For a strip mall or neighborhood center in Massachusetts, I build the placement around four questions: who clears the lot and what the contract says, what each lease requires of the tenant’s own insurance, how the roof and the flood exposure look to a property underwriter, and whether the building still fits the standard market or needs the Massachusetts FAIR Plan underneath it. Flood is always a separate policy.
What a Massachusetts underwriter asks first
- Snow and iceThe Supreme Judicial Court ended the old “natural accumulation” defense in 2010. A parking lot is now measured by ordinary reasonable care.
- Comparative faultUnder General Laws chapter 231, section 85, an injured person recovers unless their own negligence was greater than the combined negligence of the people they sued, and the award is reduced by their share.
- Unsafe-condition noticesChapter 186, section 19 makes a landlord use reasonable care to fix an unsafe condition after written notice from a tenant. The high court has held that it applies to commercial leases.
- Liquor tenantsA license to pour cannot be issued or renewed until the licensee files proof of liquor legal liability insurance with the local licensing authority.
- Roof and waterThe winter of 2014–15 set Boston’s seasonal snowfall record, and Boston Harbor’s highest recorded water level came in January 2018.
- Residual marketThe Massachusetts FAIR Plan has a commercial property program, with modest limits, for buildings the standard market will not write.
Snow and ice: what Papadopoulos changed
The case that reset Massachusetts law came out of a shopping center. A man slipped on a patch of ice in the parking lot outside the Target store at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers and sued the retailer and its snow contractor. The trial judge threw the case out because the ice was a “natural accumulation.” On July 26, 2010, in Papadopoulos v. Target Corp., the Supreme Judicial Court abolished the distinction between natural and unnatural accumulations and applied to snow and ice the same duty of reasonable care an owner owes lawful visitors for every other hazard.
For a center owner that means the question after a fall is no longer where the ice came from. It is what you and your contractor did, and when. Three other rules sit alongside it:
- Boston’s clock. The city requires property owners to clear abutting sidewalks and curb ramps within three hours after the snow stops, or within three hours after sunrise if it fell overnight, and asks for a path at least 42 inches wide. Fines are set higher for commercial property, and each day counts separately.
- Thirty-day notice. Chapter 84 requires a person hurt by snow or ice on private premises to give notice within thirty days, but the statute says a missing notice is no defense unless the owner proves it was prejudiced.
- Three years. Tort actions in Massachusetts must generally be started within three years, so keep storm logs at least that long.
On the insurance side I look for a written snow contract with a start trigger, a salting standard and an indemnity clause, plus a certificate naming the center’s owner as additional insured on the contractor’s liability policy. Why being a certificate holder alone is not enough.
Common areas, security and liquor tenants
Two more Supreme Judicial Court decisions shape what a Massachusetts lessor’s risk policy has to answer for.
- Crime in common areas. In Whittaker v. Saraceno (1994) the court said a landlord, commercial or residential, is not a guarantor of safety in a building’s common areas, but is not free to ignore reasonably foreseeable risks of harm from intruders. The case turned on whether the attack was foreseeable, which is why underwriters ask about prior incidents on the property, lighting and cameras.
- Net leases do not end the duty. In Bishop v. TES Realty Trust (2011) a commercial tenant was hurt after the landlord was told in writing about a leaking roof. The lease made the tenant responsible for repairs, and the court still held that chapter 186, section 19 applies to commercial leases. A tenant’s written complaint is a document to act on and keep.
- Bars and restaurants. Chapter 138, section 69 bars sales to an intoxicated person on licensed premises, and section 12 requires proof of liquor legal liability insurance before an on-premises license is issued or renewed. Those sections speak to the licensee, not the building owner. Owners are more often drawn in through the parking lot and common areas, so the lease should require the tenant’s liquor liability and general liability to name the landlord.
- Cannabis retail. Boston created the Boston Cannabis Board by ordinance in November 2019 to review every applicant for a cannabis license in the city. Tell me before you sign that lease; many property and liability forms treat the tenancy differently.
Roof snow load, harbor flooding and wind deductibles
The National Weather Service office for Boston recorded 110.6 inches of snow in the 2014–15 season, breaking the 107.6-inch record from 1995–96. Its newsletter on that winter reports that more than 150 roofs collapsed or were on the verge of collapsing in Massachusetts during three weeks of February. Long, flat retail roofs with rooftop units and drifting against parapets are exactly what a property underwriter pictures, so roof age, drainage and a snow-removal plan belong in the submission.
On the water side, NOAA’s Boston Harbor gauge lists its highest crest as 15.16 feet above mean lower low water on January 4, 2018, just over the 15.1 feet of the February 1978 blizzard; the gauge’s major flood stage is 15 feet. Boston has since adopted Article 25A of its zoning code, the Coastal Flood Resilience Overlay District (October 2021), covering areas the city expects to flood in a one-percent-chance storm in 2070 with 40 inches of sea level rise. Projects in that overlay can face the city’s resilience review, and rebuilding to newer requirements after a loss is one reason to carry ordinance or law coverage. Flood itself is excluded from standard commercial property policies and is bought separately, through the NFIP or a private flood policy. How flood coverage works.
On wind: the FAIR Plan’s published named-storm deductible applies to its homeowners and dwelling policies, and it defines a named storm as a hurricane or tropical storm named by the National Weather Service, not a winter storm. I have not found equivalent published guidance for commercial buildings. A commercial wind or named-storm deductible is set policy by policy, so read the declarations page, especially near the coast.
When the standard market says no: the FAIR Plan
The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, known as the Massachusetts FAIR Plan, provides basic property insurance to applicants who cannot get it in the voluntary market. Its commercial program is written on the Commercial Standard Property Policy, and its producer reference lists eligibility as commercial property, including buildings with five or more apartments or condominiums. The maximum it lists is one million dollars for a single interest and one and a half million for multiple interests, building and contents together.
That is enough for a small strip building and not for most centers, and it is property coverage only. Where the FAIR Plan is the answer, I place liability, loss of rents and any excess property around it. More on the Massachusetts FAIR Plan.
Lessor’s risk, certificates and loss of rents
Most centers are insured as lessor’s risk: the owner covers the building, the common areas and the rent stream, and each tenant insures its own space and operations. That only works if the leases and the paper match.
- Tenant certificates. Every tenant’s general liability should name the owner and manager as additional insured, on a primary basis, with the certificate on file and current.
- Loss of rents. Size it to the real rent roll, including the common-area and tax charges tenants reimburse, and to a New England rebuilding season rather than a twelve-month guess. How income coverage works.
- Umbrella. A serious fall or assault claim can pass the primary limit; lenders usually set the floor.
What to send me
- Address, year built, construction, square footage and roof age and type for each building.
- The tenant schedule, with each use, lease dates and any bar, restaurant, cannabis or vacant space marked.
- The lease insurance clauses and current tenant certificates.
- The snow and ice contract, the contractor’s certificate and last season’s logs.
- Current declarations pages for property, liability, umbrella and flood, plus the flood zone if you know it.
- Five years of loss runs, with a note on what was fixed after each claim.
Common questions
Who insures shopping centers and strip malls in Boston?
Standard commercial carriers write most Boston-area centers as lessor’s risk, and surplus lines markets take older or harder buildings. The Massachusetts FAIR Plan has a commercial property program for small buildings that cannot find coverage elsewhere.
Am I liable if a shopper slips on ice in my Massachusetts parking lot?
You can be. Since Papadopoulos v. Target Corp. in 2010, snow and ice are judged by ordinary reasonable care, with no exception for natural accumulation. Damages are reduced by the shopper’s own share of fault.
How fast do I have to clear snow at a commercial property in Boston?
The city says sidewalks and curb ramps abutting your property must be cleared within three hours after the snow stops, or within three hours after sunrise if it snowed overnight.
Does a triple-net lease protect a Massachusetts landlord from injury claims?
Not completely. The Supreme Judicial Court held in 2011 that the duty to correct an unsafe condition after a tenant’s written notice applies to commercial leases, even where the lease put repairs on the tenant.
Does my shopping center policy cover flood in Boston?
No. Flood is excluded from standard commercial property policies and is bought as a separate policy through the NFIP or a private flood market.
Is a landlord responsible when a bar tenant overserves someone in Massachusetts?
The liquor statutes are directed at the licensee, and the state requires on-premises licensees to show proof of liquor legal liability insurance. Owners are still named in suits over parking lots and common areas, so require the tenant’s policies to name you.
Will the roof be covered if it collapses under snow?
Weight of snow and ice is a covered cause of loss on many commercial property forms, but not on every basic or named-peril form. I check the form and the roof’s age and condition before winter, not after.
General information about insuring retail centers in Boston and Massachusetts as of November 2026, not legal advice. Court decisions, statutes, city snow rules, zoning overlays and FAIR Plan limits change; confirm current requirements with the City of Boston, the FAIR Plan and your attorney. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.