What is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?

A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a document issued by an insurance provider. It confirms that a tenant holds active insurance coverage and lists the coverage types and limits.

Property managers collect COIs to verify that tenants meet the property's insurance standards before or during their lease. Keeping COIs up to date reduces liability risk and ensures compliance across your portfolio.

What are tenant COI requirements?

COI requirements define the minimum insurance coverage a tenant must hold. When a new COI is uploaded for a tenant, Visitt automatically validates it against the saved requirements.

There are two ways requirements can be set:

Property-level requirements — Set once for the entire property. All tenants inherit these requirements automatically as a starting point.
Custom requirements — Set individually per tenant when their insurance needs differ from the property standard.

💡 Property-level requirements are the recommended starting point. If most of your tenants share the same insurance standards, set them once at the property level and only switch individual tenants to custom requirements when needed.

Who can set requirements

Role	Can set requirements	Can upload and validate COIs
Admin	✅	✅
Manager + COI Owner	✅	✅
Manager (view only)	❌	❌

Part 1: Property-Level COI Requirements

Property-level requirements apply to all tenants in a property automatically. Set them once and every tenant inherits them as their starting point.

How to Create Property-Level Requirements

Navigate to Settings from the sidebar.
Click the Property tab at the top of the Settings page.
Click COI to open the COI settings.
Click Tenant COI to access the tenant COI requirements section.
Scroll to the Property-level COI requirements section.
Click Upload requirements to use AI extraction from a PDF, or Enter manually to fill in coverage fields directly.
If uploading: select your requirements document (PDF) and allow the AI to extract the coverage details.
Review the extracted or manually entered requirements.
Click Confirm requirements to save.

📄 PDF only. AI extraction works best with PDFs under 2 pages. Once saved, all tenants in the property will automatically use these requirements unless switched to custom.

How Tenants Inherit Property-Level Requirements

Once property-level requirements are set, every tenant in the property automatically uses them by default. You don't need to configure anything per tenant — when a COI is uploaded for any tenant, it will be validated against the property-level requirements.

To confirm a tenant is using property-level requirements:

Go to Tenants and open the tenant's profile.
Click the COI tab.
In the COI requirements section, the toggle will show Property-level requirements as the active selection.

Part 2: Custom Requirements (Per Tenant)

If a specific tenant has different insurance needs, you can switch them from property-level to custom requirements at any time.

How to Switch a Tenant to Custom Requirements

Go to Tenants and open the relevant tenant's profile.
Click the COI tab.
Find the COI requirements section — property-level requirements will be selected by default.
Switch the toggle to off to disable property-level requirements.
Confirm the action when prompted.
Click View requirements to set or edit this tenant's custom requirements.

💡 When you change requirements for a tenant, you will be prompted to either revalidate or keep the current COI status unchanged. If you select revalidate, the COI will be re-validated against the new requirements and switch to Pending — the COI owner will then need to mark it as Compliant or Pending manually.

How to Set Custom Requirements for a Tenant

Once a tenant is switched to custom requirements, you can configure them manually or via AI extraction.

Open the tenant's profile and click COI.
Click Create or Upload requirements.
Fill in the coverage fields manually, or upload a PDF for AI extraction.
Click Save requirements or Confirm requirements.

How to View or Edit Custom Requirements

Click View requirements in the tenant's COI section.
The Edit COI requirements modal opens.
Update any fields as needed and click Save requirements.

Step 3: Upload and Validate a Tenant COI

Once requirements are set — either property-level or custom — any COI uploaded for that tenant is automatically validated against them.

Open the tenant's profile and click COI.
Click Renew COI.
Click the upload area to open the file picker. Select the COI document.
Click Add and review COI. Visitt displays the document details for review.
If the COI meets the requirements, click Mark as Compliant.

The COI status updates to Compliant and is saved to the tenant's record.

📌 Note: If no requirements have been set for the tenant — either at the property level or custom — Visitt does not run automatic validation. You can still upload and manually mark the COI as Compliant or Pending.

Remove Requirements

Click View Requirements in the COI Requirements section.
In the Edit COI Requirements modal, click Remove Requirements.
Confirm the action.

The requirements are deleted. Existing COIs are not affected.

Want to watch a step-by-step walkthrough?

View walkthrough

Common Scenarios

Standardizing requirements across all tenants

Set property-level requirements once under Settings → Property → COI → Tenant COI. All tenants automatically inherit these requirements. When a COI is uploaded for any tenant, it is validated against the property standard without any per-tenant setup needed.

A specific tenant has different insurance requirements

Switch the tenant from property-level to custom requirements in their COI tab. Set their specific coverage requirements, then re-validate their existing COI if needed. All other tenants continue using property-level requirements.

Updating requirements mid-lease

If coverage terms change, update the requirements at either the property level (Settings → Property → COI) or the tenant level (tenant profile → COI). When requirements change, you will be prompted to revalidate or keep the current COI status.

Uploading a COI after requirements are already set

Navigate to the tenant's COI section, click Renew COI, upload the document, and review the details. Visitt checks the document against the active requirements — property-level or custom. Mark as Compliant if everything is in order.

FAQ

What happens if I upload a COI before any requirements are set?
Visitt does not run automatic validation. You can still upload the COI and manually set its status. Requirements can be added at any time and will apply to COIs uploaded thereafter.
Do I need to set requirements for each tenant individually?
No. Set property-level requirements once and all tenants inherit them automatically. Only switch individual tenants to custom requirements when their needs differ.
What happens when I switch a tenant from property-level to custom requirements?
You will be prompted to either revalidate the tenant's existing COI against the new requirements (which sets it to Pending) or keep the current COI status unchanged.
Can I leave fields blank in the requirements template?
Yes. All fields are optional. Leave any coverage type blank if it does not apply.
What does "Pending" status mean?
A COI marked as Pending requires manual review. It has not been confirmed as compliant. This status is automatically applied when requirements are updated and you choose to revalidate.
Can I undo a requirements change after confirming?
No. Requirement changes cannot be undone. Review your changes carefully before clicking Confirm.

Thanks for reading! Reach out if you have any questions — we're here to help 😊

Set up and validate tenant COI requirements