Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed building consultant
You inspect for about three hours and deliver a report. The buyer bases a purchase of many years on it, and comes back to you when something turns up that you did not see.
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In brief
The pre-purchase survey, the condition assessment of a complex, the long-term maintenance plan for an owners' association and the damp investigation in a basement all have one thing in common: your judgement becomes the basis for someone else's spending. If that judgement turns out to be wrong, your client does not claim for broken property but for money: repair costs he had not budgeted for. Professional indemnity insurance is intended for that type of loss; its structure is set out on the hub page on the BAV.
Your position differs from that of a consultant with only business clients. A private buyer is a consumer, and that limits what you can agree in your terms. A clause that all but hollows out your liability or keeps the complaints period short appears on the grey or black list in Articles 6:236 and 6:237 of the Dutch Civil Code and can be annulled. On top of that, the terms must have been handed over before or when the engagement was concluded. If that only happens with the report, Article 6:233(b) of the Dutch Civil Code gives the client a way out.
Your second line of defence is the scope of the survey. A building survey is visual and non-destructive: you open nothing up and you lift no floorboards. So state in the report which rooms you could not enter, which elements were behind finishes and what further investigation you advise. If you also work for consultancies, see how that is arranged under professional indemnity insurance for building consultancies.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
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What to look out for
Four points that lead to a claim in survey work more often than an incorrect measurement.
What you could not see, you must still mention
A sealed crawl space, a roof you could not safely access, a chimney you only saw from the ground: those are not mistakes, as long as you record them. The claim arises when the report is silent and the buyer infers that the element was sound. Note for each element the reason for not inspecting and the advice to investigate further, even if the client rejects it.
Asbestos and contamination fall outside the cover
Almost every policy has a asbestos exclusion and an exclusion for loss connected with soil or environmental contamination. If you do not report asbestos-suspect material, the remediation bill is precisely the risk your insurer does not carry. If you also carry out surveys, ask expressly whether that work can be included and on what condition.
Your own time is not insured loss
Going back, rewriting the report and refunding your fee remain at your own expense. What is insured is the loss suffered by the client arising from the mistake. Also excluded are fines and penalty payments, as is liability you take on yourself by giving a guarantee that goes further than a fellow professional can deliver.
Reports outlive your practice
A survey report resurfaces years later, sometimes with a subsequent owner. The 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 of twenty years; Article 3:310 of the Dutch Civil Code governs that. A BAV works on a claims made basis, so it is not the year of the survey but the year of notification that is decisive. If you stop, run-off cover is the only way to keep old reports covered.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis of calculation for a self-employed professional
- Share of private clients: consumer protection limits your terms
- Type of surveys: pre-purchase survey, condition assessment or maintenance plan
- Destructive or asbestos-related investigation: whether you do it and whether it is included
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
- Retroactive and run-off periods: for reports from before and after the term
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| Wet rot under a finished floor that you could not see and did not mention as a caveat | No | Yes |
| A foundation you passed without comment that has to be repaired two years later | No | Yes |
| A buyer who received your report through the seller holds you liable for repair costs | No | Provided that |
| Asbestos-suspect sheeting that you did not identify as such and that has to be removed | No | No |
| During the survey you put your ladder through a roof light | Yes | No |
| The client wants his survey fee back because he finds the report too brief | No | No |
What you were unable to assess is not a mistake, as long as it is in the report. If that note is missing, it becomes a dispute about cover.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The buyer found wet rot in the floor after completion. Am I liable?
Not automatically. Yours is an undertaking to use best efforts: the standard is what a reasonably competent and reasonably acting surveyor should have noticed in a visual survey. The basis for that is the contractor's duty of care in Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Code. If the floor was finished and you noted that you could not look underneath it, your position is strong. If that note is missing, it becomes an argument about what was visible.
May I limit my liability to my fee?
Towards a business client usually yes, provided the terms were supplied in time. Towards a private individual it is risky: a clause that substantially restricts the consumer's statutory rights can be unreasonably onerous and fall away. So do not count on a limit in your terms reducing your need for cover. The court looks at the circumstances of the case.
What do I do if a client rings up angry but has not yet claimed?
Report it to your insurer as a circumstance. Under a claims made policy that notification fixes the insurance year, even if the actual claim only comes later. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to inform the insurer as soon as you reasonably know of the possible loss. Do not admit liability and do not promise any payment before the insurer has assessed the file.
I am giving up survey work next year. Can I simply cancel the policy?
You can, but you will then be uninsured for claims that come in afterwards about reports from your active years. Ask for run-off cover before you cancel and record its duration in writing. Insurers offer that period in various lengths; which suits you depends on the type of work you did and on how long your reports stay in circulation.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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