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According to construction insurance specialist insurer MECON, 45% of building failures are a result of design issues. Without professional indemnity (PI) cover builders run the serious risk of being uninsured when they are dragged into litigation over defective design.

This presentation includes examples of WorkSafe prosecutions of construction companies. It explains the insurance available to cover health & safety liability, as well as employee disputes.

With the recent Sky City Convention Centre fire a hot topic (ha ha) now is a good time to highlight the expectations insurers generally have around hot work claims.

There are far too many examples of trade firms being penalised for not following the right processes when dealing with an employment dispute. Regardless of the merit of the dispute, if you don’t follow the right procedures, you could be in trouble. Even with the best processes in place you may at some point have to deal with a disgruntled employee and have to face the Employment Relations Authority. At the very least you will need to engage professional legal services to help you through a dispute.

Builders can be liable for mistakes made by their subbies or consultants, whose terms of trade often limit their liability. It is wishful thinking in the extreme to assume someone else’s insurance will protect you, even if you’re only liable because of their mistake.

There are a few key triggers that must be met before your public liability insurance claim can even be considered. One of them is that a third party must have suffered a loss, typically due to physical damage you’ve done, that they are holding you responsible for.