Pressure testing · torque · handover
Liability insurance for a self-employed pipefitter
Faults in pipework rarely show up during assembly. They appear during the pressure test or at start-up, and by then the system already holds product.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zzp-pijpfitter.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The risk in your work lies in the moment the system comes under pressure. A gasket that is not centred correctly, bolts that have not been set to the specified tightening torque a reducer in a different material from the one the isometric drawing calls for, or a valve fitted the wrong way round: during pressure testing or first commissioning it all becomes visible. Any injury, damaged material or released product that follows is what the public and employers' liability insurance is intended, under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Insurers look closely at the business activity. Fitting, torquing bolts, flame cutting, temporary lifting with a chain hoist and operating an aerial work platform are, to an underwriter, different activities with different risks. If your policy schedule says only 'engineer', that will be a point of argument after a loss during hot work. Have your activities described as you actually carry them out, and report it if you take on another discipline; Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code places that duty of disclosure on you and Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code governs what happens if you fail to do so.
What you bear yourself: the remaking your own fit-up after rejection is performance of the contract and not an insured loss. The pipe run you have in hand falls under the care, custody and control exclusion; and the loss of production of a delayed start-up is pure financial loss with no damaged property. Your own inserts, measuring equipment and torque wrenches belong on a tools insurance. If you work mainly on chemical sites, also look at petrochemicals for self-employed professionals.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four points that decide the outcome of a claim for pipefitters.
The pressure test is the moment of truth
If a joint fails during the pressure test, the damage is rarely confined to that joint. Water or air under pressure damages insulation, instrumentation and electrical installations nearby, and can strike someone. Record who carried out the test, at what pressure and under which procedure; without a test report the course of events cannot be reconstructed afterwards.
Material traceability
A fitting in the wrong steel grade in a system carrying acidic or high-temperature media sometimes fails only months later. Keep the certificates and the markings of what you have installed. If it cannot be shown which material you used, liability is more likely to rest with you and the consequential loss grows larger.
Carrying out the work or also designing it
If you work strictly to a third party's isometric drawing, the design risk stays with that party. If you take the measurements yourself, adjust the route or advise on supports, a mistake shifts towards costs rather than damaged property. For that kind of pure financial loss it is not the AVB but a professional indemnity insurance the appropriate policy.
Once your work has been handed over
After handover the assessment changes: it then concerns a product supplied, with its own provisions and sometimes a separate limit. Record in writing when your part was handed over and who carries out the pressure test and commissioning after that. Without that moment you remain in the frame for everything that goes wrong later.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a one-person business
- Described activities: fitting, cutting, bolting and lifting are assessed separately
- Type of systems: drinking water weighs differently from steam, gas or chemical media
- Working in existing installations: working on live systems increases the consequential loss
- Sum insured per claim: often required by the main contractor
- Excess: a higher excess brings the premium down
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| Water from a burst test flange runs into the switch cabinet below | Yes | No |
| During flame cutting the insulation on an adjacent pipe catches fire | Provided that | No |
| An engineer from another crew is injured when an unsecured pipe support topples over | Yes | No |
| You take the measurements for a route yourself, the pipe turns out not to fit and the design has to be revised | No | Yes |
| The client charges you for an extra day of crane hire because your work overran | No | No |
| An expired certificate costs you access to the site and with it a week's turnover | No | No |
As soon as you not only carry out the work but also design it, a mistake shifts from damaged property to costs.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A flanged joint leaks at start-up. What is paid?
Damage to other property and any injury fall within the cover, provided you are liable. Remaking the joint itself is your own performance and remains at your expense. If the section of pipe is in your care, damage to that section also runs into a standard exclusion. Report the incident immediately, even if the cause is still unclear.
The client requires a sum insured that my policy does not reach. What now?
You then fail to meet the contract requirement and may lose the job, even if the cover itself is sound. The sum insured is usually limited per claim and per year; check which of the two the contract means. Increasing it is normally possible during the policy year, but not retrospectively for a loss that is already running.
I fall from scaffolding during assembly. Does my AVB pay?
No. Liability insurance pays injured parties, not you. If you work under supervision and at a client's site, that client may be liable for your injury under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code. To cover the loss of your income while you recover you need disability insurance (AOV) or personal accident cover.
Am I covered under the policy of the firm that hires me in?
As a rule, no. That policy covers the liability of that firm. If you cause damage, it is held liable and then recovers the amount from you under the contract you signed. The position is different only if you are named on its policy schedule as a co-insured; ask for written confirmation of that before you rely on it.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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