What is Construction Professional Liability Insurance?
Construction Professional Liability insurance addresses the legal liability to which a contractor is exposed due to professional services such as architecture, engineering, surveying, construction management and certain types of consulting related to the construction of a project. Such liability can result from services performed by the contractor or by parties for whom they are legally liable, such as design, engineering and installation subcontractors.
Construction Professional Liability insurance helps protect contractors and owners from design-driven risk exposures and losses arising out of professional services on construction projects. It also complements Contractors’ General Liability insurance programs, which typically exclude or severely limit any coverage for professional services.
What Professional Liability solutions does Zurich provide?
Contractor’s Protective Professional Indemnity (CPPI)® provides coverage for the professional services of a contractor, whether delivered as a general contractor, construction manager, design-builder or trade contractor.
Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI)® provides project-dedicated professional liability insurance that helps protect the project owner from losses arising out of a contracted design professional’s negligence. With Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI)®, the contracted design professionals’ policies are supplemented instead of replaced, thereby improving an owner’s potential recovery.
Why do contractors need Construction Professional Liability insurance?
Errors in professional services on a construction project can lead to a variety of issues, including conflicts, re-work, schedule delays and loss of use — all of which can cause significant damages with both economic and reputational consequences.
Owners hiring contractors often include a requirement specifying that the contractor’s insurance coverages must include Construction Professional Liability insurance with specified minimum limits adequate to address any design-driven exposures on the project. In the event of a claim by or against the owner, if the limits of insurance carried by the contractors and design professionals are insufficient to address the loss, the owner can be faced with having to absorb those damages.
Contractor’s Protective Professional Indemnity (CPPI)® and Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI)® solutions act as supplemental insurance to cover liability damage claims for which General Liability insurance is not designed to respond. If a design professional mistakenly specifies construction materials that are discovered to be inadequate after partial installation, the result may be costly remediations, including significant teardown and re-work.
Why choose Zurich for Construction Professional Liability insurance?
As one of the nation’s leading construction insurers, Zurich has regionally-positioned underwriters with extensive industry experience and deep understanding of the technical and operational aspects of design and construction. These underwriters are embedded within a construction-focused Property and Casualty unit, allowing Zurich to provide comprehensive Construction Professional Liability solutions. In addition, Zurich’s dedicated, highly experienced Construction Claims team is made up of knowledgeable professionals who understand the industry and its claims challenges.
As the first company to write Contractor’s Protective Professional Indemnity (CPPI)® and Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI)® coverage, Zurich has over 25 years of experience and data to draw upon and help customers assess their risk exposures and secure the coverage needed to both protect themselves and allow them to do business.
Construction-focused Risk Engineering services
Supporting both our Construction Underwriting and Claims teams, Zurich Resilience Solutions professionals can assist with Risk Engineering evaluations, assessments and mitigation insights, and also help educate insureds through claim case studies and “lessons-learned” presentations. Additionally, the Zurich Resilience Solutions team supports the Claims unit with pre-claims support and evaluation, cost-submission reviews, and assistance in claim investigations.
What other solutions can Zurich provide to Construction customers?
The Zurich portfolio of coverages available to Construction customers includes:
- Property
- Weather Parametric
- Builders Risk
- General Liability
- Workers’ Compensation
- Auto Liability
- Wrap-Up
- Umbrella Liability
- Pollution Liability
- Surety Bonds