A building contractor buys insurance against two quite different things. One is the harm the work can do to people and property around it. The other is the money tied up in the work itself, which belongs to somebody until it is handed over and can burn down, blow over or be stolen in the meantime.
Liability is the entry ticket, not the whole policy
Public and employers' liability get a contractor through the gate, and most site inductions check for nothing else. They answer for injury and for damage to property that is not part of the contract. They do not answer for damage to the works themselves, for materials stolen from site, or for plant that is destroyed, which is why a contractor whose insurance stops at liability can be fully insured against hurting somebody and completely uninsured against losing the job.
Contract works, and who owns the risk until handover
Contract works cover, often sold as contractors' all risks, insures the permanent and temporary works while they are being built. Standard building contracts allocate that risk explicitly, and the party carrying it is usually required to insure it in joint names. New build, extension and refurbishment sit differently again, because refurbishment work happens inside an existing structure that somebody else already insures and the two policies have to meet cleanly rather than leaving a gap over the interface.
Plant, tools and hired in equipment
Owned plant is insured on a plant section, at agreed values or on an indemnity basis. Hired in plant is different, because the hire agreement normally makes the hirer responsible for the item and for the hire charges that keep running while a replacement is found. That continuing hire charge is a real exposure and is a named extension rather than an assumption, so a contractor who hires a excavator or a tower should read what the hire contract puts on them before relying on a general plant section.
What a main contractor checks at the gate
A main contractor's insurance requirement is usually a schedule of minimum limits, evidence in the form of a certificate or broker letter, and sometimes a request to note their interest. Where the contract is on a standard form, the insurance clauses are numbered and specific, and a subcontractor who reads them before pricing avoids discovering a required limit on the day the works start. The certificate is worth keeping current in a folder, because it is asked for repeatedly and always at short notice.
Questions people ask about building contractors insurance
Is contract works insurance the same as public liability?
No. Public liability answers for injury and for damage to other people's property. Contract works insures the building work itself while it is being constructed.
Who insures the works, the contractor or the client?
The building contract says. Standard forms allocate it explicitly, and the party carrying it is usually required to insure in joint names, so read the clause before assuming.
Does a plant section cover hired in equipment?
Not automatically. Hired in plant and the continuing hire charges are normally a separate extension, because the exposure comes from the hire agreement rather than from ownership.