Project owners

Building or remodelling? We don't have to tell you that there’s a lot involved. Unpredictable weather conditions, work taking longer than planned ... It is therefore logical that you would like to cover your home optimally against all possible risks.

It's best to do this with the same insurer as your architect's. In this way, your home enjoys optimal protection, for example with our All Construction Risks policy or our comprehensive 10-year liability policy, which covers the stability shortcomings after the provisional acceptance:

All Construction Site Risk insurance

We don't have to tell you how complex and risky construction can be: you are confronted with different parties, new laws and standards, unpredictable weather conditions, ... and, moreover, building is no easy matter technically. As a result, it is not always easy to identify the exact cause or liable party or parties in the event of damage, which often leads to lengthy and costly legal proceedings. If the building is not yet completed, the situation is often made even more difficult because the construction site is not progressing and additional costs are incurred.

The All Construction Site Risks insurance offers a solution: this formula insures all parties in one policy. This way you can be sure of a compensation and there is no discussion about its distribution.

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Who is the policyholder and who is insured?

  • Insured: all construction parties (client, contractors, architect, engineers, safety coordinators)
  • Policyholder: it is recommended for the client to take out the policy (so he has control of the policy while making sure the policy is tailored to the building he envisions), but the contractor can also do so.

What is insured?

Section 1: Material damage to the construction itself
In the event of damage in section 1, there is no search for the liable party, as a result of which the damage is arranged fairly quickly and the work can be continued quickly.

  • Damage due to force majeure (thunderstorms, floods, storms...)
  • Damage due to fire and explosion
  • Qualified theft or vandalism
  • Extensions always included: incorrect building part (damage due to calculation or conceptual error or lack of material) and demolition and disposal costs
  • Possible expansion: existing good

Section 2: Damage to third parties as a result of the work
Section 2 guarantees the repair of the damage to third parties as a result of the insured work.

  • Neighbours’ house collapses when contractor excavates foundations
  • A crane falls over and damages the neighbour’s house
  • Possible extensions: cross liability, damage due to vibrations, damage due to reduction of groundwater level

For which period are you insured?

The building-assembly-test period starts when the works commence and ends at the time of provisional acceptance, occupation or start-up of the construction After provisional acceptance, the maintenance period starts (limited maintenance of 12 months or extensive maintenance of 24 months).

What is the insured amount?

This is the sum of all contracting contracts, including fees, as well as non-recoverable VAT, and is determined provisionally at the time the policy is taken out.

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Comprehensive ten-year liability insurance

The contractor, engineer and architect have a 10-year liability pursuant to articles 1792 and 2270 of the civil code. However, not every building partner used to take out insurance against this liability. The architect used to be the only building partner who was legally required to take out insurance, the other building actors were not. When faced with a non-insured and/or insolvent building partner, there was never any certainty about the compensation of damages.

The new Peeters Act of 31/05/2017 now partially solves this problem and also requires contractors, architects and other construction service providers to take out an insurance policy to cover their ten-year liability. However, this is only for the construction of housing (>50% of the surface area intended for residential purposes). To this end a comprehensive 10-year liability insurance can be taken out together with all the parties involved. Insuring all construction partners with a 10-year liability in a single policy will avoid lengthy discussions about the distribution of the claim.
For the construction of housing it is a legal requirement, for other buildings not a requirement, but a necessity.

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Warranty insurance - Renovation of facades

A contractor is expected, thanks to high-quality products and good craftsmanship, to complete the work and to avoid any defects for a period of ten years. But what if the products used show defects or have been misused? A specialised inspection can prevent many of these problems. However, ten years is a long period and the contractor often no longer exists when damage occurs. The guarantee insurance offers an excellent solution for this with the inspection and long guarantee period. It is also a good addition to the Ten-Year policy, which is often not suitable for a number of works because it does not involve stability-technical works.

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Who is the policyholder and who is insured?

  • Policyholder: client, association of co-owners, building manager, contractor, supplier/manufacturer of systems/products used
  • Insured: the building contractors
  • Beneficiary: owner of the building

What is insured?

If different techniques are applied together, they can be insured under the same policy. The guarantee insurance compensates the cost of repairing the damaged parts if well-defined defects occur. The insurance can be taken out for the following applications, supplemented by frequent insured defects:

  • coating on concrete or steel structures (e.g. flaking of paint)
  • waterproofing systems (e.g. roofing which is not waterproof)
  • facade plastering systems, with and without insulation (e.g. loosening and cracking of plaster)
  • concrete repair
  • industrial floors

For which period are you insured?

A term of 5 to 10 years.

How is the technical inspection conducted?

In view of the long guarantee period without the possibility to cancel the policy, the policy shall always require an inspection upon completion of works by an official and specialised inspection agency. This also provides the client with extra certainty about the quality of the works and the products used (which must always have official quality marks: ATG, ETA...). The policyholder pays the costs of this inspection.

Who is EURACOR?

For the acceptance of risks and the underwriting of policies, Protect has entered into a cooperation agreement with the agency EURACOR.

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Ten-year Policy Belgium

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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