u/gr8plan

What places in Redlands would you recommend for brunch?

Standard insurance coverage in California:

I am having some structural repairs done to a second story walkway over a carport for a small apartment building. The contractor is using a single-party, independent structural engineer who he says carries a $50K insurance policy. The project cost is under $100K. The scope is replacing specific a few sister joists, reviewing framing details, load calculations, and replacing a post support. The contractor said "most structural engineers carry around $50K in professional liability coverage", not the $1M liability insurance I thought was standard. That sounds very low. I've asked for the certificate of insurance (COI) and license #. Hopefully he missed a digit in his statement.

What is the standard insurance coverage? If I check the license & COI (assuming $50k) and don't find any complaints filed against the engineer, should I sign off? The contractor is concerned that a larger firm will extend the scope, such as seismic evaluations on the existing structure, for which we are grandfathered in.

What level of coverage is standard in California for a sole-proprietor, independent engineer who mainly works on small projects for contractors? E.g., load bearing calculations - support beams, sister joists, support posts, framing, etc.