You’re in the middle of renovating your business premises when you discover the waterproofing in the bathroom is faulty.
You can only fix it by removing the tiles, which means breaking them, so you need to find, and pay for, replacements – but they’ve been discontinued.
It’s impossible to find a perfect match for the rest of the bathroom, so all of the tiles must be replaced.
Meanwhile, the fault caused a leak, and someone slipped on the wet floor and has a significant injury.
Where do you stand with your insurance?
“It’s complicated because there are different kinds of cover in play,” says Steadfast Group’s Broker Technical Manager, Michael White.
Contract Works or Construction Works Insurance
If you’re using professional builders or tradesmen, their own Contract Works Insurance may provide some protection.
“Different states and territories have different rules, but anyone undertaking significant building work is required to have one of these policies,” White says. “This should cover you, the builder and, generally may cover any subcontractors who work on the job against any accidental physical loss or damage to the project during the actual construction period – but you should always check the details before any work starts.”
“Different states and territories have different rules, but anyone undertaking significant building work is required to have one of these policies”
Generally, policies do not provide cover for the cost of rectifying faulty workmanship. They only provide cover for the cost of repairing the consequences of the poor workmanship, not the cost of rectifying the faulty workmanship itself.
“There might be some situations where you have cover for part of that cost, but it really comes down to the facts of each claim,” White says. “This is a big issue because we’re not talking about minor things like a few splashes of paint on the floor, faulty workmanship can lead to major problems.”
Public liability
Building professionals should also be covered by public liability insurance. If your business renovations are extensive and someone is injured, or their property is damaged, as a direct result of the work, this should cover associated costs.
Your business insurance
Business insurance is designed to provide cover for your business and your assets if they’re damaged by unexpected events. These generally include fire, storm and theft but, again, this varies. It’s wise to check where you’d stand if the damage was related to building works either in progress or completed.
“Imagine the builder is doing hot work such as welding,” White says. ”If that starts a fire and your business burns down, you may be in serious trouble if you don’t have appropriate cover.’
Your Steadfast broker can help you put in place the right cover for your business and for your home. Talk to us today to find out more.
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