Contract Works Insurance: What you need to know

It’s important to have the right kind of insurance in place to manage risks and keep your business moving if anything goes wrong, especially if you work in construction and trades and you’re footing the bill if it all goes belly up. Contract works insurance will ensure your construction project is protected from start to completion. 

Contract works insurance
Contract works insurance covers your project during the construction stage and protects you from accidental loss or damage due to fire, flood, storm, vandalism, or theft during the build. 

What is contract works insurance?

Contract Works insurance is designed to cover accidental and sudden physical loss or damage to the project that is insured during the construction stage. 

When you work in the trade industry, your tools are your lifeline. If anything goes missing, you need it replaced. Depending on your policy, this could also include the cost of the labour, materials and tools required in order to get the job back on track.

 What could a Contracts Works policy cover?

• Natural disasters, such as bushfires, fire, earthquakes, flood and water damage, subsidence and landslip, storm, tsunami, or wind.
• Building materials, equipment, or tools being transported to your building site.
• Theft, vandalism, and arson of construction work and materials.
• Loss and accidental damage while building work is being carried out.

Who is responsible for arranging cover?
For new builds, contract works is required and the builder or construction company usually arranges this cover. However, If renovations or alterations are being done to an existing structure, the responsibility will fall on the owner. 

There are two main types of Contract Works policies. Depending on your situation, you may want a one-off contract and look at this project by project, or an annual policy for someone who regularly builds new homes. 

Who needs this? 

• Tradespeople who run their own projects
• Builder Business Owners
• Sub-contractors 

As a business owner, the key to success is minimising any potential risks for your company. 

Why do you need contract works insurance?
If any one of the below happened to you, it’s important you have Contract Works in place to keep you covered.

To protect from vandalism and theft
A construction company was vandalised by a digger that was on-site and was facing a total rebuild of over $200,000 after someone demolished a house during the night. Check out the article here.

To protect from natural disasters
If there is a natural disaster such as a fire, earthquake, flood and water damage, subsidence and landslip, storm, tsunami or wind. Contract Works insurance puts your mind at ease by keeping you covered.

To protect building materials and tools being sent to your building site
If any equipment that’s being sent to your site gets damaged, lost or delayed then contract works insurance can help.

To protect from accidental damage while work is being carried out
This could cover an accidental nail through a water pipe, causing internal flooding or roof trusses collapsing after a load-bearing wall was removed.

We want to help you protect your crew and your business. That’s why we’ve partnered with Cactus Insurance to make it super easy to protect your site from start to finish.

Cactus are just like us, created by tradies for tradies to make insurance simple. They offer straightforward policies with everything you need and nothing you don’t.

Find out more here.