Calculations · survey reports · asbestos and soil
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a construction consultancy
A building consultancy supplies figures and reports on which others base their decisions. A mistake in them rarely stays with one party.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een bouwadviesbureau.
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.
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- 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
A building consultancy rarely does just one thing. Structural calculations, building physics and fire safety advice, cost estimates, building surveys, long-term maintenance plans, construction supervision and sometimes an asbestos survey or soil investigation all sit in the same portfolio. Each of those products has its own way of going wrong, and those differences determine what your professional indemnity insurance has to cover. All claims have one thing in common: they concern pure financial loss. The structure of the policy is set out on the hub page on the BAV.
So look first at the business activity on the policy schedule. If it says only 'building consultancy', the question is whether an asbestos survey, an energy assessment or acting as construction supervisor falls within it. Have every service named. Advice falling outside the described insured capacity is not a partly insured risk but an uninsured one. See also professional indemnity for engineering consultancies.
A second point is how your report works towards third parties. A building survey report or a long-term maintenance plan is used by buyers, lenders, tenants or an owners' association who are not parties to your engagement. They can rely on your report and hold you liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. Limit that by stating in the report for whom and for what purpose it was prepared, and what was not investigated. For individual consultants there is professional indemnity insurance for building surveyors the starting point.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four risks that lead to a claim in building consultancy more often than a calculation error.
Asbestos and soil contamination
Virtually every BAV contains an asbestos exclusion and an exclusion for environmental contamination. If you carry out surveys or soil investigations, that is precisely your core risk: an asbestos-containing material missed or contamination not identified leads to remediation costs and downtime. Ask expressly whether this work can be included and on what conditions.
Estimates are read as promises
A cost estimate or a long-term budget is an assessment, but a client reads an amount into it. Many policies exclude liability for estimates and budgets being exceeded or limit it to a sub-limit. State in every document the accuracy class, the reference date, the assumptions and what has not been included.
Investigation that was not carried out
In a visual survey, non-destructive investigation is the norm. Disputes arise when a defect behind a wall or under a floor surfaces later. Your defence is the description of the engagement: what was inspected, by which method, and what further investigation you advised. Record that advice, even if the client rejects it.
What is excluded as standard
Excluded are fines and penalty payments, the cost of redoing your own report or calculation, and liability under guarantees and obligations to achieve a result. Intent and wilful recklessness fall outside the cover under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. For damage to soil and the environment at a site there is separate environmental damage insurance, which is aimed at the owner or user.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: split across the different forms of advice
- Share of structural advice: calculations weigh more heavily than inspection
- Asbestos and soil work: whether that is carried out and included in the cover
- Number of advisers: including hired-in specialists
- Sum insured: per claim and per insurance year
- Your own terms: a sound limitation of liability counts
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A building physics report leads to a facade that fails the fire requirements and has to be altered afterwards | No | Yes |
| Subsidence that your inspector did not identify during the survey and that has to be repaired after handover | No | Yes |
| An asbestos-containing sheet that your survey misses and that has to be removed after all | No | Provided that |
| Your cost estimate turns out at tender stage to be far off the actual price | No | Provided that |
| Your inspector damages newly installed window frames during a survey | Yes | No |
| The client claims the bill from the second consultancy that had to redo your report | No | No |
Check for each service whether it is stated in your insured capacity: construction supervision and surveys are often assessed separately from building consultancy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A buyer is claiming on the basis of our survey report. Is that possible?
Yes, even without a contract with you. Anyone using a report whose use could reasonably be expected can rely on tort under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. Your best protection is a clear scope in the report itself: for whom it was prepared, which elements were assessed, which method was used and which caveats apply. Report such a claim to the insurer at once.
Is a mistake in a structural calculation always covered?
Only if structural advice falls within your described insured capacity and the claim is notified during the term or the run-off period. Also watch the series claim provision: if the same calculation method was applied on several projects, those claims often count together as one claim with one limit. Ask how the policy defines related mistakes.
What if the contractor departs from our advice?
Then responsibility shifts, provided you can show what you specified and that you warned in good time when you saw the departure. Article 7:754 of the Dutch Civil Code imposes a duty to warn on building parties that must be complied with in writing and unambiguously. An oral remark on site is almost no evidence in a dispute; record it in the site minutes.
Do we need an AVB alongside the BAV?
Yes. Inspections, measurements and time spent on building sites bring a risk of injury and property damage, and that type of loss falls outside the BAV. public and employers' liability insurance covers that part, including damage to third-party property where the care, custody and control provision leaves room. Most consultancies have both policies, often with the same insurer.
Read more
Within Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering ingenieursbureau
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering constructeur zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering werktuigbouwkundig bureau
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering werktuigbouwkundige zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering bouwkundig adviseur zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering constructiebureau
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