Formwork · strength class · pump truck
Liability insurance for a concrete firm
In concrete construction a mistake is rarely small. Formwork that collapses, a pour with the wrong mix or a pump hose that fails produces damage straight away that cannot be put right with a repair.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een betonbedrijf.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Concrete is irreversible once it has been poured. If the strength class is not achieved, the reinforcement is wrongly placed or the cover is too thin, demolition, a new pour and a stoppage follow. The cost of redoing your own work falls outside the liability insurance; the consequential loss to others can fall under it, such as damage to what had already been built in or to a third party's installation that has to come out. That distinction determines the size of almost every concrete claim. The general explanation is on the hub page public and employers' liability insurance.
There is also the risk during execution. Formwork that collapses or a pour that runs affects colleagues, adjoining buildings and other people's work on the site. For the works themselves there is Construction all risks (CAR) insurance for concrete construction; that insures the structure under construction, while the liability policy looks at injury and damage to third parties. Ready-mixed concrete or wash water ending up in a ditch or the sewer is an environmental matter and belongs on an environmental damage insurance.
Finally, watch your plant. A concrete pump, a crane or a dumper is a motor vehicle within the meaning of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) as soon as it behaves as a vehicle; damage caused with it does not fall under the AVB but under plant and machinery insurance. The boundary between driving and working is worded differently in every policy, and that is precisely where disputes arise about which insurer has to respond.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four subjects that make the difference between a covered and an unpaid claim in concrete construction.
Formwork, props and temporary structures
Formwork that collapses causes injury and damage to everything around it. Insurers ask about the calculation, the assembly instruction and the supervision during the pour. If you hire formwork material, that is someone else's property that you have in your in your care; damage to it falls outside the AVB and requires a separate arrangement with the hire company.
Quality of the mix and its delivery
If the wrong mix is delivered or it is kept in transit too long, the question arises of who is liable: the batching plant, the carrier or you as the party placing it. Keep delivery notes, pour records and cube tests. Without those records, recovery from the supplier has almost no chance and the claim stays with you entirely.
Injury in heavy and repetitive work
Cement burns after prolonged skin contact, back complaints from fixing reinforcement and crushing while moving elements are the recurring injury cases. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code requires protective equipment, instruction and supervision, including for hired-in workers under subsection 4. Keep demonstrable records of toolbox talks and equipment issued.
Standard exclusions
Outside the cover are fines and penalty payments, liability under a contractual guarantee that goes further than the law, damage caused with a motor vehicle, property in your care, custody and control, gradual soil pollution and intent under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Pure financial loss from delay in the construction programme falls outside it as well.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: with an adjustment at the end of the insurance year
- Payroll: heavy work works through in the employers' liability section
- Type of work: floors, walls, precast or poured in situ
- Your own equipment: pumps, cranes and compactors determine how the policies are split
- Work put out to others: turnover through subcontractors counts separately
- Sum insured: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | Construction all risks (CAR) insurance |
|---|---|---|
| A passer-by is injured when a prop from the formwork falls into the street | Yes | No |
| An engineer working for the client trips over your reinforcement bars on the site | Yes | No |
| Rain gets in and damages the floor slab you poured before handover | No | Yes |
| The boom of your concrete pump hits the eaves of a house while slewing | No | No |
| Wash water from the mixer runs through a gully into the ditch behind the site | No | No |
| A hired-in steel fixer suffers cement burns to his lower legs | Provided that | No |
The CAR insurance looks at the works themselves, the AVB at what is broken or injured outside the works.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The concrete does not reach the required strength. Is that insured?
Demolishing and repouring your own work is not. That is putting your own performance right. Damage to other people's property lost as a result can fall under the policy, for example pipework or finishes already installed. A claim about construction delay is pure financial loss and falls outside this cover.
We also hire out a concrete pump with an operator. How does that work?
Hiring out with an operator is a separate activity that has to appear in the capacity described. Damage caused with the vehicle runs through the WAM cover for the pump. Damage arising from the way the pumping is done can fall under the liability policy, provided the activity has been declared and accepted.
What if wash water ends up in surface water?
An enforcement notice from the water authority or the council will almost certainly follow. The clean-up costs and the liability towards third parties belong on an environmental damage insurance. A fine or penalty payment is never insurable. Record where you wash out and agree that with the main contractor before the work starts.
An adjoining building cracks because of our work.
Liability follows from Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and can fall under the policy. The outcome depends on the evidence: a structural survey beforehand and vibration measurements make clear what was already there and what arose from the work. Without that baseline it is difficult to limit the size of the claim.
Read more
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