Home Insurance During Renovation in California: What to Add

Your homeowners policy may not fully cover your house while you are renovating, so check with your insurer before work starts. California's standard fire policy lets an insurer deny a loss that happens "while the hazard is increased" by something you control or know about, or while the building is "vacant or unoccupied beyond a period of 60 consecutive days," unless the policy says otherwise in writing.^[1] For a larger renovation, a renovation builders risk policy pays for the work and materials, and it can also cover your existing home. Alchemy writes renovations starting at $10,000 of work, with terms of 1 to 12 months.^[2]

This guide is for a California homeowner who plans a remodel, an addition or a complete gut renovation. It outlines what to tell your insurer, when a homeowners policy is enough, when to add builders risk, what your contractor must carry and what happens if you hire workers directly. Our renovation insurance page explains the coverage, and when you're ready, request renovation insurance quotes and we'll send the project out to several construction markets.

Renovation insurance in California: the short answers

These are the checkable facts from the program sheets of the four renovation markets Menlo quotes. The sections below explain them.

• Who writes renovation builders risk for a California home? Menlo quotes Alchemy, Blitz and Green Shield, and the California FAIR Plan's commercial course of construction policy as a last resort.^{[2][6][11][12]}
• What is the lowest published minimum premium? Alchemy's, at $400 per policy term. Blitz, Green Shield and the FAIR Plan don't publish one.^[2]
• How small a project qualifies? Alchemy writes renovations from $10,000 of work, up to $1,000,000 per job site.^[2]
• How large? Blitz goes up to $5 million total insured value per location, and Green Shield up to $4 million ($750,000 in protection class 9 or 10), with renovation cost up to 200% of the building's value.^[6][11]
• How long can the policy run? Alchemy 1 to 12 months in 1-month steps, Blitz 3, 6, 8, 10 or 12 months with options beyond a year, Green Shield up to 18 months, longer on a submit basis.^[2][6][11]
• Can the owner buy it? Yes. Blitz insures an owner, general contractor, developer or tenant.^[6] Green Shield requires all work to be done by a licensed contractor.^[11]
• What gets a project declined? At Alchemy, defective electrical panels or polybutylene pipes that aren't replaced, or wildfire hazard group F.^[2] At Green Shield, a house vacant more than 90 days before work starts, a renovation after fire, theft or vandalism, demolition or underpinning, or more than 3 stories.^[11]
• What if the work has already started? Blitz refers it to an underwriter, and Green Shield takes in-progress renovations on a submit basis.^[6][11]

Does homeowners insurance cover a house during a renovation?

Often partly, and sometimes not at all. A homeowners policy is written for an occupied home. A renovation often brings open walls, materials on site, power tools, subcontractors and sometimes no one living there, and the policy's conditions deal with both.

California's standard form of fire policy says that, unless otherwise provided in writing, the insurer is not liable for a loss that occurs "(a) while the hazard is increased by any means within the control or knowledge of the insured; or (b) while a described building ... is vacant or unoccupied beyond a period of 60 consecutive days."^[1] Your homeowners policy may use slightly different language, but it generally carries the same idea: a large change in the risk should be disclosed to the insurer, and a long vacancy restricts coverage.

A kitchen refresh while you live in the house usually stays within an ordinary homeowners policy, but call your insurer anyway. A gut renovation, an addition, or a remodel you'll move out for is where coverage gaps appear.

What should I tell my insurer before the work starts?

Give the facts that change the risk:

1. The scope: rooms, structural work, roof, electrical and plumbing.
2. Whether you will live in the house during the work, and for how long it may be empty.
3. The budget and dates.
4. Who does the work: a licensed general contractor, trades you hire yourself, or you.

Ask your insurer three questions and get the answers in writing: does my policy stay in force while the work is done, does the vacancy or unoccupancy clause apply, and does the policy cover materials and the new work before they're installed? If any answer is no, you need a separate policy for the project.

When do I need renovation builders risk insurance?

When a home improvement project is large enough that your homeowners insurance will not cover it, or when your lender or contractor asks for it. Builders risk covers the work in progress, materials at the job site and in transit, and, if you add it, the existing house while the renovation is underway.

The California-open renovation programs we use publish these terms:

Our builders risk cost guide covers minimum premiums and term pricing. If you plan to act as your own builder or to add an ADU, read our guide to builders risk for homeowners and owner-builders.

What insurance should my contractor have?

A licensed contractor brings the liability insurance and the workers' comp for its own crew. California requires every home improvement contract to include two notices: one headed "Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL)" that states whether the contractor carries it and through which insurer, and one that states whether it carries workers' comp for all employees or has no employees and is exempt.^[3]

Check both before you sign. Ask for a certificate of insurance naming you as an additional insured, and look the contractor up on the CSLB website to confirm its workers' comp record. A licensed contractor is required to keep either a workers' comp certificate or an exemption on file with the board.^[7]

The contractor's general liability pays for damage its work causes to your house and for injuries to other people. It does not pay to redo its own faulty work, and it is not a builders risk policy for your materials and structure.

What if I hire workers directly instead of a contractor?

Then you may be their employer. Labor Code section 2750.5 presumes that a worker doing work that requires a contractor's license is an employee rather than an independent contractor, unless shown otherwise.^[8]

In California, any policy that provides comprehensive personal liability, including the liability portion of your homeowners policy, must provide workers' compensation coverage for household employees defined in Labor Code section 3351(d).^[4] That coverage applies only if no other workers' comp policy covers the injury.^[4] A household worker isn't covered if, in the 90 days before the injury, the work was for less than 52 hours or for wages of $100 or less.^[9]

This backstop does little to protect a real renovation crew, and an unlicensed worker is limited to jobs under $1,000 with no permit.^[10] For anything larger, hire a licensed contractor that has its own workers' comp.

This guide is general information based on California law and carrier program sheets dated 2025–2026. Your homeowners policy's own wording controls, so read its vacancy and increased-hazard conditions. Menlo Insurance Services (CA license 6020106) is a licensed broker that may earn a commission on a placement. Non-admitted insurers are not backed by the California Insurance Guarantee Association.