Construction insurance attorneys

Our construction attorneys combine industry knowledge, litigation experience, and knowledge of contractors’ insurance policies and coverage to help you deal with a wide range of complex insurance-related issues.

Types of insurance for contractors

Here is a brief description of types of insurance coverage that are common in the construction industry. All descriptions are very general in nature, and the coverages described are subject to policy-specific exclusions.

• Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL) covers property damage and bodily-injury claims from third parties, such as when a non-employee is injured on your jobsite. A CGL policy also covers advertising injuries, such as defamation and copyright infringement. Notably, this insurance does not typically cover professional negligence (i.e., workmanship issues), but there are exceptions (e.g., where faulty construction leads to water or fire damage). 
• Builder’s Risk Insurance covers first-party claims for damage to structures or materials during construction and can be written on a project-by-project or project-wide basis. Coverage also commonly includes fire, wind, theft, lightning, hail, explosion and vandalism, but it generally excludes earthquakes, employee theft, or flood damage. Coverage for delays or business interruption can often be added by endorsement. 
• Pollution Liability Insurance covers first- and third-party claims for damage to property and people caused by pollutants, such as smoke, fumes, odors, hazardous substances, waste materials, etc.
• Workers’ Compensation Insurance is mandatory under Arizona law and covers medical costs incurred by employees with a job-related illness or injury. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and/or dependents. Workers’ comp is a no-fault concept that provides coverage regardless of who was responsible for the injury, illness or death.
• Contractor’s Equipment Insurance covers the equipment owner from losses due to physical damage to equipment used in a construction project.
• Employment Practices Liability Insurance covers your company against employee claims for discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination; breach of employment contracts; and, in less common provisions, wage-and-hour and other Fair Labor Standards Act violations.
• Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance covers, as the name suggests, third-party bodily injury and property damage caused during the operation of a motor vehicle by an employee or other company representative.
• Professional Liability Insurance covers third-party claims for professional negligence, errors and omissions, property damage, bodily injury, and financial loss.
• Umbrella Insurance covers an insured party for claims that exceed the limits of other policies.
• Wrap-Up Policies or Owner Controlled Insurance Plans (OCIPs) cover the owner, general contractor and subcontractors on a specific project in a single package of insurance coverages, including many of the types described above.