Contract Works

Before commencing any residential, commercial or civic building works, it is imperative to ensure you have a contract works insurance policy in place.

A Contract Works policy is designed to assist registered builders, contractors and owner builders to meet their contractual obligations to insure a building project. It provides for accidental loss or damage during the construction period for loss resulting from things such as fire, flood, malicious damage and theft. 

The Contract Works policy can be extended to include cover for:

  • Existing buildings which do not part of the contract works
  • Constructional plant
  • Materials in transit/storage
  • Employees tools
  • Public Liability

This policy is designed to provide insurance cover as required under a construction contract.

Please Note: Below are some of the more common insurance policy features, however, the list is not exhaustive and some features may not be offered by certain insurers. Please refer to the insurer-specific policy wording for inclusions, exclusions, terms and conditions. 

Covered Features

Contract | Project Value

Sum insured required to rebuild the project from new if totally destroyed by an insured event.

Existing Buildings | Structures

For renovations, already existing buildings need to be specified separately and noted with their own replacement value.

Public Liability

Covers claims for negligence against the builder for damage to property or injury to persons on site.

Plant & Equipment

Covers the builder’s own equipment, these need to specified and covered with their own sum insured.

Professional Fees

Provides cover for fees incurred as part of a project such as architects, drafting services, surveyors etc.

Expediting Expenses

In the event of a major claim, extra costs (such as overtime, express freight, etc) may be incurred in fast tracking repairs or replacement of a damaged or destroyed item.

FAQ's:

Any builder, building contractor, property developer, subcontractors or trade working on a construction site needs to have contract works insurance.  It provides cover from inception, whilst the work is in progress and after completion. 

No, warranty insurance is designed to protect the purchaser only in the event of the builder passing away, going broke or going missing.

This is an area where everyone embarking on a renovation project needs to speak to their insurance broker. Depending on the value of the extension, some insurers will cover the value of the extension, the liability component of the extension and some won’t cover any of these sections.

Contract Works and Liability policies are generally issued for a 12 month period and the premium is determined by the sum insured, rather than the construction period. In the event of construction taking longer than 12 months, insurers will generally extend the policy and then only charge a pro-rata premium for the additional period.

It is generally more cost effective to have an annual policy with a limit per contract. At the end of the year, your insurer will ask for a declaration of the actual contracts you commenced in the last 12 months and a premium adjustment is made, this can be either a credit or a debit.

The biggest benefit of having an annual policy is knowing that you are automatically covered for every contract you commence and you don’t have to notify your insurance company unless the contract exceeds your maximum value.

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