Research reports · integrated contracts · the subsurface
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for an engineering consultancy
An engineering consultancy delivers research on which decisions are based. If such a decision fails, the loss is the whole project standing still.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een ingenieursbureau.
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
An engineering consultancy operates more broadly than a firm that draws one thing. Geotechnics, water management, roads, noise and air quality studies, building services and energy advice, project management and contract supervision are often in the same business. Insurers look at the described business activity and not at your website: a discipline not stated there falls outside the cover. Have every branch of the work named, including branches that make up only a small part of turnover. An explanation of the product itself is on the hub page on the BAV.
Your specific risk lies in the report underlying a decision. A noise, nitrogen, soil or water study is the basis for an environmental permit or a change to a zoning plan. If a calculation error or a wrong assumption is raised before the administrative court and the decision does not stand, the loss is not the study but the delay to the whole project: construction costs rising, tenants pulling out, grant deadlines expiring. For the adjoining structural work, professional indemnity for structural engineering firms the relevant page.
The third theme is the subsoil. If you design routes, foundations or sewerage, you work with location data for cables and pipes. The WIBON (the Dutch act on underground utility networks) requires you to request and use that data before excavation work. State in your design which information you used and which trial trenches you recommend. If the contractor still hits a pipe, that is damage to property for the grid operator — not pure financial loss, and therefore not a BAV loss.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four subjects that determine the cover at an engineering consultancy.
Research that has to support a decision
In research supporting a permit, it is not only the outcome that counts but also its traceability: which input data, which version of the calculation method, which reference date. Keep the input files and the sources with the report. If a decision is challenged, your file becomes part of the proceedings, and a calculation that cannot be reproduced is the same as a wrong calculation.
Integrated contracts shift the design risk
If you work under the UAV-GC or in a design-and-build team, your client is often the contractor and not the end user. His loss then includes reductions and penalties that he incurs himself for late completion. Those items are excluded as standard on the BAV. Before signing, assess which part of his contractual risk is passed down to you.
Environment, soil and asbestos
If you advise on contaminated sites, remediation or soil flows, you come up against the pollution and asbestos exclusion that virtually every BAV contains. Ask explicitly whether this work can be included. For contamination of a site itself there is environmental damage insurance, which is aimed at the owner or user and not at the adviser.
What the policy does not cover
Not covered are redoing your own research and refunding fees, administrative fines and penalty payments, and liability under warranties or guaranteed performance such as a promised energy saving. Intent and wilful recklessness fall outside the cover under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, and a circumstance already known when the policy was taken out is not insurable.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: split across the disciplines
- Number of advisers: including hired-in specialists
- Share of research supporting permits: decisions that can be challenged
- Contract forms: traditional advice or integrated contract
- Environmental and soil work: whether that is carried out and included in the cover
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| A wrong assumption in your nitrogen calculation causes the environmental permit to fail and the project stands still | No | Yes |
| Your geotechnical advice underestimates settlement and the foundation has to be adapted after all | No | Yes |
| Your advice on a remediation site turns out to be too limited and the contamination spreads | No | Provided that |
| The contractor hits a gas pipe while excavating according to your route design | Provided that | No |
| Your client passes on the reductions he incurs under an integrated contract | No | No |
| A member of staff knocks over a fence with the company car at a survey location | No | No |
Damage to cables, pipes or the ground itself is damage to property and not pure financial loss. The professional cover does not help there.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A permit has been quashed because of a mistake in our research. Is that covered?
In principle yes, because the client's loss consists of delay and additional costs, and that is pure financial loss. The condition is that the research falls within your stated professional capacity and that the claim is notified within the policy period or the run-off period. The size of the loss is often the hardest point: not all delay can be attributed to the mistake.
The contractor hit a cable that was not on our drawing. Who carries that?
Damaged cables are damage to property and therefore do not fall under professional indemnity insurance, even where the cause lies in your drawing. That kind of loss belongs on public and employers' liability insurance or, during construction, on Construction all risks (CAR) insurance. Your responsibility concerns whether you processed the available location data correctly and whether you recommended trial trenches.
We work abroad; is that included?
Only if the area of cover allows it. Note two concepts there: the area in which the work may take place and the jurisdiction under which a claim may be brought. Policies often exclude claims under North American law. If you are going to work outside the Netherlands for the first time, report it in advance; reporting it afterwards can, under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code, affect payment of a claim.
How does our BAV relate to construction all risks (CAR) insurance on the project?
CAR insurance covers damage to the works themselves and liability during construction. Some project policies include a design risk section. That section does not replace your own cover: it runs for as long as the project runs and is limited to that project, while your liability continues afterwards. When you join a project, always ask for the policy schedule so that it is clear what is insured where.
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