What is Builders Risk Insurance and Why is it Important?

Fin Madisson
4 min readDec 14, 2022

When a building or structure is being constructed, there are a number of things that can go wrong. You need to be protected against these situations. That’s where builders risk insurance comes in. Understanding the need of builders risk insurance will help you stay risk-free.

What is it?

Builders risk insurance is a type of coverage that protects your building and the materials you use in the construction process. It covers damage caused by fire, wind or lightning, vandalism or theft, falling objects and weight of ice or snow.

If a building under construction is damaged or destroyed by one of these covered perils, builders risk insurance ontario will pay for the cost of repairing or rebuilding it. The policy may also reimburse owners for money lost because they can’t rent out the property while repairs are underway.

Builders risk coverage usually excludes losses caused by floods and earthquakes. In addition, many policies exclude losses due to water damage caused by faulty plumbing or drains because those are usually covered under homeowners’ insurance policies.

Who needs it?

Builders risk insurance is typically purchased by contractors, subcontractors, and other individuals involved in the construction business. However, it can also be purchased by homeowners who are building a new home or renovating an existing one.

Builders risk insurance policies can be purchased for a specific building project or for a certain period of time.

Types of Builders Risk Insurance

1) Builder’s All Risk policy: This is a general form of builders risk insurance that covers everything except the cost of materials used in building the structure and any legal liability for such work. This type of policy will protect your property from fire, storm damage, theft, and vandalism as well as claims made against you for faulty workmanship.

2) Domestic Tradesmen’s All Risks policy: This covers domestic tradesmen who are working on your property, including those working on brickwork, carpentry, plumbing, plastering and roofing jobs. It also covers tools used by these workers which are left unattended at their workplace for more than 24 hours at a time; this means that if someone steals or damages a tool like a drill or hammer, you’ll be covered under this policy without having to pay extra premium fees!

3) Completed Operations: This kind of policy protects an insured’s project after it has been completed. It can be purchased on an annual basis, or it can be purchased along with other types of builder’s all risk insurance coverage.

4) Materials Only: This type of policy protects materials and equipment used in building projects only when they’re in transit between locations. It doesn’t cover them at any other point in their life cycle, including when they’re on site being used in construction work or when they’re in storage waiting for use on another project.

Benefits of Builders Risk Insurance

1. Builder’s risk insurance protects you from any potential damages to the property caused by construction or renovation activities. This includes work done by subcontractors, suppliers, and even the original contractor. It includes materials used in the project as well.

2. Builder’s risk insurance covers not only damage to the property itself, but also loss of use of the property while repairs are being made. This can include lost revenue from renting out unused space while repairs are being made on a tenant’s unit or storefront.

3. Builder’s risk insurance covers liability claims brought against you by third parties who were injured by your employees or subcontractors (even if they were operating outside of their scope of work).

4. Builder’s risk insurance covers losses caused by fire or water damage during construction activities (except when caused by negligence). It also covers theft and vandalism during construction activities (except when caused by negligence).

Conclusion

Some of the more common risks insured against are, fire, water damage, and malicious acts. However, these policies will all differ depending on the nature of the property, who is doing the building work, and the persons responsible for managing it.

--

--

Fin Madisson
0 Followers

I have more than five years of experience in the insurance industry and am an expert at writing policies for large businesses.