Template 21

Use Template 21 for:

Fairgrounds Events Service Agreements

Example: Service providers for Fair-sponsored and interim events

Mandatory Contractual Language

Insurance requirements should be saved and attached to the contract as an exhibit. To ensure the requirements are included as part of your contract, please include the following language within the insurance section of the agreement:

_______ is required to maintain the insurance specified in Exhibit _____, which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference.

Consistent Language

Edit the template to keep the language consistent with your agreement.

For example: if the template refers to: “Consultant”, but the agreement uses “Contractor”, change all references in the template to “Contractor”. If your agency is not the County (SCAPOSD, Water Agency, Fairgrounds, etc.) substitute the correct terminology for all references to “County”. If the agreement is called “contract”, “license”, “lease”, etc., edit the template to match.

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Download Template 21
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Contractor shall maintain and require its subcontractors and agents to maintain insurance as described below unless such insurance has been expressly waived by the attachment of a Waiver of Insurance Requirements.

The named insured must match the name of the entity with whom we are contracting. Some policies have several named insureds, but all insureds may not show on the certificate. If there’s no match on the certificate, request a copy of the endorsement showing the full named insured, including the entity with whom we are contracting.

Be sure the name on the agreement is the full legal name of the entity with whom we are contracting and not just a "dba" (doing business as), which is only a fictitious name.

FAIR reserves the right to review any and all of the required insurance policies and/or endorsements, but has no obligation to do so. Failure to demand evidence of full compliance with the insurance requirements set forth in this Agreement or failure to identify any insurance deficiency shall not relieve Contractor from, nor be construed or deemed a waiver of, its obligation to maintain the required insurance at all times during the performance of this Agreement.

Workers Compensation and Employers Liability Insurance
1. Required if Licensee has employees.
  Under California’s Labor code, if the party with whom we are contracting is a privately held corporation whose only employees are its sole shareholders, workers compensation insurance is not required. Similarly, if the party with whom we are contracting is a partnership or limited liability company with no employees other than its general partners or managers, workers compensation insurance is not required. A waiver is not needed.
2. Workers Compensation insurance with statutory limits as required by the Labor Code of the State of California.
3. Employers Liability with minimum limits of 1,000,000 per Accident; 1,000,000 Disease per employee; 1,000,000 Disease per policy.
4. Required Evidence of Coverage: Certificate of Insurance
If Licensee currently has no employees, Licensee agrees to obtain the above-specified Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability insurance should any employees be engaged during the term of this Agreement or any extensions of the term.
If the licensee has no employees, Workers Compensation insurance is not required. We verify this by having the vendor sign the Workers’ Compensation Declaration Form. The licensee is obligated to obtain the insurance if employees are hired after the inception of the agreement. A Risk Management waiver is not needed if the licensee has no employees.
To verify that the contractor has no employees, Risk Management recommends that you have the contractor sign the Workers Compensation Declaration (Word: 25 kB).
General Liability Insurance
1. Commercial General Liability Insurance on a standard occurrence form, no less broad than Insurance Services Office ISO) form CG 00 01.
  ISO (Insurance Services Office) publishes a standard CGL. Some insurers use that specific form; others use their own form with a different numbering system. Any CGL is acceptable as long as the coverage is as broad as the ISO form.
  An occurrence policy responds if the injury or damage takes place during the policy period. It doesn’t matter when the claim is filed.
  A claims-made policy responds if the claim (demand for money) is made during the policy period.
2. Minimum Limits: [insert limit on CFSA "cheat sheet"] per Occurrence; [insert 2X Occurrence Limit or $5,000,000, whichever is less] General Aggregate and Products/Completed Operations Aggregate. The required limits may be provided by a combination of General Liability Insurance and Commercial Excess or Commercial Umbrella Liability Insurance. If Contractor maintains higher limits than the specified minimum limits, FAIR requires and shall be entitled to coverage for the higher limits maintained by Contractor.
  Occurrence limit: the most the insurer will pay for any one accident.
  General Aggregates: the most the company will pay for all claims resulting from damage or injuries that occur before the work is completed, regardless of the number of accidents, injuries, claims or claimants.
  Products/Completed Operations Aggregate: the most the insurer will pay for all claims resulting from damage or injuries that occur after the work is completed, regardless of the number of accidents, injuries, claims or claimants.
  Some special events policies have only an occurrence limit with no aggregates. This is acceptable.
  A Commercial Umbrella or Excess Liability policy provides additional limits which are usually shown on the Certificate of Insurance. The additional limits are added to the General Liability Limits. The combined total of the General Liability Limits and the Umbrella Limits must equal or exceed our minimum requirements.
  Department Waiver: If the contractor will not sell food or other tangible items (souvenirs, toys, tee-shirts, arts & crafts, household items, etc.) at the event, you may waive the requirement for a separate Products/Completed Operations Aggregate. You may also waive the limit to accept a $1,000,000 Aggregate for products/completed operations.
3. Contractor shall disclose any deductible or self-insured retention in excess of $25,000 and such deductible or self-insured retention must be approved in advance by FAIR. Contractor is responsible for any deductible or self-insured retention.
  Contact Risk Management (Outlook: 139 kB) if the retention or deductible exceeds $25,000. We want to verify that the party with whom we are contracting has sufficient assets to fund a large retention or deductible. A waiver is not needed.
  There is no specific field on the Certificate of Insurance for a General Liability deductible or retention.
4. Insurance shall be on a standard Occurrence form. Claims-Made or modified, limited or restricted occurrence forms are not acceptable without prior written consent from FAIR.
5. The Sonoma County Fair and Exposition Inc., Harvest Fair Association of Sonoma County, the County of Sonoma, their officers, agents and employees, shall be endorsed as additional insureds for liability arising out of the Contractor’s operations.
  An example of an acceptable additional insured endorsement is ISO Form CG 20 10. Some insurers use different additional insured endorsements. If you are not sure that the submitted endorsement is acceptable, Risk Management can review it. Please submit a HelpRequest (Outlook: 139 kB) to Risk Management.
6. The insurance provided to all additional insureds shall apply on a primary and non-contributory basis with respect to any insurance or self-insurance program maintained by them.
  Because the Fair is an additional insured on the contractor’s policy, we want that policy to cover claims before any contribution from Fair’s CSAC protection or its self-insured retention.
  Some insurers refuse to add " primary & non-contributory" language. In this situation, you may accept the insurance anyway. Why? Because California Government Code Section 990.8 states that a public agency’s self-insurance and/or participation in a risk sharing pool (CSAC) does not qualify as insurance. Legally, the Fair has no insurance. The coverage provided to the Fair as an additional insured on the contractor’s policy is the only insurance we have. By default it is primary and non-contributory. It is preferable to have the insurer provide the required language, but not mandatory.
7. If the contractor’s activities involve animals, the policy shall cover injury resulting from both airborne and contact transmission of E. coli bacteria.
  A standard General Liability policy covers the transmission of E. coli bacteria. However, some specialty insurers attach an exclusion that removes coverage. This makes it difficult to obtain evidence of coverage for E. coli. If the policy covers E. coli simply by not excluding it, there is no endorsement or affirmative evidence of insurance other than a copy of the entire policy with all its endorsements. We can accept any of the following as evidence of E. coli coverage:
  - An indication on the Certificate of Insurance;
  - An email or letter from the contractor’s broker; or
  - An endorsement showing E. coli Coverage.
  The Fair, at its discretion, may ignore this requirement if the animals involved do not pose an E. coli risk.
8. The policy shall cover inter-insured suits between the additional insureds and the Contractor, and shall include a "separation of insureds" or "severability" clause which treats each insured separately.
  This guarantees that the Fair will be covered if it is sued by the contractor and that the contractor will be covered if it is sued by the Fair. This language is standard in the General Liability policy; you do not need to get a specific endorsement to satisfy this requirement.
9. Required Evidence of Insurance:
  1. Copy of the additional insured endorsement or policy language granting additional insured status;
  2. (If animals are involved) Evidence that there is coverage for airborne and contact transmitted E. coli bacteria; and
  3. Certificate of Insurance.
Automobile Liability Insurance
1. Minimum Limits:
  1. Vehicles pulling trailers longer than 10 feet: $1,000,000 per accident.
  2. All other vehicles: $300,000 per accident.
    Because many of the Fair’s contractors are sole proprietors who have personal auto insurance, we require limits of only $300,000 unless they have a trailer longer than 10 feet. We don’t require auto insurance for private parties and other events which simply involve parking the vehicle without significant loading/unloading exposure.
2. Required Evidence of Insurance: Certificate of Insurance or copy of Automobile Policy Declarations Page
  A copy of the Automobile Policy which shows the limits is acceptable. Be sure the named insured on the policy matches the name of the Contractor.
Standards for Insurance Companies
Insurers, other than the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, shall have an A.M. Best’s rating of at least A:VII.
A.M. Best is one of the services that reviews insurers’ financial information. We want the insurer to be able to pay its claims. The letter (A+, A, A-, B+, etc.) is Best’s rating of financial strength. The number (XII, VII, etc.) refers to the insurer’s financial size. You can check the rating at: http://www.ambest.com/ - the service is free, but you need to register and log in.
Department Waiver: You may waive the A.M. Best’s rating if an insurer’s rating is below A:VII.
Documentation
1. The Certificate of Insurance must include the following reference: [insert event name and date].
  Putting the event name and date the Certificate of Insurance does not increase our protection. This requirement is included for your convenience.
2. All required Evidence of Insurance shall be submitted prior to the execution of this Agreement. Contractor agrees to maintain current Evidence of Insurance on file with FAIR for the required period of insurance.
3. Upon FAIR’s written request, Contractor agrees to provide certified copies of the required insurance policies within thirty (30) days.
  Because it takes much time and substantial expertise to review an entire insurance policy, we don’t routinely request it. However, if we cannot determine the adequacy of coverage from the certificate and endorsements, this is an option.
4. Contractor shall provide immediate written notice if: (1) any of the required insurance policies is terminated; (2) the limits of any of the required policies are reduced; or (3) the deductible or self-insured retention is increased.
5. Required Evidence of Insurance shall be submitted for any renewal or replacement of a policy that already exists, at least ten (10) days before expiration or other termination of the existing policy.
Policy Obligations
Contractor’s indemnity and other obligations shall not be limited by the foregoing insurance requirements.
Material Breach
If Contractor fails to maintain insurance which is required pursuant to this Agreement, it shall be deemed a material breach of this Agreement. FAIR, at its sole option, may terminate this Agreement and obtain damages from Contractor resulting from said breach.