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What information does a commercial property underwriter usually request?

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Last reviewed
Sources
11 records

Direct answer

A commercial property underwriter is generally looking at four categories of information the industry calls COPE: construction, occupancy, protection, and exposures [1]. One wholesale insurance brokerage's published preparation checklist assembles a submission as the primary commercial application plus the line-specific sections accepted by the intended market, currently valued loss runs, and, for property, a statement of values along with construction and system updates, protection details, and business income support; that page calls itself a preparation checklist rather than a universal market requirement, and no source on this page establishes what any carrier must be given [11]. One widely used application form, the ACORD 140 (2007/09) Property Section, asks for construction type, number of stories and basements, year built, total area, roof type, the years wiring, roofing, plumbing, and heating were updated, a protection class field, distance to hydrant and fire station, percent sprinklered, fire and burglar alarm details, and the exposure and distance on each of the four sides of the building [2]. On loss runs, an insurance brokerage writes that underwriters will often require three to five years; that is a description of common market practice rather than a legal or filed requirement, and no source on this page establishes a national rule [10]. Some states do regulate your ability to get your own loss history out of an insurer, and the two verified here differ in both years and turnaround [4][5]; what any particular carrier requires of you is set by that carrier's own underwriting guidelines, which are not public.

What this assumes

  • You are buying or renewing a US commercial property policy covering buildings, business personal property, and often business income, rather than a personal lines policy.

  • The submission goes to a carrier through an agent or broker, so a written application package is expected rather than an instant online quote.

  • No single carrier's underwriting guide is assumed. Carrier underwriting guidelines are proprietary and differ, so this page describes only what public sources document.

  • This page does not say which occupancies draw extra forms, inspections, or scrutiny, because no source in this bundle addresses carrier appetite by occupancy class.

  • Information is stated as of August 2026 and reflects the source editions cited.

Why this is the answer

COPE is an industry framework, not a statute. A Chubb whitepaper on cyber underwriting defines COPE as Construction, Occupancy, Protection, and Exposures, and describes it as a time-tested property underwriting model and a straightforward and effective method of examining diverse measurements to help underwriters make better decisions about property risk [1]. That paper opens with four sample questions it says insurance companies ask so they can properly and thoroughly underwrite risks presented for coverage: how tall is your office building, how close is the nearest fire hydrant, does the building have an alarm system, and are you in a flood zone [1]. It traces the industry's adoption of the COPE concept to the 1700s, when the risk of fire made it difficult for many commercial property owners to secure the insurance coverage they needed [1]. No source on this page states whether a carrier is required to use COPE, or whether application forms were designed around it.

The application is where those categories turn into specific fields. What follows describes one form and one edition, the ACORD 140 (2007/09) Property Section, whose footer reads ATTACH TO ACORD 125; other editions and carrier-specific applications ask different questions, so read the form actually in front of you [2]. That edition collects, per building, construction type, the number of open sides on the structure, a PROT CL protection class field, number of stories, number of basements, year built, and total area, along with a building improvements block for the year of wiring, roofing, plumbing, and heating updates, a building code grade, a tax code, roof type, and an other occupancies field [2]. Protection appears as distance to hydrant in feet and to the fire station in miles, a fire district or code number, premises fire protection covering sprinklers, standpipes, and CO2 or chemical systems, percent sprinklered, fire alarm manufacturer with central station or local gong, and burglar alarm type with certificate number, expiration date, central station, extent, grade, and the number of guards or watchmen [2]. Exposure appears as exposure and distance on the right, left, front, and rear, plus a wind class field [2]. Business income and extra expense information attaches on ACORD 810, and value reporting information attaches on ACORD 811 [2].

That form carries a fraud warning, and its wording matters. The general paragraph states that any person who knowingly and with intent to defraud any insurance company or another person files an application for insurance or statement of claim containing any materially false information, or conceals for the purpose of misleading information concerning any fact material thereto, commits a fraudulent insurance act, which is a crime and subjects the person to criminal and civil penalties [2]. The same paragraph adds that it is not applicable in CO, FL, HI, MA, NE, OH, OK, OR or VT, and the form prints different substitute wording for Florida and for Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon, and Vermont [2]. That is what this edition of this form says. What it would mean for any particular statement on any particular application is a legal question for a lawyer.

A statement of values is the other core property document on that wholesale brokerage's preparation checklist, which also lists construction and system updates, protection details, business income support, and current photos under its property line [11], and one public program manual shows how specific a plan's own checklist can get. The Texas FAIR Plan Association, established by Texas Insurance Code Chapter 2211, publishes an underwriting manual for its Commercial Property Owners Association program, whose eligible classes are residential condominium associations and homeowner associations [3]. Its submission requirements for a quote include an eligible class of commercial property, a declination of coverage from two standard market carriers, the association's covenants, conditions and restrictions, a statement of values for all buildings and structures, a replacement cost valuation for each building or structure using MSB or another acceptable valuation method or tool, and loss reports for the last five years [3]. Note the scope: that is one Texas residual market plan's checklist for one commercial residential program. It is not evidence of what the general commercial property market asks for, and this page does not present it as such.

Construction and protection tend to be classified rather than described in free text, and the classification schemes come from different places. IRMI's insurance glossary states that ISO established six building construction categories in its Commercial Lines Manual for developing rates for insuring commercial property based on susceptibility to damage by fire, and lists them from least to most fire resistive as frame (construction code 1), joisted masonry (2), noncombustible (3), masonry noncombustible (4), modified fire resistive (5), and fire resistive (6) [8]. That is a secondary glossary description of an ISO scheme; the ISO Commercial Lines Manual is a licensed publication and was not fetched for this page. Separately, Verisk assigns a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10 to fire protection areas, where class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection and class 10 indicates the area's fire suppression program does not meet Verisk's minimum criteria, evaluating emergency communications, the fire department, the water supply system, and community efforts to reduce the risk of fire [7]. Verisk states that most US insurers of home and business properties use PPC in calculating premiums, and that in general the price of insurance in a community with a good PPC is lower than in a community with a poor PPC, assuming all other factors are equal [7]. The ACORD 140 (2007/09) form labels its field PROT CL and does not say what classification system fills it [2], so do not assume the two are the same number without asking the carrier.

How many years of loss runs a submission asks for is a market-practice question, but access to your own history is regulated in some states. Hylant, an insurance brokerage, writes that underwriters will often require organizations to submit loss runs for the past three to five years; that is a broker's description of common practice, not a legal or filed requirement [10]. California Insurance Code section 679.7 requires an insurer, on written request from the insured or the agent or broker of record, to provide a premium and loss history report in the circumstances the section lists, including cancellation, nonrenewal, a request within 60 days before renewal, a drop in the insurer's rating, and the insurer being conserved or ordered to cease writing; the report must include a list of individual claims by date of claim with total incurred and paid losses, must cover the account's tenure or the three-year period ending with the inception of the current policy period, whichever is shorter, plus current period losses, and must be provided within 10 business days of receiving the request [4]. That section applies only to policies of commercial insurance subject to Insurance Code sections 675.5 and 676.6, except professional liability insurance, and does not apply where the insurer already provides direct, ongoing access to claims information [4]. Oregon requires more years but not a faster turnaround: property and casualty insurers or their appointed producers of record must make loss runs available to current and prior commercial policyholders within 15 calendar days of a request, and must provide five years of loss runs or the entire period the policyholder has been insured with that insurer if that is shorter, with violation treated as an unfair trade practice for the purpose of ORS 746.240 [5][6]. Fifteen calendar days is not faster than 10 business days. Neither rule tells an underwriter how many years to ask a new applicant for, and no source here establishes what the other states do.

Sprinkler and roof documentation shows up in the application and, in California, in fire code recordkeeping. Title 19 of the California Code of Regulations, section 901, is titled Scope and states that the regulations apply to all automatic fire extinguishing systems identified in Health and Safety Code section 13195; it incorporates NFPA 25, Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems (2011 edition), including Annexes A, B, C, D, F and G, as amended by the Office of the State Fire Marshal [9]. As amended within that section, NFPA 25 section 4.3.1 provides that records shall be made for all inspections, tests, and maintenance of the system and its components and shall be maintained by the property owner or designated representative at a site or location agreed upon by the authority having jurisdiction, and section 4.3.5 provides that subsequent records shall be retained for five years after the next inspection, test, or maintenance of that type [9]. Whether any of that reaches a specific building, and what a specific owner must therefore keep, is a legal question for a lawyer or the local fire authority. On roofs, the ACORD 140 (2007/09) form asks only for the year of roofing improvements and the roof type [2], while the Texas FAIR Plan manual for its Property Owners Association program states that roofs must meet certain insurability standards, that risks with existing damage or deteriorated roofs may not be acceptable for coverage, and lists warning signs for composition shingle, wood, and flat roof surfaces [3]. That same manual states that sprinkler systems must be maintained and working and that an underwriting report will be requested on each application in order to determine eligibility [3]. Those are that program's rules, and no source on this page supports a general roof age cutoff.

What changes the answer

  • Which form edition and which supplemental applications the carrier uses. Every field described on this page comes from the ACORD 140 (2007/09) Property Section, which is a superseded edition; other editions and carrier supplements ask different questions [2].

  • Roof type and the year of the last roofing update, which the application asks for by year [2], and roof condition, which one published program manual treats as an insurability standard with listed warning signs [3].

  • Protection detail around the building: the protection class field, distance to hydrant and fire station, percent sprinklered, and fire and burglar alarm arrangements [2]. The Public Protection Classification of the surrounding fire protection area is itself a graded assessment that Verisk can re-evaluate [7].

  • Occupancy. The application carries an other occupancies field, so who else is in the building is part of what the form collects [2].

  • Whether sprinkler inspection, testing, and maintenance records exist and can be produced. In California those records are addressed by the fire code for automatic fire extinguishing systems identified in Health and Safety Code section 13195 [9].

  • Which market the risk goes to. Residual market plans publish explicit checklists: the Texas FAIR Plan's Property Owners Association program requires five years of loss reports, a replacement cost valuation from an acceptable valuation method or tool, and a declination from two standard market carriers [3].

Where it varies by state, form, carrier, or fact

  • State loss-run rules differ where they exist. California requires the account's tenure or three years, whichever is shorter, plus current period losses, within 10 business days, only in the circumstances the statute lists, and only for commercial policies subject to sections 675.5 and 676.6 other than professional liability [4]. Oregon requires five years, or the full period insured with that insurer if shorter, within 15 calendar days [5]. No source on this page establishes what any other state requires.

  • How many years a submission asks for is a different question from how many years a statute makes an insurer produce. A broker publication describes three to five years as common practice [10], while the California and Oregon rules constrain what an insurer must hand over on request rather than what an underwriter may ask a new applicant for [4][5].

  • Construction classification depends on whose scheme is being used. IRMI's glossary describes six ISO Commercial Lines Manual categories used for commercial property rating [8], while the ACORD 140 (2007/09) form offers only a construction type field and does not name the system that fills it [2].

  • Application editions and hosting vary. The layout described here is the ACORD 140 (2007/09) edition, read from a third-party copy of the ACORD standard form rather than from a file served by ACORD [2].

  • Sprinkler recordkeeping is a state fire code matter and turns on the adopted code edition. California's rule incorporates the 2011 edition of NFPA 25 as amended by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, so confirm the currently adopted edition before relying on it [9].

Next actions

  1. Request your loss runs in writing from every current and prior carrier as early as you can. If you are a California or Oregon commercial policyholder, read the applicable rule for the years and the turnaround it sets [4][5].

  2. Build a location schedule with, for each building, address, construction type, number of stories and basements, year built, total area, roof type, the years wiring, roofing, plumbing, and heating were updated, protection class, distance to hydrant and fire station, percent sprinklered, and alarm details, so the same data feeds every quote [2].

  3. Get a replacement cost valuation for each building from an acceptable valuation method or tool. That is what one published program checklist calls for, rather than an owner-supplied figure [3].

  4. Gather the sprinkler inspection, testing, and maintenance records you already keep. In California, records for automatic fire extinguishing systems identified in Health and Safety Code section 13195 are to be maintained by the property owner or designated representative at a location agreed upon by the authority having jurisdiction [9].

  5. Ask your agent or broker which carrier-specific supplemental applications your occupancy and schedule require, and read the application, including its fraud warning paragraphs, before you sign it [2].

Source ledger

11 sources. Every citation number above resolves to a record below. Nothing here sits behind an account.

  1. [1]
    Cyber COPE (R) Transforming Cyber Underwriting (by Patrick Thielen)(opens the original record on Chubb)
    ChubbCarrier officialSecondaryJurisdiction USLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Standalone whitepaper; no published revision schedule.ID chubb-cyber-cope-whitepaper
    What this source supports (4)
    • The paper defines COPE as Construction, Occupancy, Protection, and Exposures, and calls it a straightforward and effective method of examining diverse measurements to help underwriters make better decisions about property risk.
    • The paper refers to COPE as a time-tested property underwriting model.
    • The paper opens with four sample questions it says insurance companies ask so they can properly and thoroughly underwrite risks presented for coverage: how tall is your office building, how close is the nearest fire hydrant, does the building have an alarm system, and are you in a flood zone.
    • The paper states that in the 1700s the risk of fire made it difficult for many commercial property owners to secure the insurance coverage they needed, and that over time the industry adopted the COPE concept.

    Fetched today. WebFetch returned PDF binary, so the text was extracted locally with pdftotext -layout and read directly. The title page reads Cyber COPE (registered mark) Transforming Cyber Underwriting, with no colon, and credits Patrick Thielen; the registered-trademark symbol is transliterated as (R) here to keep the record ASCII. No publication date appears in the extracted text, so publishedDate is left unknown. This is a cyber underwriting paper that describes the property COPE model it is adapting; it is cited only for its description of COPE, not as a commercial property underwriting guide. It says nothing about whether carriers must use COPE or about how application forms were designed.

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  2. [2]
    ACORD 140 (2007/09) Property Section(opens the original record on ACORD (standard form; third-party copy hosted by Provider Risk))
    ACORD (standard form; third-party copy hosted by Provider Risk)Standards bodyPrimaryJurisdiction USThird-party reproductionLast checked September 1, 2026Updates: annuallyID acord-140-property-section
    What this source supports (9)
    • The footer of this form reads ACORD 140 (2007/09), ATTACH TO ACORD 125, and carries a 1985-2007 ACORD Corporation copyright line.
    • Per building, the form collects CONSTRUCTION TYPE, number of open sides on the structure, PROT CL, number of stories, number of basements, year built, and total area.
    • The form has a BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS block asking for WIRING YR, ROOFING YR, PLUMBING YR, HEATING YR, and OTHER YR, plus BLDG CODE GRADE, TAX CODE, ROOF TYPE, and OTHER OCCUPANCIES fields.
    • The form collects DISTANCE TO HYDRANT and FIRE STAT with FT and MI subheads, FIRE DISTRICT/CODE NUMBER, PREMISES FIRE PROTECTION (Sprinklers, Standpipes, CO2/Chemical Systems), % SPRNK, FIRE ALARM MANUFACTURER with CENTRAL STATION and LOCAL GONG options, and BURGLAR ALARM TYPE with CERTIFICATE #, EXPIRATION DATE, CENTRAL STATION, EXTENT, GRADE, and number of guards or watchmen.
    • The form collects RIGHT, LEFT, FRONT, and REAR EXPOSURE & DISTANCE, and has a WIND CLASS field with SEMI-RESISTIVE and RESISTIVE options.
    • The form directs that business income and extra expense information attaches on ACORD 810 and value reporting information attaches on ACORD 811.
    • The form's general fraud warning paragraph reads: ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY AND WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD ANY INSURANCE COMPANY OR ANOTHER PERSON FILES AN APPLICATION FOR INSURANCE OR STATEMENT OF CLAIM CONTAINING ANY MATERIALLY FALSE INFORMATION, OR CONCEALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MISLEADING INFORMATION CONCERNING ANY FACT MATERIAL THERETO, COMMITS A FRAUDULENT INSURANCE ACT, WHICH IS A CRIME AND SUBJECTS THE PERSON TO CRIMINAL AND [NY: SUBSTANTIAL] CIVIL PENALTIES.
    • That same paragraph is followed by the parenthetical: Not applicable in CO, FL, HI, MA, NE, OH, OK, OR or VT; in DC, LA, ME, TN, VA and WA, insurance benefits may also be denied.
    • The form carries separate substitute fraud-warning paragraphs for Florida and for Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon, and Vermont.

    Fetched today. WebFetch returned PDF binary, so the text was extracted locally with pdftotext -layout and the field labels and fraud-warning paragraphs were read verbatim. Two limits recorded honestly: this is a third-party mirror of a copyrighted ACORD standard form rather than a file served by ACORD, because ACORD distributes forms to licensed users; and 2007/09 is a superseded edition, so every statement drawn from it is edition-specific and is labeled as such in the prose. The form does not say what classification system fills the PROT CL field.

    SupersededReproduction
  3. [3]
    Texas FAIR Plan Association Commercial Property Owners Association Program Underwriting Manual(opens the original record on Texas FAIR Plan Association)
    Texas FAIR Plan AssociationCarrier officialPrimaryJurisdiction TXLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Revised periodically; page footers throughout the verified copy read 3/10/2025.ID tfpa-commercial-poa-underwriting-manual
    What this source supports (6)
    • The manual's Introduction states that the Texas FAIR Plan Association was established by Insurance Code Chapter 2211.
    • This manual governs the Association's Commercial Property Owners Association program, and the eligible classes it lists are Residential Condominium Associations and Homeowner Associations.
    • The manual's Submission Requirements for Quote list an eligible class of Commercial Property, a declination of coverage from two standard market carriers (noting that cancellation or nonrenewal by an authorized insurer may count as a declination), Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, a Statement of Values for all buildings and structures, a replacement cost valuation for each building or structure using MSB or another acceptable valuation method or tool, and Loss Reports for the last 5 years.
    • The manual states that roofs must meet certain insurability standards and that risks with existing damage or deteriorated roofs may not be acceptable for coverage, and it lists common warning signs for composition shingle, wood, and flat roof surfaces.
    • The manual states that sprinkler systems must be maintained and working.
    • The manual states that an underwriting report will be requested on each application in order to determine eligibility.

    Fetched today. WebFetch returned PDF binary, so the text was extracted locally with pdftotext -layout and the Submission Requirements for Quote, Roofing, Underwriting Reports, and Introduction sections were read directly. Scope matters and is stated in the prose: this is a Texas-only residual market plan, and this particular manual covers a commercial residential program for condominium and homeowner associations. It is cited as one published example of a program checklist, never as evidence of general commercial property market practice. Published: 2025-03-10 Effective: 2025-03-10

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  4. [4]
    California Insurance Code section 679.7 (premium and loss history report)(opens the original record on California Legislative Information (California Legislature))
    California Legislative Information (California Legislature)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction CALast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Statute; changes only by legislative amendment. Check leginfo for the current version.ID ca-ins-code-679-7
    What this source supports (6)
    • The section requires an insurer, on written request from the insured or the agent or broker of record, to provide a premium and loss history report in the circumstances the section lists, which include cancellation, nonrenewal, a request within 60 days before renewal, a drop in the insurer's rating below the stated levels, and the insurer being conserved or ordered to cease writing.
    • The report must cover the account's tenure or the three-year period ending with the inception of the current policy period, whichever is shorter, plus losses in the current period.
    • The report must include a list of individual claims detailed by date of claim and total incurred and paid losses.
    • The report must be provided within 10 business days of receiving the request.
    • The section applies only to policies of commercial insurance that are subject to Insurance Code sections 675.5 and 676.6, except for professional liability insurance.
    • The requirement does not apply where the policyholder is provided direct, ongoing access to claims information by the insurer.

    Fetched today from the official leginfo section page and the operative language confirmed. The page did not surface an enactment or last-amended date in the fetched text, so publishedDate is left unknown. The prose uses the word including for the list of triggering circumstances because the statute's list is longer than the prose repeats. This section governs what an insurer must hand over on request; it says nothing about what an underwriter may ask a new applicant for.

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  5. [5]
    Or. Admin. Code 836-080-0810, Provision of Commercial Loss Runs(opens the original record on Cornell Legal Information Institute (reproduction of the Oregon Administrative Rules))
    Cornell Legal Information Institute (reproduction of the Oregon Administrative Rules)SecondarySecondaryJurisdiction ORThird-party reproductionLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Administrative rule; amended through Oregon rulemaking. Verify the current text in the Oregon Administrative Rules Database maintained by the Oregon Secretary of State.ID or-admin-code-836-080-0810
    What this source supports (4)
    • The rule requires property and casualty insurers or their appointed producers of record to make loss runs available to current and prior commercial policyholders within 15 calendar days upon request.
    • The insurer must provide five years of loss runs, or, if the commercial policyholder has been insured with that insurer for less than five years, for the entire period the policyholder has been insured with that insurer.
    • Loss runs related to workers' compensation insurance must not include confidential worker medical and vocational claim records pursuant to ORS 656.360 and 656.362.
    • Violation of the rule is an unfair trade practice for the purpose of ORS 746.240.

    Fetched today and the rule text confirmed. authorityLevel is recorded as secondary and primary as false on purpose: what was actually fetched is a faithful third-party reproduction, not a page served by the Oregon Secretary of State's OARD or by the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation. The official citation is OAR 836-080-0810. The OARD database does not expose a stable direct URL for a single rule that could be recorded here, and the DFR division 080 page does not serve this rule's text, so the same text was independently confirmed at a second reproduction, recorded separately as or-oar-836-080-0810-public-law.

    ActiveReproduction
  6. [6]
    OAR 836-080-0810, Provision of Commercial Loss Runs(opens the original record on Public.Law (OregonLaws reproduction of the Oregon Administrative Rules))
    Public.Law (OregonLaws reproduction of the Oregon Administrative Rules)SecondarySecondaryJurisdiction ORLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Administrative rule; amended through Oregon rulemaking. Verify the current text in the Oregon Administrative Rules Database.ID or-oar-836-080-0810-public-law
    What this source supports (1)
    • This reproduction carries the same rule title, Provision of Commercial Loss Runs, and the same operative text as the Cornell reproduction: loss runs made available to current and prior commercial policyholders within 15 calendar days upon request, five years of loss runs or the entire period insured if shorter, the workers' compensation confidential record exclusion under ORS 656.360 and 656.362, and violation as an unfair trade practice for the purpose of ORS 746.240.

    Fetched today solely as a corroborating second reproduction of OAR 836-080-0810, because the official OARD page could not be cited by a stable URL. Like the Cornell copy, it is a reproduction rather than an official regulator-served page, so authorityLevel is secondary. The page did not show a last-amended date.

    Active
  7. [7]
    ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPC) Program, How the Program Works(opens the original record on Verisk (ISO Community Hazard Mitigation Services))
    Verisk (ISO Community Hazard Mitigation Services)Standards bodyPrimaryJurisdiction USLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Living program page; PPC grades for individual fire protection areas are re-evaluated over time.ID verisk-ppc-program
    What this source supports (6)
    • Class 1 generally represents superior property fire protection, and Class 10 indicates that the area's fire suppression program does not meet Verisk's minimum criteria.
    • The classification evaluates emergency communications systems, including facilities for the public to report fires, staffing, training, certification of telecommunicators, and facilities for dispatching fire departments.
    • It evaluates the fire department, including equipment, staffing, training, and geographic deployment of fire companies.
    • It evaluates the water supply system, including the inspection and flow testing of hydrants and an evaluation of the amount of available water compared with the amount needed to suppress fires.
    • It evaluates community efforts to reduce the risk of fire, including fire prevention codes and enforcement, public fire safety education, and fire investigation programs.
    • Most U.S. insurers of home and business properties use PPC in calculating premiums, and in general the price of insurance in a community with a good PPC is lower than in a community with a poor PPC, assuming all other factors are equal.

    Fetched today and all six claims confirmed verbatim on the page, including the sub-details of the four evaluation areas. The page does not state numeric point weightings, so none are used. The page also does not connect PPC to any particular application form field, so this page never equates it with the ACORD 140 PROT CL field.

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  8. [8]
    Building construction categories (ISO), insurance glossary definition(opens the original record on International Risk Management Institute (IRMI))
    International Risk Management Institute (IRMI)SecondarySecondaryJurisdiction USLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Glossary entry; updated by the publisher as terminology changes.ID irmi-iso-building-construction-categories
    What this source supports (2)
    • IRMI's glossary states that these categories were established by Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) in its Commercial Lines Manual for purposes of developing rates for insuring commercial property based on susceptibility to damage by fire.
    • IRMI lists six categories from least to most fire resistive with their construction codes: frame (1), joisted masonry (2), noncombustible (3), masonry noncombustible (4), modified fire resistive (5), and fire resistive (6).

    Fetched today and both claims confirmed. This is a secondary glossary entry describing an ISO scheme. The ISO Commercial Lines Manual is a licensed publication and was not fetched, so the prose attributes the six categories to IRMI's description rather than stating them as read from the manual itself.

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  9. [9]
    Cal. Code Regs. tit. 19, section 901, Scope (automatic fire extinguishing systems; NFPA 25 incorporation and amendments)(opens the original record on Cornell Legal Information Institute (reproduction of the California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Office of the State Fire Marshal))
    Cornell Legal Information Institute (reproduction of the California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Office of the State Fire Marshal)SecondarySecondaryJurisdiction CAThird-party reproductionLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Regulation; the incorporated NFPA 25 edition changes only when California adopts a newer edition, so confirm the currently adopted edition before relying on it.ID ca-ccr-title-19-901
    What this source supports (5)
    • Section 901 is titled Scope and states that these regulations apply to all automatic fire extinguishing systems identified in Health and Safety Code Section 13195.
    • Section 901 incorporates NFPA 25, Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems (2011 edition), including Annexes A, B, C, D, F and G, as amended by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
    • Within section 901, NFPA 25 section 4.3.1 is amended to read that records shall be made for all inspections, tests, and maintenance of the system and its components and shall be maintained by the property owner or designated representative at a site or location agreed upon by the AHJ.
    • Within section 901, NFPA 25 section 4.3.5 is amended to read that subsequent records shall be retained for a period of 5 years after the next inspection, test, or maintenance of that type required by the standard.
    • Section 901 identifies who may perform inspection, testing, and maintenance, including a California Contractors State License Board licensed Fire Protection Contractor (C-16), a California State Fire Marshal licensed Type 1 concern, and a California State Fire Marshal licensed Type L concern, and it allows certain inspections by an employee designated by the building owner or occupant who has developed competence through training and experience.

    Fetched today and each claim confirmed on the page, including that the recordkeeping and five-year retention language appears as an Office of the State Fire Marshal amendment to NFPA 25 sections 4.3.1 and 4.3.5 set out within section 901, not as freestanding text of section 901. authorityLevel is secondary and primary is false because what was fetched is a reproduction rather than a page served by the California Office of Administrative Law or the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The adopted NFPA 25 edition is the single most fragile fact here. NFPA's own pages could not be fetched (nfpa.org served only JavaScript-rendered titles), so no NFPA-published statistic is cited anywhere in this entry.

    ActiveReproduction
  10. [10]
    Coverage Insights: What Are Loss Runs?(opens the original record on Hylant Group, Inc. (insurance brokerage))
    Hylant Group, Inc. (insurance brokerage)SecondarySecondaryJurisdiction USLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Blog post; not revised on a published schedule.ID hylant-loss-runs
    What this source supports (1)
    • Hylant, an insurance brokerage, writes that underwriters will often require organizations to submit loss runs for the past three to five years.

    Fetched today and the three to five years sentence confirmed verbatim. This is a broker's description of common market practice, not a legal or filed requirement, and the prose says so in those words. It is one of only two sources in this bundle that speak to what underwriters commonly request, and both are secondary voices, which is why the entry's confidence is contextual rather than established. Published: 2023-07-12

    Active
  11. [11]
    Commercial Insurance Submission Checklist(opens the original record on Hedge Specialty (Taven Insurance Services LLC dba Hedge Specialty), a wholesale insurance brokerage)
    Hedge Specialty (Taven Insurance Services LLC dba Hedge Specialty), a wholesale insurance brokerageSecondarySecondaryJurisdiction USLast checked August 31, 2026Updates: Marketing and education page on the firm's own site; no published revision schedule.ID hedge-specialty-submission-checklist
    What this source supports (5)
    • The page describes Hedge Specialty as a wholesale insurance brokerage helping licensed retail professionals prepare and place difficult commercial risks.
    • Its checklist tells the preparer to complete the primary commercial application and the line-specific sections accepted by the intended market.
    • Its checklist tells the preparer to provide currently valued loss runs for the relevant entities, lines, and policy periods when available.
    • Under line-specific supporting records, it lists for Property: statement of values, construction and system updates, protection details, business income support, and useful current photos.
    • The page states of itself: Preparation is not release authority. This is a preparation checklist, not a universal market requirement.

    Fetched today and the quoted checklist lines confirmed on the page. The page carries a date of 2026-08-25, recorded here as publishedDate although the page does not label it as first publication rather than last update. This is a wholesale broker's preparation checklist, which is exactly the kind of document that describes common market practice, and the page itself disclaims being a universal market requirement. That self-limit is quoted in the claims above and is carried into the prose, so this source is never used to state a rule about what any carrier must be given. It does not state how many years of loss runs a submission should carry; that number comes only from hylant-loss-runs. Published: 2026-08-25

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BestInsurance Research. "What information does a commercial property underwriter usually request?." WJB Services, Inc. dba Bollinsure Insurance Services. Published August 31, 2026. Last reviewed August 31, 2026. Content version 2026.08.31. https://bestinsuranceresearch.com/questions/commercial-property-underwriting-information

BibTeX

@misc{bir-commercial-property-underwriting-information-2026,
  title        = {What information does a commercial property underwriter usually request?},
  author       = {Aaron Bollinger},
  organization = {BestInsurance Research},
  institution  = {WJB Services, Inc. dba Bollinsure Insurance Services},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {08},
  note         = {Last reviewed August 31, 2026; content version 2026.08.31},
  howpublished = {\url{https://bestinsuranceresearch.com/questions/commercial-property-underwriting-information}},
  urldate      = {2026-08-31}
}

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Machine-readable record for this page: /questions/commercial-property-underwriting-information.json

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