Insurance, Wrap-Ups and Bonds for Airport and Seaport Construction

Wrap-ups are common on airport and port capital programs, but they are not the same from one owner to the next. DFW Airport's rolling owner-controlled program, in the 2020 manual edition, is mandatory and priced bid-net and leaves workers' compensation and auto with the contractor. Austin-Bergstrom's ROCIP AUS publishes master workers' compensation, general liability, excess and contractors environmental policies. San Diego's airport authority runs an owner-controlled program for on-site work, while its New Terminal 1 project used a separate contractor-controlled program. The Port of Oakland's 2024 bid notices describe an owner program for liability, workers' compensation and pollution, with builders risk and auto left to the contractor.

Every wrap leaves something outside it, typically auto, off-site work, tools and equipment and the contractor's own corporate program for work not enrolled. Enrollment, deductibles, bid-net pricing and completed operations terms are set in the program manual and the solicitation, and older manuals should be confirmed against the current version before bidding.

DFW Airport runs its own rolling wrap with separate airfield auto requirements. Houston Airport System work is let under the City of Houston's general conditions, which set insurance minimums, 100 percent payment and performance bonds and retainage. Austin-Bergstrom's expansion runs under ROCIP AUS, with City Council approval of the program administrator in March 2026. Port Houston chooses its procurement method under the Water Code and sets its own design-build bond rules. Government Code chapter 2253 sets the state bond thresholds, and Insurance Code chapter 151 limits some additional insured requirements outside consolidated programs.

• DFW Airport: rolling wrap and airside auto limits
• Houston Airport System: City of Houston contract terms and badging
• Austin-Bergstrom: ROCIP AUS
• Port Houston: procurement and design-build bonds

Phoenix Sky Harbor is a City of Phoenix department, and airfield driving carries a $5 million combined auto and umbrella requirement. Tucson International is run by the Tucson Airport Authority, which procures construction under Arizona's Title 34 and requires bid security. Harry Reid International is run by the Clark County Department of Aviation, which says it runs a construction wrap program and requires contractors to vet workers for badges. Arizona requires 100 percent performance and payment bonds on public works, and Nevada sets bonds of not less than 50 percent on larger contracts.

• Phoenix Sky Harbor
• Tucson International Airport
• Harry Reid International Airport

Work inside an airport's air operations area brings requirements a landside job does not. Airports run security programs under federal rules, so workers typically need fingerprinting, background checks and a badge, or an escort, before they can work in secure areas. Construction near runways and taxiways follows a safety and phasing plan, with debris control and limits on equipment height and location.

Insurance follows the exposure. Some owners require much higher auto limits for vehicles driven airside, and some require that the auto policy not exclude airport premises. A contractor's usual $1 million auto limit and umbrella may fall short of an airfield requirement, and subcontractors who drive on the airfield may face the same requirement.

Port construction often happens on wharves, piers and docks or from barges. The federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act can apply to work over or next to navigable water depending on the facts, and a state workers' compensation policy may not respond to those claims without an endorsement. Work from vessels can raise Jones Act and maritime employers liability questions, and work over water raises vessel and pollution exposures. Port workers who need unescorted access to secure maritime areas typically need a TSA Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

Which of these a contract requires depends on the port, the solicitation and the scope of work. Contractors moving from upland sitework to port projects should read the insurance exhibit for marine terms before bidding.

Airport and port projects follow the state's public works bond rules or the owner's own enabling law, and some owners add their own: LAWA keeps its performance bond in force for the longer of the warranty period or one year, and Port Houston sets design-build bond amounts by project budget. Several ports use project labor agreements that bind union and nonunion contractors above a threshold. Federally funded airport work carries the federal disadvantaged business enterprise program, and the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2025 interim final rule led some owners, including the Tucson Airport Authority, to stop setting contract goals; each solicitation states the current requirement.