Liability insurance for a self-employed flange fitter or pipefitter
Pipefitting is measurement work: a spool that does not quite fit, an isometric read wrongly or a branch on the wrong line costs more than the part itself.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
This page in another language: Nederlands
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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Your mistakes lie in the preparation. A spool prefabricated to the wrong dimension, a branch fitted into the wrong line, a penetration through a fire barrier without the right seal, or pipework that after assembly cannot go anywhere because the fixed points are not where the drawing shows. Damaged material, injury or pollution resulting from that is what the public and employers' liability insurance exists.
As a self-employed person you almost always work as a hired-in worker, under the direction of an assembly company or a main contractor. That means two things. First, that he requires liability insurance of your own with a minimum per claim and will pass a loss on to you. Second, that you are not covered under his policy: that covers his liability, not yours. Watch the business activity on your policy closely, because fitting, bolting, cutting and lifting are different activities to an insurer.
Three cost items end up with you in any event. The redoing of your own fit-up is your performance, not a loss. The section of pipe you are working on is in your in your care, with the care, custody and control exclusion as a result. And your your own injury is not a liability loss: if you fall off a scaffold or suffer a cut, the party hiring you in may bear liability under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code, but your income is secured only by disability insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
Independent, personal, sorted quickly
We compare your business liability insurance (AVB) across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Business liability insurance (AVB)
Compare
Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four points where fit-up and assembly work in subcontracting goes wrong.
Rejection is not an insured loss
If your work is rejected on inspection because of wrong dimensions, a misaligned fit or an incorrect material certificate, taking it out and making it again is your own performance. Only damage to other property caused in the process, such as damaged insulation, tracing or adjacent valves, can fall within cover.
Setting out and drawings: advice or execution
If you take the measurements yourself and amend the isometric, an error quickly concerns costs and not broken items. Such pure financial loss falls outside the AVB and belongs on professional indemnity insurance. If you only carry out what the drawing shows, the risk stays with the party doing the design.
Certificates and work permits
You do not get onto a chemical site without valid safety certification and a work permit. Working without them is not just an access problem: insurers include clauses about it, and acting contrary to the applicable rules can, as wilful recklessness are regarded as, which under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code fall outside cover.
Tools and plant
Your own inserts, measuring equipment, angle grinder and chain hoists do not fall under liability cover. That pays only third parties. Insure them separately, for example with tools insurance for the self-employed, and note the requirements for storage in a vehicle.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for rating self-employed people
- Described activities: fitting, bolting, cutting and welding each count separately
- Type of installations: petrochemicals and gas pipelines weigh more heavily than commercial buildings
- Sum insured: usually set by the requirements of the party hiring you in
- Area of cover: shutdowns in Germany or Belgium call for an extension
- Excess: a higher excess lowers the premium
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| While offering up a spool you drop it on the electricians' cable tray | Yes | No |
| Sparks from your grinder set another contractor's protective sheeting alight | Yes | No |
| A colleague at the hirer trips over scaffolding material you left lying and breaks an arm | Yes | No |
| The hirer passes on standby hours for his own gang because you failed to appear for a day | No | Yes |
| The client claims for the emergency delivery of gaskets you ordered under the wrong material number | No | Yes |
| Your measuring equipment is stolen from the van in the site car park | No | No |
If you only carry out what the drawing shows, the AVB is usually enough. If you take the measurements and make the decisions yourself, professional indemnity comes into it as well.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I work as a hired-in fitter. Am I covered under the assembly company's policy?
No. That insurance covers that company's liability. If you cause damage, the client recovers from him and he then recovers from you, usually under the contract you signed. An AVB of your own with a sum insured matching that contractual requirement is therefore a condition of getting work.
A spool turns out to have been measured wrongly. Who pays for making it again?
You pay for that yourself, because it concerns your own performance and not damage to anyone else. In insurance terms that only changes if other property is damaged or someone is injured because of the error. If you work to a third party's drawing, record in writing which revision you used.
Am I covered by my client's duty of care?
Often yes. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code puts whoever has work carried out on the same footing as an employer, including for self-employed people working under his direction and at his site. That helps you after an accident at work, but it does nothing about loss of turnover while you recover. Disability insurance is intended for that.
Product has escaped from a joint I made up. What now?
Report it to your insurer immediately, even if liability is not yet established; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires timely notification. Do not admit anything and, if possible, leave the joint in the state in which it was found, including gasket and bolts. Soil pollution that did not arise suddenly falls outside the AVB and belongs on environmental damage insurance.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB)The main page
- Liability insurance for a self-employed flange fitterTorque, calibration, sign-off
- Liability insurance for a self-employed pipefitterPressure testing, torque, handover
- Liability insurance for a self-employed process operatorOperating, batch, alarm response
- Liability insurance for self-employed people in offshore workBusiness activity, crew contracts, medevac
- Liability insurance for a self-employed electricianSubcontracting, your own injury, care, custody and control
- Liability insurance for a self-employed installation engineerWater damage, combustion, certification
- Liability insurance for a self-employed lifting supervisorSlinging, signalling, lifting plans
- Liability insurance for a flange assembly companyTurnarounds, records, contract requirements