The highest court in Georgia has recently added that jurisdiction to the growing list that considers defective construction, including defects in the work of a general contractor, to be an “occurrence” under the general contractor’s commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy. The key takeaways are:

- Defective construction can be an “occurrence” under a CGL insurance policy.

- Property damage resulting from an occurrence (caused by defective work or otherwise) must be to other nondefective work or property (or loss of use).

- Business risk exclusions (such as the “Your Work” exclusion) may still apply.

- The entire insuring agreement (occurrence, property damage, and no exclusions) must be met for an insurer to have the obligation to indemnify and defend.