IRMI CRC 2026 Recap
Why Accountable Risk Decisions Matter More Than Ever
The 46th IRMI Construction Risk Conference brought risk managers, brokers, carriers, attorneys and contractors to the Gaylord National in National Harbor on October 25-28. Jones spent Monday and Tuesday at NexTech Kiosk 23 with CEO Paul Szemerenyi, CMO Pete Rawlinson, Director of Sales Nick Citron and Account Executive Andrew Goldman, catching up with customers, meeting soon-to-be customers and exploring new partnership opportunities.
Across those conversations, the message was consistent: insurance requirements are getting more complex, expectations around compliance are rising, and the consequences of getting it wrong are significant.
“One thing is increasingly clear: the need for robust, informed and accountable risk decisions has never been greater.”
Paul Szemerenyi, CEO, Jones
What Dominated
Data Centers, AI and a Hard Casualty Market
Two topics came up more than any other on the floor: data centers and AI. The agenda reflected it, with three sessions dedicated to data center construction risk:
- Managing the High Stakes Risks of Data Center Construction: A GC’s Guide
- Data Center Construction at Scale: Operational Risk, Logistics, and Workforce Realities
- Data Center Construction Risk
AI ran through the program too, from sessions like “2031: An Artificial Intelligence Odyssey” and “When Data Becomes Risk” to Michelle Sartain’s general session, where the President of Marsh Risk US and Canada looked at how AI is beginning to reshape underwriting and claims.
All of it played out against a tough market. Marsh reports that US casualty rates rose 7% in the second quarter of 2026, even as global commercial rates fell, with claims severity and litigation pressure keeping the US market tight. When claims cost more, every gap in risk transfer costs more too.
Policy Language
Coverage Lives in the Policy, Not the Certificate
Some of the most practical sessions on the agenda went straight to policy language. One broke down how additional insured endorsements interact with contract terms, and why securing the coverage negotiated in a contract keeps getting harder as endorsements evolve. Another walked through the CGL exclusions for damage to the project, including exclusions j, l and m, and what coverage survives for ongoing and completed work.
The common thread: a certificate summarizes coverage, but it doesn’t change it. Whether the contract’s risk transfer actually holds is decided in the endorsements and exclusions behind the COI. That’s the gap Jones Policy Review was built for, and the reason the exclusions a certificate never shows deserve a closer look.
Contract Risk
Risk Is Written Into the Contract
Contracts were another recurring thread. A session on contract negotiation made the case that risk managers who stop at the indemnity and insurance provisions miss key financial risks, looking at five clauses through the eyes of a specialty subcontractor and a material supplier: indemnity, damages, flow-down, pay-if-paid versus pay-when-paid, and escalation.
Michelle Sartain’s general session pointed the same way, describing contract language that quietly shifts risk until a claim makes it visible. For insurance compliance, that means requirements have to be read from the contract and verified against the policy, not assumed from a template.
Accountable Decisions
Faster Isn’t the Goal. Better Decisions Are.
Technology has an enormous role to play in construction risk, but the conversations at IRMI made one thing clear: the value isn’t in processing information faster. It’s in turning that information into better decisions, backed by the right expertise, judgment and accountability.
That matters most where the stakes are highest. On a data center project or under a hardening casualty market, a fast approval that misses an exclusion or the wrong endorsement isn’t efficiency. It’s exposure. That’s why Jones pairs AI agents with insurance specialists: automation for speed and scale, experts for the calls that need judgment, and a decision someone can stand behind.
You can’t play with compliance anymore.
Jones At IRMI
Two Days at the Kiosk and a Night at Rosa Mexicano
Between the kiosk and our reception at Rosa Mexicano on Monday night, we got to spend real time with customers, prospects and partners from across the construction risk community. A big thank you to everyone who stopped by.
The Jones reception at Rosa Mexicano, National Harbor, on Monday, October 26.
Next stop: CMiC CONNECT in Orlando, November 1-4. Here’s what we’ll be talking about there.
Keep reading: Our IRMI CRC 2026 guideThe exclusions COI tracking misses
IRMI CRC 2026 FAQ
When and where was IRMI CRC 2026?
The 46th IRMI Construction Risk Conference took place October 25-28, 2026, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC.
What were the main themes at IRMI CRC 2026?
Data centers and AI were the topics our team heard about most. The agenda reflected it, with three sessions dedicated to data center construction risk and several sessions on how AI is changing construction risk, underwriting and claims.
Why isn’t a certificate of insurance enough?
A certificate summarizes coverage but doesn’t change it. Endorsements and exclusions in the policy itself decide whether the coverage required in the contract is really there, which is why sessions on additional insured endorsements and CGL exclusions drew so much attention.
What does an accountable risk decision mean in insurance compliance?
It means a compliance decision someone can stand behind: based on the right documents, reviewed against the contract requirements, and backed by insurance expertise, not just data extracted quickly from a certificate.
Was Jones at IRMI CRC 2026?
Yes. Jones was at NexTech Kiosk 23 on Monday and Tuesday and hosted a reception at Rosa Mexicano on Monday, October 26.
