Commercial · coverage line
Builders risk.
Project-specific coverage during construction or major renovation. Covers the structure being built, materials on site, and sometimes soft costs from a covered delay.
What it is.
Project-specific coverage during construction or major renovation. Covers the structure being built, materials on site, and sometimes soft costs from a covered delay. Required by most lenders and owners. Written either per-project (single shot) or on a reporting form for a builder doing multiple projects. Coverage ends at acceptance/occupancy — at which point property insurance picks up.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
Custom home framed and partially closed-in burns to the foundation due to electrical fault. Builders risk pays $340K (work to date) plus debris removal. Project rebuilds; carrier handles the loss to date and the policy continues to cover the rebuild.
Job site materials stolen overnight — copper, fixtures, tools left for the next day. $24K loss. Builders risk pays. Standard contractor coverage might exclude on-site materials owned by the builder; builders risk specifically covers them.
Tornado damages a partially built apartment complex. Cleanup + rebuild adds 4 months. Soft-costs endorsement pays $180K in additional interest expense and lost pre-leasing income during the extension.
How to read a builders risk policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
When does builders risk end?
At acceptance of the building or occupancy, whichever comes first. The transition to permanent property insurance is critical — coordinate the dates carefully so there's no gap.
What's the difference between builders risk and contractors equipment?
Builders risk covers the structure being built and materials destined for it. Contractors equipment (inland marine) covers your tools and equipment used to build it. Two separate policies.
Who carries the policy — owner or GC?
Either, depending on the contract. Many AIA contracts specify owner-carries. The GC sometimes carries on smaller projects. Always check the contract before quoting.
Is flood / earthquake covered?
Usually excluded by default; available as endorsements. Flood coverage in a flood zone is essentially mandatory; earthquake more selective.
Want a second read on your builders risk policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.