If you are a building contractor, contractors’ all risk insurance can cover almost every aspect of an ongoing construction or development project, including the equipment and materials you are using, and any people involved in the project.
What is Contractors’ All Risk Insurance?
Contractors’ all risk insurance is specialist insurance cover for building contractors. As the name suggests, it is designed to cover all of the risks you might face throughout a building and development project.
Core areas of cover include:
- Insurance for contract works on construction sites, including cover for demolition and excavation projects.
- Plant and equipment insurance.
- Business interruption insurance, to cover project overheads in the event of delays.
- Insurance for any temporary buildings you use throughout the project.
- Liability and personal injury insurance for any individuals involved in the project, including workers and other members of the public who might spend time on or near the construction site.
Once the project is complete, contractors’ all risk insurance can also provide some cover for your completed buildings while they are unoccupied and awaiting tenants.
Contractors’ all risk insurance should not be confused with contract works insurance. For more information, read our guide to the difference between contractors’ all risk insurance and contract works insurance.
Who Needs Contractors’ All Risk Insurance?
Contractors’ all risk insurance can provide essential comprehensive cover for many parties concerned with construction projects, including:
- Building contractors and construction firms.
- Subcontractors, such as those who provide specialist services during a building project, including electricians, plumbers, and roofers.
- Property developers, should a renovation require extensive construction work.
- Property owners arranging for construction of renovation work.
- Civil engineering contractors.
In most cases, the main building contractor will take out a contractors’ all risk insurance policy to cover the project, and they may take out a joint policy with a second party, such as a property owner.
Each of the parties we have listed above should ensure they are covered by the main contractor’s all risk insurance policy. If not, then they may have to get a policy of their own to cover their own materials, equipment, employees, and liabilities.
Is Contractors’ All Risk Insurance a Legal Requirement
Though contractors’ all risk insurance is not always a legal requirement in the UK, many large scale construction or renovation projects will require such cover to be in place. The contract may also specify who is required to arrange for the cover, whether this is the main contractor, or the employer.
Why You Need Contractors’ All Risk Insurance
Yet even without a legal obligation, and even if there are no contractual obligations, you should still view contractors’ all risk insurance as an absolute necessity, particularly when it comes to certain kinds of construction or renovation projects:
- Large projects involving extensive complex works, in which the costs of any potential damage or delays would be significant.
- Development projects organised by the property owner, for which they would be liable for all financial risks.
- Joint projects involving numerous contractors, subcontractors, and other parties.
In any of these situations, a single incident could lead to significant costs which could jeopardise not just the project, but also your business. Contractors’ all risk insurance would cover these costs, providing essential protection for the project itself, and for all parties involved.
Get The Specialist Construction Insurance You Need With James Hallam
James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a specialist team of experienced insurance professionals who are committed to protecting construction business.
We will take the time to understand your construction project so that we can advise on the specific risks you are facing. We can then help you access a specialist contractors’ all risk insurance package that meets all of your needs at a competitive price.
Find out how we can help you today.