Facade installations · teams · maintenance contracts
Liability insurance for a window cleaning firm
With teams on high-rise buildings, facade installations and annual contracts with managing agents, the risk profile changes. The premium is not set by the broken pane but by an employee's fall and the requirements in the specification.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een glazenwassersbedrijf.
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
As soon as you work with staff, a fall from height is the loss that determines everything. Under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code the burden of proof lies with you: you must show that the workplace was safe, that fall protection was available and that its use was supervised. With suspended cradles, facade access installations and anchor points there is an inspection requirement on top of that. If a valid inspection certificate for the installation your people worked on is missing, that weakens your position towards both the injured employee and the insurer.
The second theme is the chain. You work for managing agents, VvEs and facilities providers who include a minimum sum insured, an indemnity or a liability arrangement in the specification. Liability accepted by contract going beyond what follows from the law is almost always excluded on public and employers' liability insurance. Put your purchasing conditions and the specification alongside your policy conditions before you sign, not after something has happened.
Three items fall outside the cover. Contractual penalties for a missed round or for failing to meet a cleaning frequency are not compensation for loss and are therefore not insured. The surface cleaned itself — glass, coating, facade cladding, frame timber — falls under the care, custody and control exclusion as soon as you work on it. And damage caused with an access platform or van taking part in traffic falls under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM); for the equipment itself there is plant and machinery insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four points on which a window cleaning company with staff is assessed differently from a sole trader.
Who inspects the facade installation
With suspended cradles and roof cars the building owner is responsible for the installation, but you are responsible for the decision to use it. Ask for the current inspection report before each use and record that you did so. If the installation fails, that is the document with which you place liability on the possessor of the structure under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Hired-in and engaged cleaners
Peak work in this sector is often done with agency workers or self-employed people. If they work under your direction, your duty of care extends to them through Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code, whoever holds the contract. Report hiring in and subcontracting when you apply, and check with self-employed people that their own liability policy is actually in force.
Facade cleaning with chemicals and high pressure
Cleaning is a different trade from washing. High pressure on pointing, an acid cleaning agent on natural stone or aluminium, or run-off water going into a planted area or the drain: those are property damage and sometimes soil damage. Pollution is usually limited on the liability policy to sudden events; structural or gradual pollution belongs on environmental damage insurance.
Access to buildings outside working hours
Teams entering offices early in the morning hold keys, passes and alarm codes. Alongside the loss of a master key system, there is the risk here that an employee fails to set the alarm and a break-in follows. That consequential loss is pure financial loss and falls outside cover; record the procedure and limit the number of key holders.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and number of employees: the basis for employers' liability
- Share of high-rise work: work above the third floor is assessed separately
- Use of facade installations: suspended cradles and roof cars call for inspection certificates
- Hired-in labour and subcontracting: counts towards your duty of care and your turnover basis
- Facade cleaning alongside window cleaning: chemicals and high pressure increase the chance of property damage
- Claims history: in this sector frequency weighs more heavily than size
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A cleaner falls off a mobile tower that was not fully extended and is permanently unfit for work | Yes | No |
| A bucket falls from the fourth floor onto a passer-by | Yes | No |
| Your employee knocks a customer's monitor off the desk while working indoors | Yes | No |
| A cleaner from another company slips on water your team left standing | Yes | No |
| The managing agent recovers an extra day of access platform hire because your team failed to turn up | No | No |
| Your access platform hits the facade of the building while manoeuvring | No | No |
As soon as a vehicle is involved, the loss shifts to the motor policy and not to this cover.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
An employee falls out of a suspended cradle. What happens then?
His injury claim falls under the employers' liability section, provided that is included. The insurer assesses under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code whether your instruction, fall protection and supervision were in order. It will also look at whether the installation had been inspected. If the building owner is at fault, your insurer can seek recovery under Article 6:174 DCC.
Our client requires an indemnity in the contract. Is that possible?
It can be asked for, but you often take on more than the law imposes on you. Liability arising solely from a contractual provision is excluded as standard on public and employers' liability insurance. Have a clause of that kind placed alongside your policy before you sign, so that you know which part you really carry yourself.
We miss a round and are given a penalty. Is that insured?
No. A contractual penalty or reduction of the contract price is not compensation for loss but a sanction for breach of contract, and that is excluded on every liability policy. The same applies to administrative fines from a regulator. For the legal dispute about it you could consider business legal expenses insurance.
Do we have to include subcontractors on our policy?
Including them is one option, but it is usually more practical to require every subcontractor to have liability insurance of their own and to supply evidence of it annually. Towards your client you remain answerable for the whole, so without that check you still carry the risk of their mistakes yourself.
Read more
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