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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
An office, school, distribution centre or healthcare building is built by a main contractor with a long line of separate and subcontractors, installation firms and specialist parties. What they mainly damage is each other's work: the core driller hits a pipe, the installation company damages the poured floor, the facade contractor drops something on the air handling unit that has just been fitted.
That is why one project-specific policy is usually taken out here, on which all the building parties are named as insured. That prevents every instance of damage from turning into recovery proceedings between parties who have to keep working alongside each other, and it makes clear who reports the claim and who receives the expert.
Two features need extra attention: the building services, which only show whether they work during testing, and the duration. A three-year project is a different project at the end from at the start, and both the sum insured and the end date have to follow that.
What does CAR insurance for commercial 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.
Include all building parties, and deal with liability between them
If the main contractor, separate contractors, subcontractors and installation firms are all on the policy, the follow-up question is whether they may claim against each other through that policy. Without a cross-liability provision, the insurer can argue that damage by one insured to another does not count as damage to a third party. Have it recorded that each insured is treated as if a separate policy had been taken out for them.
Testing and commissioning is a risk period of its own
Climate installations, sprinklers, lifts and electrical systems are put under pressure or under voltage at the end of the build. It is precisely then that water damage arises in a finished building or a fire in a distribution board. Insurers provide a separate testing cover for that, limited in duration, with its own conditions and often a higher excess. Report when testing begins and check that the period is long enough for the full commissioning process.
Additional work and overruns have to be kept up to date on the policy
A policy taken out on the original contract sum no longer covers, three years later, the value standing on the site. Every variation increases the amount that would have to be rebuilt after a total loss, and underinsurance is settled proportionately. Report additional work periodically and apply for an extension before the end date: a policy that expires on its renewal date while building is still going on leaves the building uninsured.
What a project policy of this size does not solve
Reductions and penalties imposed by your client for late completion fall outside it, even where the delay results from an insured loss. Design faults by the architect and structural engineer belong to those consultants' professional indemnity. Business interruption loss of a user who has already moved into part of the building is not physical damage and often falls outside the liability section. And damage to tower cranes, access platforms and site huts is plant, not works.
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?
Contract sum including the services element. In commercial construction the building services form a large part of the value and have their own damage pattern.
Construction time in months. Longer exposure to storm, fire and theft feeds directly through into the premium.
Number of building parties involved. More insured parties on one policy means a greater chance of damage to each other's work.
Length of the testing period. Commissioning of installations is assessed separately and has an excess of its own.
Phasing and partial handovers. Parts already in use while building continues elsewhere shift the risk to existing property.
Length of the maintenance period. On commercial projects it usually runs on for years, and that extends the period of cover.
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.
An installation company damages the facade contractor's work. How does that run?
If both parties are named as insured on the project policy, the damage is put right out of that policy without either having to claim against the other. That only works if a cross-liability provision has been included. Without it, the insurer can reject the claim and recovery proceedings start between two parties who still have months of working together ahead of them.
What happens on partial handover of part of the building?
The part handed over is no longer works but the client's property. From that moment damage to it no longer falls under section 1 but at most under the existing property section or under the owner's buildings insurance. Record for each phase on what date which part transfers, and have both insurers confirm those dates in writing.
Our project is overrunning by six months. Do I have to do anything?
Yes, and in good time. A project policy expires on the agreed end date and covers nothing after that, even if the building is still full of scaffolding. Apply for an extension before that date passes and at the same time report the additional work instructed in the meantime, so that the sum insured matches what is actually there again.
Why is the maintenance period so long here?
Because installations only show over the seasons whether they have been properly commissioned, maintenance periods of several years are agreed on commercial projects. The policy has to follow that period, and the extended variant also covers damage arising during the maintenance work itself. Check that the period on the policy runs in step with what has been agreed contractually.
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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