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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Steel structures are made in a workshop and assembled on site. That means the value of the works arrives in a short time, in parts fabricated with weeks of lead time, and that the critical moments are concentrated: unloading, slinging, lifting and temporary setting until the structure is stable.
A load that falls or swings affects three kinds of interest in one movement: your own works, the plant and the people below. That brings the works section, the liability section and the employers' liability in Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code into play at the same time, while the mobile crane itself is a motor vehicle and needs its own insurance under Article 2 WAM.
Finally, on erection work the type of policy shifts. Where the bulk of the work consists of installing and assembling rather than building, an erection all risks insurance often fits better than a classic construction policy.
What does CAR insurance for steel construction cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Section 1
The works
Damage to the works themselves during construction or installation.
Fire, storm and water
Theft of materials
Inherent defect and design fault
Vandalism on the building site
Section 2
Liability
Damage to property and persons of third parties on and around the works.
Adjoining premises
Injury to bystanders
Cables and pipes
Optional
Extensions
What comes into play alongside the works themselves.
Client's existing property
Ancillary plant and site huts
Maintenance period
What is covered
Situation
Works section
Liability section
Storm or water damage to the works in progress
Yes
No
Theft of materials from the building site
Sometimes
No
Damage to an adjoining building
No
Yes
Injury to a bystander
No
Yes
The client's existing property
Sometimes
Sometimes
Repair of your own defective work
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The lifting plan is your only defence when there is a claim
After a lifting incident the expert asks about the lifting plan, the declared weights, the calculation of outrigger pressure, the bearing capacity of the ground and the certificates of the slinger and the crane operator. If those are missing, the conclusion is quickly that insufficient care was taken. Record for each critical lift what you calculated and who stood where, including the wind reading, because the wind limit is the most frequently exceeded threshold in this trade.
Until the structure is braced, nothing is fixed
Between setting the first column and fitting the wind bracing, the steel is geometrically unstable. Collapse in that phase is physical damage to your own works, and the insurer will assess whether the temporary stability provisions complied with the erection drawing. Do not run ahead of the bracing to gain time on the programme: that is precisely the deviation on which cover fails, and it is visible afterwards in the erection sequence.
Delivery and storage are not automatically in the policy
Trusses and beams travel as abnormal loads and then lie on site for days. Damage or distortion during the journey, or theft of steel from the site, falls outside the works section as long as transport and storage on site have not been insured separately. On an element with an eight-week lead time the problem is not the replacement value but the standstill of the rest of the build waiting for it.
What welding and cutting take outside the cover
Fire arising from welding or cutting work is assessed against the fire safety requirements: combustible material removed, sparks screened off, an extinguisher within reach and a check afterwards. Beyond that, putting right your own welding faults or dimensional deviations is excluded, as are corrosion and reapplying damaged protective coatings. For the mobile crane, damage to the vehicle itself falls under plant and machinery insurance and not under the construction policy.
Existing property is the most commonly missed section
If you work in or on an existing building, that building is not your works but the property of the client. Damage to it does not fall under section 1 and, on your AVB, falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. The section existing property fills that gap, and with conversions, renovations and installation work that is not an edge case but the core of the risk.
The maintenance period continues after handover
After handover there is often a maintenance period during which you remain liable for defects that arose during construction. Agree that period explicitly and have it stated on the policy. Under the Wet kwaliteitsborging (the Dutch Building Quality Assurance Act) this carries more weight: Article 7:758(4) of the Dutch Civil Code places the burden of proof for hidden defects on the contractor.
What does your premium depend on?
Tonnage and dimensions of the elements. Heavier and longer sections call for heavier lifting equipment and increase the consequences of an incident.
Erection height. Working at great height increases the risk of falling material and of injury to your own staff.
Surroundings of the site. Lifting above a public road, a railway or a business in operation weighs more heavily than an open site.
Insuring transport and storage. Delivery of prefabricated elements and their storage on site are assessed separately.
Share of welding and cutting work on site. Hot work outside the workshop leads to additional conditions.
Length of the erection phase. The longer the structure stands in an unstable state, the greater the exposure to wind.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Is damage to the hired crane covered by the construction policy?
No. A mobile crane is a motor vehicle and needs its own liability cover under Article 2 WAM; damage to the crane itself belongs on plant and machinery insurance or is at your expense under the hire contract. What the construction policy can cover is the damage the crane causes to your works or to third parties.
A fitter falls from the structure. Where does that run?
Injury to your own staff does not run through the liability section for third parties but through your employers' liability. Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code places the duty of care on you, and after an accident you have to show that you met it: fall protection, anchor points, instruction and supervision. Separate employers' liability cover is not a luxury for erection work at height.
When do I choose erection insurance instead of a CAR policy?
When the emphasis lies on assembly and commissioning rather than on building work. An erection policy is tailored to the assembly and testing of structures and installations, with attention to the test phase. Where steel construction is part of a wider building project, you are often included on the main contractor's project policy. In that case check that you are named on it as a co-insured.
We are lifting above a site where others are still working. What does the insurer ask?
That the lifting zone is fenced off, that nobody comes under the load and that there is supervision with a designated responsible person. On a claim about injury to someone from another party, the insurer checks those measures. Record the barriers and the coordination with the other contractors in writing in the site meeting, including the times during which lifting takes place.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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