ARCHADECK FRANCHISOR, LLC · DELAWARE
ARCHADECK
FRANCHISE
INSURANCE
You sell a design before you ever pour a footing. A homeowner sits across from you, looks at your 3D rendering, and approves a structure that does not exist yet — one your crew will frame, anchor, and stand people on.
That is not the same risk as swapping a fixture. You designed it, you specified the materials, and you built it. When an Archadeck deck holds twenty guests at a summer party, the consequences of getting one connection wrong are not theoretical.
Most franchisees carry the general liability policy their franchise agreement names and assume the build is covered. The design work behind it often is not. Neither is your own faulty workmanship.
Your Archadeck franchise agreement requires specific coverage. That satisfies the franchisor. Here is where that requirement ends before your real risk does.
Archadeck Franchisor, LLC
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HOW TO BECOME COMPLIANT WITH ARCHADECK
WHAT IF A DECK I BUILT COLLAPSES AND SOMEONE GETS HURT?
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER THE SUBCONTRACTORS I BRING IN?
AM I EXPOSED IF I SPECIFY THE WRONG PRODUCT AND IT FAILS?
DOES COMPLETED OPERATIONS COVER A STRUCTURE THAT FAILS A YEAR LATER?
HOW IS ARCHADECK FRANCHISE INSURANCE PREMIUM CALCULATED?
WHAT EXPERIENCED ARCHADECK OPERATORS CARRY BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
$1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate
GENERAL LIABILITY
$1M CSL (Commercial Auto Liability + Hired & Non-Owned Auto Liability)
COMMERCIAL AUTO
As required by state law
WORKERS COMPENSATION
$250K (Rikor benchmark recommendation, not an FDD requirement)
CYBER LIABILITY
Archadeck Franchisor, LLC & affiliates
ADDITIONAL INSURED
ON THIS PAGE
HOW TO BECOME COMPLIANT WITH ARCHADECK
WHAT IF A DECK I BUILT COLLAPSES AND SOMEONE GETS HURT?
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER THE SUBCONTRACTORS I BRING IN?
AM I EXPOSED IF I SPECIFY THE WRONG PRODUCT AND IT FAILS?
DOES COMPLETED OPERATIONS COVER A STRUCTURE THAT FAILS A YEAR LATER?
HOW IS ARCHADECK FRANCHISE INSURANCE PREMIUM CALCULATED?
WHAT EXPERIENCED ARCHADECK OPERATORS CARRY BEYOND THE MINIMUM
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
SIX-POINT CHECKLIST
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FRANCHISEE QUESTIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW DO I BECOME COMPLIANT WITH MY FRANCHISOR'S INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS?
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Carry the limits Archadeck's 2026 Item 8 requires — $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate general liability, $1,000,000 auto liability, and $1,000,000 hired and non-owned auto liability — plus workers' compensation as your state requires. Name Archadeck Franchisor, LLC, its parent companies, and National Guarantee Corporation as additional insureds, include a waiver of subrogation, and provide thirty days notice of cancellation. Submit proof within ten days of issuance and at every renewal.
WHAT ENTITY NAME GOES ON MY CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE FOR A REMODELING FRANCHISE?
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Your own legal business entity is the named insured. Archadeck Franchisor, LLC, Outdoor Living Brands Holdco, LLC, Empower Brands Franchising, LLC, their affiliates, and National Guarantee Corporation go on the additional insured line. Get the legal names exact — a wrong or missing entity makes a certificate non-compliant.
WHAT IF A DECK I BUILT COLLAPSES AND SOMEONE GETS HURT?
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Your general liability covers the bodily injury, but a collapse with multiple injured guests can exhaust a $1 million primary limit fast. A commercial umbrella adds a layer of limit on top for exactly this kind of severe, multi-person loss.
DOES MY GL POLICY COVER FAULTY WORKMANSHIP IF A DECK OR STRUCTURE CRACKS SIX MONTHS LATER?
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General liability generally does not pay to redo your own faulty work — that is the "your work" exclusion. It responds to resulting damage and bodily injury from a covered accident. Financial loss from a design or specification error is the job of contractors errors and omissions coverage.
DOES MY INSURANCE COVER SUBCONTRACTORS I BRING IN TO COMPLETE A JOB?
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Only if your general liability includes independent contractors liability and does not carry a subcontractor exclusion. Check your policy before the next 1099 job, and collect a current certificate of insurance from every sub before work starts.
AM I EXPOSED FOR A DESIGN ERROR — IF I SPECIFY THE WRONG PRODUCT AND IT FAILS?
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Yes, and general liability usually will not cover it. When your professional specification causes a financial loss without a covered accident, contractors errors and omissions coverage is the policy built to respond.
DOES COMPLETED OPERATIONS COVERAGE APPLY TO A STRUCTURE THAT FAILS A YEAR LATER?
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Yes, if your general liability is written on an occurrence form and your additional insured status extends to completed operations. Many policies cover only ongoing operations and drop the franchisor once the job ends — confirm yours does not.
DO I NEED WORKERS' COMPENSATION IF I USE EMPLOYEES TO COMPLETE REMODELS?
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Yes. Archadeck requires workers' compensation as your state mandates it. The employers liability limits that sit on that policy — typically $1,000,000 each accident — are what respond when an injured worker sues you as the employer.
DOES MY STATE REQUIRE A CONTRACTOR'S LICENSE AND BOND IN ADDITION TO INSURANCE?
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Often, yes. A contractor license bond is a state or local requirement to hold your trade license. It is separate from your insurance and does not replace it. Confirm your state's requirement before you bid your first job.
Protect what you built — a six-point check
Your certificate of insurance carries weight you may not realize. Walk through these six items, and you will know in an afternoon whether your policy protects the investment you made or just satisfies a checklist.
Pull one certificate you issued this year and read the additional insured line. If Archadeck Franchisor, LLC and National Guarantee Corporation are not both on it with the exact legal names, every certificate you sent may be non-compliant. The fix is one call to your agent. Next, check whether your general liability says "occurrence" and whether additional insured status extends to completed operations — a deck that fails in year three depends on both. Third, ask your agent in writing whether your policy has a subcontractor exclusion, because every 1099 crew you hire rides on the answer. Fourth, confirm you carry contractors errors and omissions coverage; you design and specify structures, and that is a professional exposure your general liability excludes. Fifth, look at your umbrella — for a builder whose decks hold crowds, the recommended $1 million is a starting point, not a ceiling. Sixth, verify the employers liability limits on your workers' compensation policy are set at $1,000,000, not left blank.
A reminder on the subcontractor side: the certificates you collect from your framing and concrete crews are not paperwork. A current certificate before each job removes both the audit bill and the chance that an uninsured sub's injury becomes your personal obligation. A free tool to track and verify those certificates is at protectmyfranchise.com.
SUBCONTRACTOR RISK
A LAPSED SUB CERTIFICATE IS INVISIBLE UNTIL YOUR CARRIER FINDS IT
Most home service franchisees use independent contractors or 1099 workers at some point. The coverage gap this creates is not obvious until a claim surfaces. When a certificate lapses, your carrier invokes the subcontractor exclusion in your general liability policy. The work was done. The damage is real. The coverage is not there.
Rikor's subcontractor compliance monitoring tool tracks subcontractor certificates in real time. When a certificate lapses, you know before the next job starts — not after the claim comes in.
WADE MILLWARD, CIC
Founder & CEO · Rikor Insurance
Wade Millward has spent 18 years specializing in franchise insurance. He holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation and has reviewed hundreds of franchise disclosure documents across home service, food service, and commercial franchise verticals. He has built coverage programs for Authority Brands franchisees across electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and restoration trades.