A Look At the Various Types of Construction Insurance Available

Posted on: 6 November 2017

Regardless of the measures you have undertaken to ensure the safety of your construction staff and to prevent loss of materials or damage to property at the construction site, something can still go awfully wrong on the job. For this reason, it is always a prudent thing to have some sort of insurance coverage from a place like National Corporate Broking Pty Ltd to protect against risks on construction projects.

Construction insurance is a common way to manage and transfer the risks on a construction job. It is usually tailored to match the specific risks that a builder may be faced with when performing a particular job and included as part of the building contract. To help reduce a contractor's liability in a construction job, here are some of the most common types of coverage that are normally undertaken.

Commercial general liability insurance 

This type of insurance is meant to provide coverage against injury or property damage that may arise due to the contractor's operations. Injury, in this context, refers to any physical injury or illness, for example, when a crane operator leaves a load suspended unattended and it falls onto a pedestrian and causes bodily injury or even death. Property damage, on the other hand, refers to any damage caused to property while work is ongoing. For instance, when an employee working at height accidentally drops a heavy construction tool onto a car parked beneath a building, causing damage to the vehicle.

Workers' compensation insurance

Commercial general liability insurance is generally required to protect against bodily harm caused to third parties or damage to third-party's property. Workers' compensation insurance, on the other hand, is meant to protect construction workers from the risks that may be sustained on the job. This type of insurance covers medical expenses and lost income and does not constitute a personal injury claim because it is taken that construction workers are well-aware of the risks that may encounter on the job.

Professional liability insurance

This is yet another type of insurance that an increasing number of construction contractors are purchasing. It was traditionally required for construction jobs involving design work, whereby design professionals like architects and engineers would bear most of the professional liability that comes with the job. However, any contractor working as a designer-builder would also require this type of coverage.

Now that you're familiar with some of the most common types of liability coverage required by construction contractors or builders, you should consider talking to a trusted insurer in your local area about your specific needs. They will be happy to provide you with customised construction insurance.

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