Track subcontractor insurance certificates and licenses before anything expires
A shared sheet stores each sub's required documents and expiration dates, flags anything within 30 days, and acts as a hard gate: nothing expired gets scheduled or paid. A weekly reminder email does the chasing.
General Contractor · Construction · Google Sheets · Microsoft Power Automate
Content updated · Tool links listed below; vendor features and pricing change, so confirm with the vendor
Short answer
Use Gemini in Google Sheets or Copilot in Excel: The AI builds the tracker, the next-expiration formula, the red/yellow formatting and the reminder; it can also read a pasted COI and list the policies. A shared sheet stores each sub's required documents and expiration dates, flags anything within 30 days, and acts as a hard gate: nothing expired gets scheduled or paid. A weekly reminder email does the chasing. A person still checks: endorsement wording and limits against the contract; a current date isn't proof of coverage.
Free tool: COI and license expiry checker. Paste or upload your sub insurance and license list. See what is expired (red), expiring within 30 days (yellow) and current (green), plus who you can schedule.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
AI tie-in
Tool: Gemini in Google Sheets or Copilot in Excel
The AI builds the tracker, the next-expiration formula, the red/yellow formatting and the reminder; it can also read a pasted COI and list the policies.
Prompt 1
Build a sub compliance tracker: one row per sub, columns for GL, workers comp, auto, umbrella and license expiration dates, a 'next expiration' column using MIN, red if expired and yellow if under 30 days, and a 'can schedule/pay' column that says NO if anything is red.
Prompt 2
From this certificate of insurance text, list each policy type, limits, effective and expiration dates, and whether additional insured and waiver of subrogation are shown. Flag anything to confirm with the broker: [paste COI text]
Human check: Endorsement wording and limits against the contract; a current date isn't proof of coverage.
The problem
Track subcontractor insurance certificates and licenses before anything expires. This is a common, time-consuming task for a general contractor.
What this workflow does
A shared sheet stores each sub's required documents and expiration dates, flags anything within 30 days, and acts as a hard gate: nothing expired gets scheduled or paid. A weekly reminder email does the chasing.
How it works: AI drafts or analyzes. A person operates the tools, checks the work, and takes action.
Your checkpoint: A current certificate is not proof of coverage. Endorsement wording and limits need a person, and sometimes a broker, to confirm. This is not legal or insurance advice.
Before you start
- Access to the named tool; confirm license, version and cost with the vendor.
- A small, non-confidential sample to try the workflow on first.
- A qualified person to review the output before it is used.
Tools and access
Follow the steps
- List the documents your contracts require (GL, workers comp, auto, umbrella, license, safety certs).
- One row per sub, one expiration-date column per document, plus a next-expiration column using MIN().
- Conditional format: red when expired, yellow under 30 days.
- Set a weekly automated email listing anything yellow or red.
- Make it a rule: red rows don't get scheduled and pay apps are held.
- When a new certificate arrives, check the endorsements against the contract, not just the dates.
Try a small example
Replace the bracketed fields with your own project details. No tested sample run is published for this workflow yet.
Sample input
Fill in the bracketed [fields] in the text below with your project data.
Starter prompt
From these certificate of insurance details, list each policy type, limits, effective and expiration dates, and whether additional insured and waiver of subrogation are shown. Flag anything I need to confirm with the broker: [paste COI text]
Expected output
Not published yet. Treat any output as a draft and check it against the source documents.
Check the result
- Every value, citation or quantity traces back to a source document.
- Missing information is marked as missing, not filled in.
Limits and recovery
- A current certificate is not proof of coverage. Endorsement wording and limits need a person, and sometimes a broker, to confirm. This is not legal or insurance advice.
- Check your organization’s data policy before sharing project files with third-party tools.
Stop or switch when: The source cannot be verified, permissions are missing, or the result contains unsupported facts.
Frequently asked questions
How does AI help with this?
Gemini in Google Sheets or Copilot in Excel: The AI builds the tracker, the next-expiration formula, the red/yellow formatting and the reminder; it can also read a pasted COI and list the policies. A person still checks: Endorsement wording and limits against the contract; a current date isn't proof of coverage.
How do I track subcontractor insurance certificates and licenses before anything expires?
List the documents your contracts require (GL, workers comp, auto, umbrella, license, safety certs). One row per sub, one expiration-date column per document, plus a next-expiration column using MIN(). Conditional format: red when expired, yellow under 30 days. The full step list is above.
Does this use an AI agent or regular software?
It is labeled AI assists: AI drafts or analyzes. A person operates the tools, checks the work, and takes action.
What tools do I need?
Google Sheets, Microsoft Power Automate. Confirm license, version and cost with the vendor, and try it on a small non-confidential sample first.
Has this workflow been tested?
Workflow guide · not independently tested. It is written from vendor documentation and practitioner use.
Evidence and maintenance
Written from vendor documentation and practitioner use. Labels apply to the steps described here, not every feature of a product. Links were checked when the page was written.