Types of Insurance in Construction

Video Transcript

Hello, I’m Jerry Becerra with Barbary Insurance, and today I want to talk to you about types of construction insurance. Now construction insurance actually is not a topic by itself, but a construction project can use almost every type of insurance. It’s such a big project. So on the professional liability side it might start with architects errors and omissions. Then the general contractor of course will need general liability coverage. And included in that general liability coverage is coverage for completed operations and products. Which essentially is your guarantee against construction defects. You’ll need some sort of property insurance while the property’s being built. And that’s often called either builders risk or a course of construction policy. So it covers the building while it’s being built and it also covers building materials on the site in case they’re stolen or damaged. You don’t want your contractor to go out of business or be unable to perform in the middle of your project. And so frequently a performance bond is required for a construction project. That underwrites the financial stability of the contractor and it also posts money there in case you’re not able to complete the project with that contractor and then need to hire another contractor to replace him. Workers compensation is a big issue on construction sites. Accidents do happen, people do get injured, you don’t want to be dragged into that lawsuit. You want to make sure that there’s good workers compensation coverage on the contractor. And there will be business automobile exposures. You need to make sure that those autos are properly covered, and there could be mobile equipment on the site, too, which requires special coverage. So all of that needs to be in place in order to put up a building. And if you’re having that done you should probably request certificates of insurance from the contractors and make sure you’re named on there as an additional insured and keep track of that because those could be your safety net if something goes wrong. I’m Jerry Becerra with Barbary Insurance. You can find out more about me and coverage at www.barbaryinsurance.com.