Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for an architectural practice
A practice rarely draws alone. Structural engineers, services consultants, building physicists and hired-in designers all contribute, and their mistakes end up with you.
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In brief
An architectural practice carries responsibility for the whole. The client holds you liable, even if the mistake lies with a consultant you engaged: Article 6:76 of the Dutch Civil Code attributes the conduct of auxiliaries to you, and for your own staff Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies. Your professional indemnity insurance must therefore cover that group. Exactly who is an insured — partners, staff, trainees, seconded workers and hired-in self-employed professionals: is set out in the policy and not in your organisation chart.
Also arrange how this works through to your consultants. Ask every structural engineer, services consultant and building physicist for a current policy schedule showing the sum insured, the insured capacity and the period of validity, and set out in the agreement that they will maintain that cover. Without those documents your own insurer pays the loss and recovery from the consultant becomes a second exercise, in which his limitation of liability may well hold. See also professional indemnity for structural engineers.
The third theme is the the relationship between the limit and project size. A practice with an average portfolio of small projects has a different loss potential from a practice working on one large commercial project. On large projects a separate project cover is sometimes taken out alongside the annual policy, with its own sum insured and a term that follows the liability period. For self-employed professionals working with you there is professional indemnity insurance for architects the starting point.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
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Professional indemnity insurance (BAV)
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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 subjects that are different at a practice from at a sole practitioner.
The class of insured persons must be complete
A claim is brought against the practice, but sometimes also against an individual member of staff or a former partner. Have it recorded that former staff, heirs of partners and seconded workers remain covered for work they did for the practice. Otherwise a claim arises against a person who is formally not insured.
Series claims from details used repeatedly
Practices work with standard details, libraries and templates. If there is a mistake in them, it affects several projects. Such related claims count as one claim under one limit, allocated to one insurance year. Check how the policy defines relatedness and set the amount per claim accordingly, not just the annual maximum.
Acquisition, demerger and closure
If the practice is acquired, split up or closed, claims about old work will keep coming in. Arrange run-off cover before the policy stops, and on an acquisition record who insures the past. Where a successor takes over the staff, the question is whether liability from old projects passes across as well. That follows from the sale agreement, not from the policy.
What falls outside the cover
Excluded are, among others fines, discount clauses and contractual penalties for delay, redoing your own work and repaying fees, and liability under guarantees that go beyond the professional standard. Loss caused by intent or wilful recklessness is excluded; Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code provides the statutory basis for that. Circumstances known at inception are not insurable.
What does your premium depend on?
- The agency's annual turnover: the usual basis
- Number of designers and hired-in staff: determines the size of the insured group
- Average contract value per project: the loss potential per engagement
- Roles besides design: construction supervision, inspection and project management
- Conditions applied. DNR or your own terms with a limitation of liability
- Retroactive and run-off periods: for current and completed projects
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A pipe route in your services drawing clashes with the main structure and building stops for months | No | Yes |
| A building physicist you engaged calculates the sound insulation incorrectly and the homes have to be altered | No | Provided that |
| A trainee from your practice knocks over a glass partition at the client's premises | Yes | No |
| A visitor trips over a cable in your studio during a presentation evening | Yes | No |
| A designer is injured on site by climbing a ladder without instruction | Provided that | No |
| A member of staff knocks over a site fence with the company car at the project location | No | No |
For mistakes by consultants you engage, the question is whether your policy includes liability for third parties you bring in.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Our structural engineer made the mistake. Why is the client claiming against us?
Because you are the contracting party. The client has an agreement with you and not with your consultant, and Article 6:76 of the Dutch Civil Code attributes the conduct of auxiliaries to you. Your insurer handles the claim and then seeks recovery from the consultant or his insurer. Whether that succeeds depends on his policy and on the limitation of liability in his engagement terms.
Is project cover needed alongside the annual policy?
On a project whose contract value far exceeds your normal portfolio, it is a realistic option. The annual policy then remains for ordinary work, and the large project gets its own limit and term. The drawback is that the cover ends at some point while the liability continues. So have it recorded how long the project cover runs on after handover.
Are trainees and agency workers covered by the policy?
Only if they are included in the class of insured persons. You are liable for professional errors they make under your responsibility, so have the description drawn widely. Quite apart from that, note that they also fall under your duty of care as an employer. For injury on site Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, and that is a different policy from the BAV.
What do we do about a threatened claim from an old project?
Report the circumstance to the insurer at once, even if there is no letter from a lawyer yet. Under a claims made policy that notification fixes the insurance year. The duty to notify and to cooperate is set out in Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code. Gather the project file, including versions of drawings, minutes and warnings, and make no promises before the insurer has responded.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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