the relationship between work and resulting damage.
- Insurance Claims Process — the procedural framework through which coverage provisions and exclusions are evaluated following a reported loss.
Exceptions, Limitations & Boundaries
The Your Work Exclusion does not function as a universal exclusion for every loss connected to work performed by an insured. Its scope is limited by the precise policy language and by whether the damaged property falls within the definition of the insured’s work.
Damage to property other than the insured’s own work may be evaluated differently from damage confined to the completed work itself. Certain commercial general liability forms also contain exceptions involving work performed on the insured’s behalf by subcontractors, although those exceptions may be modified or removed by endorsement.
The exclusion is distinct from provisions addressing damage to property being actively worked on, impaired property, contractual obligations, professional errors, pollution, or other separately defined coverage restrictions.