Art. 1792 and 2270 of the Civil Code provide that the contractor, engineer, architect and possibly also the project developer bear a ten-year liability. From 1 July 2018, the other construction partners in the housing sector will also be required to take out insurance. However, this obligation does not apply to projects outside the housing sector. The Ten-Year insurance offers a solution for these projects: this formula insures all liable construction partners in a single policy, thus avoiding lengthy discussions about the distribution of the claims burden.

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Who is the policyholder and who is insured?

• Policyholder: client, contractor or developer
• Insured: all construction partners with decennial liability.

What is insured?

Basic guarantees
The Ten-Year policy insures the repair costs of the building during the ten-year period from the provisional or final acceptance for damage covered by the ten-year liability.

Additional guarantees
The policy also standard provides an intervention for repair costs of parts which do not belong to the rough structure (finishing, installations ...) if these are the result of a covered claim.

In second rank, the policy also intervenes for damage to third parties which is the result of an insured claim governed by the above-mentioned basic guarantee. Strictly speaking this is damage which can be recovered from the liable architect, contractor or engineer on the basis of article 1382 Civil Code.

Any consequential loss with neighbours due to a claim covered by the basic guarantee is also a possible extension. The neighbours can also address the project developer directly on the basis of article 544 Civil Code.

The basic guarantee can be further extended with a coverage for immaterial consequential loss stemming from a claim covered by the basic guarantee.

What is the insured amount?

This is based on the estimated value of the rough structure (water and wind-tight) including the total fees and non-recoverable VAT. The final value of the works will be requested after the delivery. The final policy will be drawn up and the premiums settled on the basis of this value.

How does the inspection work?

A performance inspection conducted by Protect or an external inspection agency recognised by Protect, is always linked to a Ten-year insurance policy. The type of inspection depends on the size of the value to be insured. For smaller works, the cost of the inspection is included in the premium. For other works the policyholder pays the costs directly to the inspection agency. The advice of the inspection agency shall be decisive for the insurability of the construction.

What documents are required to draw up a quotation?

• A fully completed insurance proposal
• The architectural plans
• The probation report
• The stability study

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