Design error · DNR · duty to warn
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed architect
A design error only becomes visible once building is under way. By then the bill is demolition and rebuilding, and that bears no relation to your fee.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige architect.
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
As a self-employed architect you sell drawings, choices and accountability. If something goes wrong there, the client's loss is almost always financial: a roof structure that does not comply, a floor plan without a services shaft, a facade that does not meet fire safety requirements, or a design that falls outside the zoning plan on one detail. That is pure financial loss, and professional indemnity insurance is intended for it. The main outline is set out on the hub page on the BAV.
The standard you are measured against is that of a reasonably competent and reasonably acting professional, arising from the duty of care in Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Code. Part of that is the duty to warn: if you see that the client is making a choice that will lead to problems, you must point this out in good time, in writing and unambiguously. Since the Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen (the Dutch Building Quality Assurance Act) that requirement has been tightened for building parties; Article 7:754 of the Dutch Civil Code calls for a warning the recipient cannot miss. A remark in a set of minutes is weak evidence after the event.
Watch your form of contract. If you work with the DNR conditions, your liability is limited in them and notification periods apply. That limitation only works if the terms have been were handed over before or when the contract was concluded, as Article 6:233(b) and Article 6:234 of the Dutch Civil Code requires. With a private client, consumer protection comes on top of this, so an overly broad clause can fall away. For injury and property damage on the building site you also need liability insurance for self-employed professionals needed.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four points that weigh more heavily for a self-employed architect than the premium.
Putting your own work right is not covered
Redrawing, recalculating or amending your design and repaying your fee fall outside the cover. What is insured is the consequential loss suffered by the client: demolition and repair costs, delay, extra building costs. So count the hours you put into putting things right as a business risk and not as an insured item.
Cost overruns and estimates
A building budget that is exceeded often leads to a claim, but many policies exclude liability for estimates, budgets and cost overruns or limit it to a sub-limit. Set out in your engagement letter with what degree of accuracy an estimate was prepared and on which assumptions. Without that record, an indication is read later as a promise.
Construction supervision and inspection are separate work
If you also supervise construction or inspect the works, that is a different business activity from designing. If the policy schedule says only 'architect', supervisory work can fall outside the cover. Have every role you perform expressly included, including construction supervision, tendering advice and acting as the client's authorised representative.
Hired in by a practice: whose policy applies?
If you work as a self-employed professional on a project run by an architectural practice, the question is whether you fall within their class of insured persons or must be insured yourself. Have that recorded in writing for each engagement. See also professional indemnity insurance for architectural practices. Without an agreement you are caught between two policies when a claim arises.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover as a self-employed person: the usual basis for calculation
- Type of projects: housing, commercial building, refurbishment or listed buildings
- Project size: the contract value determines the potential loss
- Conditions applied. DNR or your own terms with a limitation
- Retroactive period: cover for designs from earlier years
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| The level in your drawing is wrong, so the contractor has to break out part of the foundation | No | Yes |
| The permit is refused because a compulsory calculation was missing from your application and the start of building slips by six months | No | Yes |
| A structural engineer you engaged designs a lintel too light | No | Provided that |
| During a site visit you knock into scaffolding and tools fall onto a car | Yes | No |
| The client claims the contractual penalty agreed for each week of delay | No | No |
| You break your ankle on site by falling over a protruding reinforcement bar | No | No |
As a self-employed professional you must rely on personal accident or disability cover for your own injury.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
How long can I still be held liable for a design?
For a long time. Hidden defects sometimes come to light years after handover, and under Article 3:310 of the Dutch Civil Code a claim only becomes time-barred five years after the injured party becomes aware of the loss and of the party liable, with a long-stop period of twenty years. Because a BAV works on a claims made basis, the moment of notification is decisive. If you close your practice, arrange run-off cover before you cancel.
Is a dispute about the aesthetics of my design insured?
No. A client who finds the result ugly or different from what he expected has not shown a professional error. What is insured is a failure of professional skill leading to demonstrable loss, not a difference of taste. Record design choices and approvals in writing, with dates and version numbers, so that it is clear afterwards what the client agreed to.
What does the Building Quality Assurance Act change for my position?
For new build in the lowest consequence class, a system with an independent quality assurer has applied since 2024, and the contractor remains liable after handover for defects that were not discovered at the time. That does not remove your responsibility for the design. The file does become more extensive, which means differences between design and execution are easier to trace.
Do I also need public and employers' liability insurance as a self-employed professional?
As soon as you visit building sites, carry out surveys or bring materials with you, injury or property damage can arise. That is not pure financial loss and falls outside the BAV. Public and employers' liability insurance covers that part. Many insurers offer both covers in one package, which avoids argument about which policy a mixed claim falls under.
Read more
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