Certificate of Insurance

Certicate of insurance (Coi)

Introduction

If your building requires a Certificate of Insurance before any installation work — whether it's a TV mounting appointment, an IKEA kitchen install, or a shelving job — you're in the right place. This page walks through what a COI actually is, why NYC buildings require one, which buildings typically ask for it, exactly what coverage We Mount Things carries, how the request process works, and what to expect from your own building's management company along the way.

TV mounting is the single most common job where this paperwork becomes a dealbreaker: it's a short visit, it seems low-risk, and it's exactly the kind of appointment a doorman or super will turn away without a COI on file — no exceptions for how good the installer is.

This is why so many people specifically search for TV mounters with COI or TV installers with COI rather than just "TV mounting near me" — once you've had one appointment turned away at the lobby, you learn to ask about insurance before you book, not after. It's also worth knowing if you're mounting something higher-end: Samsung TV mounting with COI (Frame TVs especially) comes up constantly, since these installs are often happening in the same doorman buildings and co-ops that enforce insurance requirements most strictly. The same requirement applies to IKEA kitchen installations, floating shelf and cabinet mounting, and general furniture assembly whenever the work involves drilling or wall penetration inside a managed building.

What Is a COI?

A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a document that proves a contractor carries active liability insurance before doing any work that involves drilling, mounting, or wall penetration in a building. It's issued by the contractor's insurance carrier, lists the policy's coverage limits and effective dates, and — critically — can name specific parties (your building's management company, board, or ownership entity) as an "additional insured." That status means those parties are directly covered under the contractor's policy for the duration of the work, not just the contractor.

Why NYC Buildings Require One

Most mounting and handyman companies treat the COI as a formality — a piece of paper they scramble to produce after a client asks. We built ours the other way around. We Mount Things is already a known, pre-approved vendor with major NYC property management firms, which means in a lot of cases we're not walking into your building cold. We know the building. We know the super. We're familiar with every wall type NYC throws at us — drywall, plaster and lath in pre-war co-ops, brick, and poured concrete in newer high-rises — and we bring the appropriate anchors and hardware for whichever one we're working with, rather than showing up with a one-size-fits-all kit. We also know which lobbies need floor runners and which freight elevators need a reservation two days out instead of two hours. That familiarity is worth more to a management company than a certificate alone — it's the difference between a vendor they have to vet from scratch and one they already trust.

Which Buildings Require a COI?

Not every building asks for one, but the overwhelming majority of managed buildings in NYC do. In our experience, this includes:

Co-ops — almost universally require a COI, often naming the co-op corporation, its board, officers, and sometimes individual shareholders
Condominiums — typically require a COI naming the condo association and management company
Doorman and full-service buildings — nearly always require a COI on file before granting elevator or building access for any vendor
Luxury high-rises and new developments — often have the most detailed requirements, sometimes naming multiple development, lending, and holding entities on a single certificate.

Managed rental buildings — increasingly require COIs as more rentals are professionally managed rather than owner-managed

Commercial and mixed-use buildings — regularly require COIs for office, retail, and common-area work, often with higher coverage minimums than residential buildings

If you're not sure whether your building requires one, the safest assumption in NYC is: if there's a management company, a super, or a doorman, ask before we schedule the job. It takes a phone call, and it saves a wasted trip.

What Information Does Your Building Need?

Every management company's requirements are a little different, but common asks include:

Specific additional insured language — naming the management company, the board/corp, and sometimes individual shareholders or unit owners by name, often in a specific order
Primary and non-contributory coverage — meaning our policy pays first, before any coverage the building carries
Waiver of subrogation — our insurer waives the right to pursue the building for a claim we're responsible for
Minimum coverage limits — some buildings require higher liability limits than others
Advance cancellation notice — typically 30 days' written notice if a policy is canceled

If your building's requirements include any of these, just let us know — we've processed all of the above regularly and it doesn't slow down the timeline.

The base general liability limit barely changes across building types — what actually shifts is who needs to be named and how strictly it's enforced:

Fast and Reliable Service

We understand that your time is valuable. That's why we always arrive on time and work efficiently to complete your project in a timely manner. You can count on us to get the job done right the first time.

What We Actually Carry

A lot of contractors show up with a single bare-bones liability certificate. We built our coverage the other way — broader than what most buildings even ask for:

General Liability InsuranceCovers property damage or injury resulting from our work — the baseline every building requires.

Surety BondProtects clients against incomplete or improperly performed work — a layer most mounting companies don't carry at all.

Workers' Compensation InsuranceCovers our technicians if they're injured on-site, which protects your building from liability exposure that a basic liability policy alone doesn't address.

Disability Benefits Law (DBL) & Paid Family Leave (PFL) CoverageBeyond workers' comp, we also carry NY-mandated DBL and PFL coverage for our team — a detail most mounting or handyman companies don't carry, or don't think to mention, but one that reflects full compliance with New York's employment insurance requirements.

Together, this means when a management company asks "are you insured," "are you bonded," and "what happens if someone gets hurt — or needs leave — because of work in our building," we have a documented answer to all of it, not just the basics.

What Our COI Covers — and What It Doesn't

Our insurance and COI apply to mounting, installation, and general handyman work: TV mounting, IKEA kitchen installs, shelving, furniture assembly, and similar wall- or ceiling-anchored work. It does not cover licensed electrical or plumbing work — running new circuits, relocating outlets, gas line work, or plumbing repairs fall outside our scope and require a licensed electrician or plumber. If your project includes electrical or plumbing beyond simply connecting to an existing outlet or fixture, you'll need to hire a separately licensed contractor for that portion of the job, and we're happy to coordinate scheduling around their work if needed.

Why Real Insurance Costs Real Money — And Why Some Installers Can't Produce a COI

Here's the part most installers won't tell you: carrying real, active insurance in New York isn't cheap. Like almost everything else in this city — rent, labor, materials — insurance for a contractor doing paid work inside NYC buildings runs meaningfully higher than the national average, driven by the state's litigation environment and higher claims costs. It's a genuinely significant, ongoing business expense — and also a non-negotiable one if you want to legally and safely work inside managed buildings.

That cost gap explains a pattern buildings run into constantly: an installer quoting a suspiciously low price often can't produce a real COI, because carrying real coverage in this city is expensive, and skipping it is one of the easiest ways to undercut a competitor's price. We Mount Things keeps current general liability, bonding, workers' comp, and DBL/PFL coverage on file with our broker year-round for exactly this reason — getting a certificate to your building's management office is a same-day email, not a scramble to get insured after the fact.

Why Gig Platforms Like TaskRabbit Often Can't Get Past the Front Desk

This is worth understanding if you've ever booked a "handyman" through an app and had your building turn them away. TaskRabbit — the platform behind countless furniture assembly and mounting bookings in NYC, and also the service powering IKEA's own installation offering — connects you with individual, independent workers, not a single insured business. Each tasker is functionally running their own one-person operation, and the platform's own insurance coverage is generally limited and doesn't translate into a building-specific Certificate of Insurance naming your co-op, condo, or management company as an additional insured the way a real contractor's policy does.

That's exactly why a growing number of NYC buildings restrict or flatly won't allow app-sourced gig workers past the lobby for any work involving drilling, mounting, or wall penetration — there's no business-level insurance policy behind the individual to name the building on, and no one for the management company to hold accountable if something goes wrong. It's not a knock on the individual tasker's skill; it's a structural gap in how those platforms are set up, and it's why our own IKEA kitchen installation clients often ask us this same question when comparing us to IKEA's in-house install service. A licensed, insured company like We Mount Things exists on the other side of that gap — one business, one policy, one certificate that can actually be issued in your building's name.

Building Rules We Follow On Every Job

Insurance paperwork is only half of what a building actually cares about — the other half is how we behave once we're inside. On every job, we follow:

Scheduled service windows — many buildings restrict work to specific hours (weekday daytime only, no early mornings, no weekends), and we confirm and follow your building's exact window before booking, not after.
Wall-appropriate hardware — drywall, plaster and lath, brick, and poured concrete all require different anchors and mounting techniques; we assess the wall on-site and bring the hardware to match rather than assuming one approach fits every building.
Elevator protection — padded blankets and protective covering are standard practice on any job requiring elevator use, protecting walls, doors, and floors from equipment or materials in transit.
Floor protection — we lay down floor coverings in hallways, elevators, and the work area itself to prevent scuffs, dust, or debris from reaching common areas or your unit's floors.

If your building has additional protocols beyond these — freight elevator reservations, super sign-off, specific entry procedures — just let us know when you book, and we'll build it into the job.

How the COI Process Works

Tell us your building's requirements. Most management companies have specific wording they need — who's named, in what order, and sometimes specific coverage minimums. Send us this before we schedule the job if possible.
We submit the request to our insurer. This is a $35 flat fee, due upfront.
Turnaround is typically same-day or next-day. Complex requests (multiple named parties, non-standard minimums) may take slightly longer.
You forward the COI to your building. Once issued, it's yours to submit directly, or we can send it to your management office if you prefer.

A note on the fee: the $35 COI charge is non-refundable once submitted — except in the specific case where your building's management company rejects us as a vendor (for example, if our insurance minimums don't meet their requirement). In that case, we refund it in full.

How Long It Actually Takes

Because we already carry continuous general liability, bonding, and workers' comp coverage year-round, our broker can typically issue a building-specific COI within 24–48 hours of receiving your building's exact requirement sheet — sometimes the same afternoon for straightforward requests.

That timeline stretches in a few predictable cases:

Unusual endorsement language, individually named board members, or unusually high umbrella requirements can add a day or two of back-and-forth between the broker and your management office.
Multi-visit projects — a job with a return trip for adjustments or a follow-up install — need the COI on file to stay valid across every visit, not just the first one. We confirm policy dates cover your full project window up front.

A good rule of thumb: if your building's management office hasn't received the COI at least 24 hours before your scheduled installation, call and confirm before the appointment day — not after we're already standing in the lobby.

What Happens If We Show Up Without One

This is, honestly, one of the most common reasons a scheduled installation falls through in NYC — more common than a measurement issue or the wrong hardware. A doorman or super without a COI on file has no discretion to let a vendor past the lobby, regardless of how the appointment was booked. That's exactly why we treat the COI request as part of scheduling the job, not an afterthought handled the morning of — if your building requires one, we get it moving before the visit is confirmed, not after.

Management Companies We're Already Set Up to Work With

We Mount Things is already pre-approved as an additional insured vendor with property management firms across NYC, including:

FirstService Residential — the largest residential property manager in North America, with buildings across every borough. We've worked in enough of their portfolio to know their standard COI wording on sight.
AKAM Associates, Inc. — a major co-op and condo manager known for detailed additional-insured language; we already have templates on file that match what their buildings typically request.
Halstead Management Company — frequently paired with Brown Harris Stevens and Terra Holdings entities on the same certificate; we know how to name all three correctly the first time.
Brown Harris Stevens — one of NYC's oldest and most established residential brands, often overlapping with Halstead-managed buildings.
Orsid Realty Corp. (Orsid New York) — manages a number of prewar and postwar co-ops across Manhattan and Brooklyn; we're familiar with their standard shareholder-inclusion language.
Century Management Services — common across Brooklyn co-op buildings, including 130 E. 18th Owners Corp.-type structures where board and officer language needs to be exact.
TF Cornerstone — manages large-scale residential towers, often in Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn, where freight elevator coordination matters as much as the COI itself.
Two Trees Management Co. — the team behind the Domino Park developments in Williamsburg; their buildings often carry an unusually long list of named entities (development partners, construction LLCs, lenders) on the certificate, and we know how to handle that complexity without slowing down your booking.
Extell Management Services — manages large luxury towers with extensive named-insured lists spanning development, lending, and holding entities; we've processed these longer-form certificates before.
Sage Realty Corporation — manages commercial and mixed-use buildings across Manhattan, often requiring the "Agent for Owners" language exactly as written.

Reliable and Trustworthy

If your building is managed by one of these firms, your COI process is often faster for a simple reason: we're not guessing at what they want. We've already seen their paperwork, we already know which of their buildings we've been inside, and in many cases we already have a relationship with the building's super or resident manager — which matters just as much as the insurance certificate when it comes to actually getting scheduled and let in the door.

Why This Matters More Than It Looks Like It Should

Any contractor can eventually produce a COI. What's harder to fake is familiarity — knowing that a building requires elevator padding before 9am on weekdays, knowing which super wants a text the morning of instead of a call the night before, knowing that a particular Halstead building's board wants Terra Holdings named in a specific order on the certificate. That kind of knowledge only comes from having actually worked in these buildings and these portfolios repeatedly, not from a first-time vendor onboarding packet.

That's the real value of choosing a mounting company that already has a track record with your building's management company: less back-and-forth, fewer rejected certificates, and a crew that already understands your building's rhythm instead of learning it on your dime.

Common COI Questions

Do I need a COI specifically for Samsung Frame TV mounting, or just standard TVs?

Same requirement either way — your building doesn't distinguish between TV models when it comes to insurance. Samsung Frame TV installs often happen in the same doorman buildings and co-ops that enforce COI requirements most strictly, so it's worth confirming your building's paperwork before booking regardless of which TV you're mounting.

Is a COI the same as being licensed?

No — a COI proves active insurance coverage. Licensing is a separate credential. We're fully insured and bonded for every job regardless of licensing status.

Do you carry more than the minimum insurance NYC requires?

Yes. Beyond general liability, we carry a surety bond, workers' compensation insurance, and DBL/PFL coverage — layers many buildings don't even think to ask for, but which protect them further if anything goes wrong.

How fast can I get a COI for my building?

Typically same-day or next-day, for a flat $35 fee, once we have your building's specific requirements.

What if my building rejects the COI?

In the rare case your building's management company rejects us as a vendor, we refund the $35 COI fee in full.

Does your insurance cover your technicians if they're injured in my apartment?

Yes — our workers' compensation coverage protects you and your building from liability if a technician is hurt while working in your space.

Who should request the COI — me or my building?

Either works, but it's usually fastest if you confirm the exact wording your building requires (often available from your management company or the front desk) and pass it to us directly, rather than us guessing at the format.

Does the COI cost extra for larger jobs or multiple named parties?

No — the $35 fee is flat regardless of job size. Complex certificates with several named entities may simply take a little longer to process.

Areas We Serve

We provide licensed, bonded, and insured mounting and installation services — with COI documentation handled the same way on every job — throughout:

Manhattan — from the Upper East Side to the Financial District
Brooklyn — Park Slope, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, and surrounding neighborhoods
Queens — Long Island City, Astoria, and beyond
The Bronx
Staten Island
Westchester County
Long Island
Jersey City, NWherever the job is, the same insurance, bonding, and building-protocol standards apply — no exceptions based on borough or building type.

Related Services

Every service below is covered by the same insurance, bonding, and COI process described on this page — no separate paperwork or upcharge depending on what you're having installed.

TV Mounting — the most common job requiring a same-day COI; if you're specifically looking for TV mounters with COI or TV installers with COI (including Samsung Frame TV specialists), this is exactly the kind of work a doorman or super will stop without one on file
IKEA Kitchen Installation — our Dr. IKEA division; full SEKTION installs in co-ops and condos almost always require a COI naming the building and management company before work begins
Shelf & Cabinet Mounting — floating shelves, wall cabinets, and heavier storage systems anchored into shared walls
General Mounting Services — mirrors, artwork, curtain rods, ceiling fixtures, and anything else attached to a building's walls or ceilings
Furniture Assembly — typically doesn't require a COI on its own unless it's bundled with mounting or wall-anchored work in the same visit; ask your building to be sure Insurance and paperwork are only part of the picture — if you'd like to know more about who's actually doing the work, [read more about James (Dr. IKEA) and We Mount Things' story and reviews →]

Ready to Schedule?

Contact We Mount Things today for a fast estimate and assistance with your building's insurance requirements.

Call (917) 622-3970 or email info.wemount@gmail.com — we'll confirm your building's exact COI wording and get the process started same-day in most cases.

We Mount Things — fully insured, bonded, and workers' comp covered, serving NYC, Jersey City, and the surrounding area since 2006.

we mount things

Certificate of insurance (coi) for mounting & installation services in nyc

COI jump to

Certicate of insurance (Coi)

Introduction

What Is a COI?

Why NYC Buildings Require One

Which Buildings Require a COI?

What Information Does Your Building Need?

Fast and Reliable Service

What We Actually Carry

What Our COI Covers — and What It Doesn't

Why Real Insurance Costs Real Money — And Why Some Installers Can't Produce a COI

Why Gig Platforms Like TaskRabbit Often Can't Get Past the Front Desk

Building Rules We Follow On Every Job

How the COI Process Works

How Long It Actually Takes

What Happens If We Show Up Without One

Management Companies We're Already Set Up to Work With

Reliable and Trustworthy

Why This Matters More Than It Looks Like It Should

Common COI Questions

Areas We Serve

Related Services

Ready to Schedule?

Reviews

Certificate of insurance (coi) for mounting & installation services in nyc

COI jump to

Certicate of insurance (Coi)

Introduction

What Is a COI?

Why NYC Buildings Require One

Which Buildings Require a COI?

What Information Does Your Building Need?

Fast and Reliable Service

What We Actually Carry

What Our COI Covers — and What It Doesn't

Why Real Insurance Costs Real Money — And Why Some Installers Can't Produce a COI

Why Gig Platforms Like TaskRabbit Often Can't Get Past the Front Desk

Building Rules We Follow On Every Job

How the COI Process Works

How Long It Actually Takes

What Happens If We Show Up Without One

Management Companies We're Already Set Up to Work With

Reliable and Trustworthy

Why This Matters More Than It Looks Like It Should

Common COI Questions

Areas We Serve

Related Services

Ready to Schedule?

Reviews

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