What is the difference between a 15-foot, 25-foot, and 50-foot height exclusion?

Height exclusions in GL policies set the threshold above which all coverage ceases. A 15-foot exclusion eliminates coverage for virtually all tower and elevated work, including rooftop installations, small cell poles, and even some ground-mounted equipment on elevated platforms. A 25-foot exclusion may allow some ground-level and low-rooftop work but excludes all tower climbing, most small cell installations on utility poles, and any structural work at elevation. A 50-foot exclusion is sometimes presented as a compromise, but it still excludes the vast majority of tower work since most communication towers range from 100 to 2,000 feet. The key issue is not which threshold you have but whether your policy covers the actual heights at which you work. If your crews climb to 200 feet and your policy excludes work above 50 feet, every incident above that line is uninsured. Some contractors mistakenly believe the exclusion only applies to the height at which a person is working, but it typically applies to any operations conducted above the stated height, including property damage caused by dropped objects from those heights. There is no safe height exclusion for a tower contractor. Any exclusion that falls below your actual working height creates an uninsured gap.