Owner-Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP)
A single insurance program the owner purchases to cover general liability and workers' compensation for every contractor and subcontractor enrolled on a project, instead of each company carrying its own separate policy for that job, common on large projects to control cost and close coverage gaps between companies.
Why it matters
Every enrolled subcontractor is supposed to exclude that coverage cost from its own bid price, since the OCIP already provides it, a sub that forgets and prices its own coverage on top ends up bidding artificially high without realizing why.
On a real project
A large hospital project's owner purchases an OCIP covering every enrolled subcontractor's general liability and workers' compensation exposure, and each subcontractor's bid excludes that coverage cost since the owner's program already provides it.
Who this matters most to
A Risk Manager administers the OCIP, tracking which subcontractors are enrolled and making sure coverage gaps don't open up between the program and any work that falls outside its scope.
Where this goes wrong
A subcontractor enrolled in the project's OCIP keeps carrying and billing for its own separate general liability coverage on the same scope out of habit, effectively double-paying for insurance the OCIP already provides, and pricing its bid too high as a result.