A design-and-build contractor can have both physical construction exposures and professional design responsibilities. Comparing only a contractors’ package can overlook whether the professional services have been separately described and accepted.
Professional-service allegations
Professional indemnity concerns allegations about professional services. Compare the accepted activities, claim and notification wording, prior-work provisions and exclusions. A higher limit cannot repair an activity that the wording does not accept.
Premiums, excesses and usable cover
Request quotations using the same business description, required limits and relevant dates. Put the annual premium, any instalment charges, excesses and important sublimits in one comparison. A cheaper premium can represent a different transfer of risk rather than the same cover at a better price.
| Comparison item | Question to resolve |
|---|---|
| Design responsibility retained by the contractor | Does cover include design liability retained for subcontracted work? |
| Specialist consultants and appointment terms | Which promises go beyond ordinary professional duties? |
| Project types and contractual performance promises | Are defective works and financial losses treated differently? |
Request the proposed wording and schedule, not just a price or certificate. Mark any difference that affects a real activity before deciding whether the premium saving is worthwhile.
The decision that deserves the closest review
Map design performed in-house, design subcontracted to consultants and responsibility retained under the main contract. Ask how fitness-for-purpose promises and rectification costs are treated. Compare professional indemnity alongside contract works and liability cover without treating them as interchangeable.
Prepare an accurate insurance enquiry
Give each adviser a consistent description of the activities being insured. Include important contracts, changes since the previous enquiry and matters the insurer asks you to disclose. Do not guess answers merely to obtain a faster or cheaper quote; ask for clarification when the proposal wording is unclear.
Review the boundary between design and construction
Map the design obligations in the main contract and in appointments with external designers. Then identify physical work, materials, existing property and third-party exposures separately. This produces an insurance brief that can be reviewed section by section rather than assuming one policy label covers the entire project.
Use a design revision during construction as a test case. Ask which documents need updating, whose responsibility changes and how each proposed section responds. Check that the professional-services description and the site-cover description fit the same project without leaving important assumptions between them.
Include overseas work or sales in the UK business’s enquiry and confirm the accepted territories and jurisdictions.
A hypothetical example
A contractor outsources drawings but remains responsible to the client for the design. It supplies the consultant appointment and main contract when obtaining insurance advice, instead of assuming that outsourcing transfers every potential claim.
A mistake to avoid
Expecting contract works insurance to answer every allegation of professional design failure.
Check what happens after the policy starts
Ask who to contact when activities change or a potential claim arises. Understand the notification and consent process before arranging repairs, appointing specialists or settling a complaint. At renewal, compare the new documents with the accepted business description; continuity of a familiar brand does not prove continuity of every term.
Questions before choosing
Does a consultant’s insurance remove the contractor’s exposure?
It may provide another potential recovery route, but it does not by itself rewrite the contractor’s client obligations.
Can contract works insurance replace design-liability review?
Do not treat the two as interchangeable. Ask separately about damage to works and allegations concerning the professional design service or responsibility accepted by the contractor.
Sources and further reading
Research date: 6 October 2026. Refer to the current linked guidance and written provider or adviser terms when making a decision.