Builder insurance

Builder insurance can combine different types of cover for your building work, employees, tools and projects. Choose cover to match the work you undertake, the people working with you and the insurance responsibilities in your contracts.

Compare builder insurance quotes through Simply Business. Check which building activities and types of cover the quote includes. A builder policy does not automatically cover every construction risk.

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What insurance does a builder need?

Start with the losses your business could face. This table helps identify cover to consider; it does not mean every section is included or available in each quote.

What could happen?	Cover to consider	Important distinction
A customer or member of the public alleges injury or property damage	Public liability	Does not automatically insure the project itself.
An employee alleges work-related injury or illness	Employers’ liability	Actual working arrangements and applicable legal obligations matter.
Damage to unfinished building work	Contract works	Existing structures and completion arrangements need separate checking.
Theft or damage involving tools or materials	Relevant tools, stock or materials protection	Check which property the section insures.
Loss or damage involving machinery	Owned or hired-in plant	Owning a machine and being responsible under a hire agreement create different questions.
Claims concerning professional advice or design	Professional indemnity	Check the services insured and the obligations you accept.

Public liability insurance for builders

Public liability insurance covers your legal liability for injury to other people or damage to their property arising from insured business activities. The injured person could be a customer, visitor or passer-by, including where an employee causes the incident.

Hypothetical example: A customer claims that you damaged their garden wall while moving materials for an extension. This does not automatically mean your business is liable or the claim is covered. Check the insured activity and restrictions affecting the damaged property.

Employers’ liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance covers your legal liability for employee injury or illness arising from work.

Hypothetical example: An employee claims they were injured while lifting materials. Whether your business is responsible and the claim is covered depends on the circumstances and applicable terms. Check who works for you and how they are engaged when arranging this cover.

Contract works and materials

Contract works insurance can cover insured building work in progress and relevant materials against loss or damage.

Hypothetical example: A fire damages an unfinished extension. Whether the work and materials are insured depends on the section selected, the insured project and its terms.

Damage to insured work and a liability claim against the builder are separate insurance questions.

Tools and owned or hired plant

For tools, check which items are insured and any theft, storage or transit conditions.

Check owned and hired machinery separately. Check the amount insured, how the insurer values equipment when paying a claim, and any limit for a single item. For hired equipment, establish your responsibilities under the hire agreement.

Hypothetical example: A hired machine is damaged on site. Check the hire agreement and the relevant plant section rather than assuming tools insurance applies. Ask whether any continuing hire charges you could owe are insured and on what terms.

Our tradesperson insurance page explains the wider choice of sections for a trade business.

Design and professional responsibilities

If you provide designs, specifications or recommendations, or accept design-and-build obligations, discuss those responsibilities with the provider. Professional indemnity insurance is worth considering if a client could claim that your advice or design caused a loss.

Do not assume public liability covers every design-related loss or that professional indemnity is included in a building contractor insurance quote. Describe the services you provide and the contractual obligations involved.

For machinery you hire, read the hired-in plant insurance guide to check hire responsibilities, equipment values and continuing charges.

Who is responsible for insuring the building work and existing property?

Check the building contract and the insurance actually arranged by each party. Neither the builder nor the customer should be assumed to insure everything connected with the project.

Work in progress versus existing structures

An extension project can involve new work, the original building and other property nearby. These need separate checks:

What is insured? Identify the new work, relevant materials and existing property protected by each policy.
Who arranges the insurance? Check the contract and confirm which party has arranged each type of cover.
What restrictions apply? Check the activities, property and losses covered, including any restrictions on property being worked on.

Contract works cover does not automatically insure the existing structure. Public liability also should not be treated as a replacement for insurance on the project property itself.

Materials, hired equipment and contractual responsibilities

Establish who bears responsibility for materials and equipment, including items supplied by the customer or hired by another party. Ownership alone may not answer what your contract requires you to insure.

Check who and what the policy protects, along with the values and locations. Check whether the project value must include materials supplied by the customer, even if you did not pay for them. Use the valuation method required by the policy.

Completion, handover and project changes

Check when cover starts for a project and when it ends. The relevant definitions and any continuing protection vary by policy.

Check these events with the provider:

Completion, handover or occupation: confirm how each can affect when cover ends or changes.
Delays or suspended work: tell the provider and check any time limit or notification condition while the site is inactive.
Changes in project size or activities: explain proposed changes and confirm any agreed cover and its effective date.

Where contractual responsibilities are unclear, ask the appropriate professional and insurance provider to clarify them before work starts.

Correcting defective work and repairing resulting damage may receive different treatment. Cover for damage does not establish payment for redoing the faulty work. Check these costs separately from the insurance responsibilities above.

What building work should your insurance cover?

Describe all the work you undertake, including occasional jobs, related trades and subcontracted services. A general builder description does not establish that every activity is covered.

New work, extensions, alterations and refurbishment

Prepare details of new builds, extensions, structural alterations and refurbishment, including any related installation, repair or finishing work.

Structural and specialist activities

Identify demolition, underpinning, excavation, work at height and heat work, meaning work involving flames or heat-producing equipment. Explain the methods involved and ask the provider to confirm that the policy covers the activity and any restrictions. Height, excavation-depth and project-value limits vary by policy.

Project size, location and site conditions

Have these project details ready:

contract types and values;
expected project duration;
project locations;
whether buildings remain occupied; and
residential, commercial, industrial or specialist sites.

Use the figure the insurer asks for. Annual turnover and the value of your largest project measure different things.

What exclusions and activity restrictions should builders check?

Read the quote with its wording, schedule and endorsements, which are documents changing the terms. Match them to your work rather than relying on the package name.

Issue	What to check
Defective work	Check treatment of rectification costs separately from resulting damage.
Property being worked on	Check restrictions affecting the item or area under repair.
Structural work, demolition and underpinning	Confirm that the specific work is covered.
Excavation, heights and heat	Match applicable limits and precautions to your working methods.
Existing structures and unfinished work	Check each type of property separately.
Tools, materials and plant	Check each section’s property definitions, values and security conditions.
Specialist sites and locations	Confirm that the policy covers the setting as well as the task.
Contractual liabilities	Check whether the policy covers obligations before accepting them in a contract.

Our guide to business insurance exclusions explains how restrictions fit together. Insurance does not guarantee the quality of your work or that you will complete the contract.

What should you declare about employees and subcontractors?

Explain the actual arrangements for everyone working with you. A label such as “self-employed” or “subcontractor” does not determine how they are treated for insurance.

Include employees, apprentices, temporary or casual workers, labour-only subcontractors and other subcontracting arrangements where relevant. Labour-only subcontractors generally provide labour under your direction rather than undertaking an independently managed part of the project. The actual arrangement still needs checking.

Confirm:

who employs or engages each person;
what they do and under whose direction;
workforce numbers and wage roll (the total pay for your workforce) requested;
your responsibility for subcontracted work; and
any policy requirement to check subcontractors’ insurance and retain evidence.

A subcontractor’s own policy does not automatically remove your potential liability. Use our guide to employees and subcontractors for the wider questions to resolve with the provider.

Is builder insurance a legal requirement?

Whether insurance is compulsory depends on the type of cover and your circumstances. Customers and main contractors may also set insurance requirements.

Most employers must arrange employers’ liability insurance, subject to applicable exemptions. Great Britain and Northern Ireland have separate legal frameworks. Check the actual working relationships and applicable rules rather than relying on tax status or a worker’s job label.

Motor insurance is required to drive a vehicle on UK roads. Check that the policy permits your actual business use; a building-business package should not be assumed to provide it.

Public liability is generally voluntary, but customers, sites and contracts can require it or project cover. Meeting a stated minimum does not establish that the policy covers every service or potential loss. Insurance also does not replace health-and-safety duties.

Our guide to legally required business insurance explains the distinction between legal and contractual requirements.

How much cover does a builder need?

Start with contractual requirements and the potential consequences of a loss. The fee for a small job is not a reliable measure of how serious an injury or property-damage claim could be.

Check the amounts under each relevant section:

Public liability: contractual requirements, the limit, defence-cost treatment and whether limits apply to one claim or across multiple claims.
Employers’ liability: applicable legal requirements, the limit and defence-cost treatment. Do not assume ordinary excess choices apply to compulsory cover.
Contract works: how the policy calculates the value of the work, maximum contract or project limits and any materials that must be included.
Existing property: the insurance responsibilities established for that project and the protection actually arranged.
Tools, materials and plant: insured values, limits for individual items and any smaller limits for particular losses.
Excesses: the contribution applying to each relevant section or type of loss.

There is no single suitable limit for every builder. Read about choosing public liability cover for that part of the decision, and limits and excesses when comparing the offered terms.

How much does builder insurance cost?

The price depends on your business and the protection selected. The price of public liability alone does not show what you would pay to include project property, tools or plant.

These factors help explain why quotes can differ:

Activities: specialist operations can create different types and sizes of claim from routine building tasks.
Projects and sites: values, duration, occupied premises and project responsibilities affect what could be damaged and how long the risk lasts.
Workforce: who performs and controls the work helps the insurer assess the claims your business could face.
Business size: requested turnover or wage roll helps describe the scale of operations; neither replaces project values.
Cover selected: liability, unfinished work, equipment and professional services involve different losses. Limits, insured values and relevant excesses also affect the protection and price.
Claims history: previous claims and relevant circumstances can affect the insurer’s assessment, terms or availability.

Compare the scope and restrictions alongside the total price and payment terms, including instalment charges where applicable. Our public liability cost guide concerns that section, rather than the price of a complete builder package.

What information do you need to compare quotes?

Have the following information ready when comparing quotes through Simply Business:

business details, all building activities, related trades and specialist work, including structural alterations, demolition, underpinning, excavation, heights and heat work;
project values, duration, locations and site settings requested;
workforce details, including employees, apprentices, temporary help and subcontracting arrangements;
turnover, wage roll and other financial figures requested;
required limits and tools, materials or plant values where seeking protection;
design, advice and contractual responsibilities, including who arranges project insurance;
relevant claims history; and
preferred start date and relevant existing cover.

Describe your work accurately. If the application’s categories do not fit, or a contract requirement is unclear, raise it with the provider before buying.

When arranging business insurance, you must make a fair presentation of the risk. This generally means clearly disclosing material information your business knows or ought to know. Material information is information that could influence an insurer’s decision about whether to insure the risk and on what terms. Alternatively, provide enough information to alert the insurer to ask further questions. Answering the application questions alone may not be enough.

If you are unsure what information is material, ask the broker or insurer before buying.

Requesting a quote does not start cover. Confirm the insurance and its start date before relying on it.

Our guide to comparing business insurance quotes explains how to review the options.

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