Anyone who delivers flange and pipework in one package is responsible not only for individual joints but for a pipe system that has to work as a whole, free of stress and safe.
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In brief
A pipefitter makes bespoke work: prefabricating spools, setting out routes, making fitting pieces, aligning and presenting them to the welder. The kind of mistake involved is different from fitting a single flange. A line pulled into place under stress holds for the first few weeks but fails on the first thermal cycle, and then the question is not who tightened the bolt but who signed off the route.
Because the work almost always takes place in a chain, liability can rarely be laid at the door of one party. You work as a subcontractor, you outsource welding or NDT, and the client turns to the party it can see. Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code makes the client jointly liable towards the injured party for a non-subordinate assistant, after which that liability comes back to you through the contractual chain. Your AVB must therefore cover not only your own work, but also claims passed down through a main contractor.
The third element is that pipefitting is physically demanding, hot work. Cutting, grinding and welding mean sparks, and work in trenches, on scaffolding and in pipe racks means a risk of injury to your own people. Two very different parts of the policy come in there: the hot work clause and your employer's liability under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does liability insurance for flange fitters and pipefitters cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
No
No
Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error
No
Yes
No
Downtime after a ransomware attack
No
No
Yes
Data breach involving personal data
No
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
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.
Stress in the system: who is responsible for the route
If a spool is forced into place because the bespoke work does not fit, that stress stays in the system and the failure comes months later. Record who supplied the isometric drawings, which dimensional deviations you found and which deviations you reported. If you supply the design yourself, a dimensional error is a professional error with financial loss, and that is a different cover from the AVB.
Hot work: fire is the single biggest risk
Sparks from grinding or welding that end up behind insulation cladding or in a cable trough cause a fire hours later. Insurers therefore include a hot work clause: a work permit, fire extinguishing equipment within reach, screening and a fire watch after hot work for a prescribed period. If that procedure has not been followed, the fire damage is not covered. That is not a formality. It is the most commonly used ground for refusing a claim in this work.
Outsourcing does not shift liability
If you engage a welder or an NDT firm and the weld fails, the injured party can hold you liable under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code, even though you did not carry out that work. So check the sum insured and the scope of cover of every subcontractor, and record that you have received a copy of the policy schedule. In reality a subcontractor without adequate cover is an extension of your own exposure.
Your own people: Article 7:658 DCC weighs more heavily than you think
Where an employee is injured, the burden of proof is reversed: you have to show that you met your duty of care. Work instructions, toolbox talks, inspected tools and supervision are then your file. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code extends that to hired-in workers and self-employed professionals working under your direction. Commuting falls outside it, but under Article 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code separate motor cover may still be needed.
What does your premium depend on?
Balance between prefabrication and site assembly. Work in your own workshop is weighted differently from assembly in a third party's operating plant.
Volume of hot work. Welding, cutting and grinding determine the fire clause and sometimes a higher excess for fire.
Use of subcontractors. Outsourced welding and inspection work must be declared to keep claims under Article 6:171 DCC covered.
Payroll including hired-in workers. The basis for employer's liability; agency workers and self-employed professionals under your direction count.
Sector of the clients. Food, commercial buildings, energy or chemicals lead to different risk classes and sums insured.
Sum insured per claim and per year. Chain projects bring claims from several parties at once. The annual limit is then decisive.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and 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 pipe system I install myself covered?
No. Damage to the work you carry out is excluded on an AVB. That policy covers damage to other property and to people. For damage to the works themselves during the construction or installation phase there is construction all risks (CAR) or erection insurance. See construction all risks (CAR) insurance for building and installation. Redoing your own work always remains for your own account as well.
What happens if no fire watch was posted?
Then fire damage falls outside the cover. The hot work clause is a warranty clause: complying with it is a condition of cover, not a recommendation. Record for each work permit who kept the fire watch after the work and until what time. Without that record you have nothing to fall back on when a fire starts hours after you have left.
My client brings the claim against me although my subcontractor made the mistake.
That is how a chain normally works. The injured party chooses who to hold liable, partly on the basis of Article 6:171 DCC, and does not then pursue matters further itself. You notify the claim to your own insurer within the period set by Article 7:941 DCC, and the insurer then assesses recovery from the subcontractor. So always notify, even if you believe you did nothing wrong.
I work in the chain as a self-employed professional. Does that change anything?
The form of cover stays the same, but the client sets the requirements: a minimum sum insured, a statement of your activities and sometimes being named as a co-insured on the project policy. If you work under someone else's direction, you may also fall under their duty of care under Article 7:658(4) DCC. See liability for self-employed flange fitters.
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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