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Design & Construct

You are here:Home » Products » Professional Indemnity – UK » Design & Construct

Design & Construct and PI

The increase in prevalence of design and build jobs has led to building or engineering contractors becoming increasingly exposed to design liability, often because they have in-house design services or because they subcontract out the design element of a project but still have contingent exposure.

Clients will normally insist on Professional Indemnity cover these days. Indeed, with the advent of project partnering and new legal structures in construction projects, even contractors with little or no obvious involvement in the design will often be required to have Professional Indemnity cover.

Claims Examples

  • The insured contractor was employed on a design and build basis to construct a hotel. The design works were subcontracted. Clear design errors became apparent during construction leading to rectification costs and delays. The architect had ceased to trade. The architect’s PI policy failed to respond and the contractor was left holding the baby. Amount paid: £850,000
  • Following a catastrophic fire in a shopping complex with a number of contributory factors, the fire insurer issued claims against 13 parties including the insured building contractor, alleging that the faulty design of an extractor flue allowed hot gases to build up. Whilst the claim was successfully defended, irrecoverable costs of £80,000 were incurred
  • The insured was contracted to design and build a cold storage room in a food processing factory. After completion, the temperature of the room consistently remained too high because of inadequate design. Amount paid: £250,000 plus costs
  • The insured designed and built a new car park building. Incorrect structural calculations contributed to total building failure. Amount paid: £550,000 plus costs
  • The insured designed and installed the heating and ventilation for a restaurant. Post completion, air extraction and temperature control failed to work properly. The restaurant had to close pending repairs. Amount paid: £150,000 plus costs
  • The insured was contracted to design and install a bulk handling system at a quarry. The design of the handling system was subcontracted to a specialist consultancy. Substantial damage was caused following catastrophic failure of the conveyor belt machinery. The contractor’s insurers brought a claim against the specialist designers but still incurred irrecoverable expenses of £62,000
  • The insured was contracted for the refurbishment of domestic flats to a previously agreed specification and was asked to fit some additional external balconies not included in the plans. The design of these balconies subsequently led to water penetration into the flats beneath. The builder’s design was found to be deficient. Amount Paid: £150,000.

What makes the difference?

Flexible attitude to underwriting and premiums
‘Can do’ approach to risk with each risk evaluated on its merit
Industry-specific wordings
PI and Liability covers for SME businesses
£5 million Limit of Indemnity for PI
Aggregate and any one claim wordings as standard
Primary and excess layers
Tailor made schemes

Related downloads

Proposal Forms DownloadsAll Proposal Forms


Summaries DownloadsAll Summaries


Wordings DownloadsAll Wordings


Wordings DownloadsMUM Cladding Legal Helpline


Search ClausesSearch All PI Clauses

Contact us

Link House, St. Mary’s Way, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 1HR
Telephone: +44(0) 1494 770700
Fax: +44(0) 1494 774724
Email: info@manchesterunderwriting.com
When we offer insurance products we will state clearly which insurer will underwrite the policy. Any description of cover on this website does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of any cover we may provide, which will be contained in the policy wording itself.

Contact Us

info@manchesterunderwriting.com

01494 770700

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We make every effort to deliver a high quality service to our customers. If you have a complaint about our service, or about a claim, we operate a swift and effective complaints handling procedure. To find out more click here.
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Manchester Underwriting Management is a trading name of Pen Underwriting Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 314493). Registered Office: The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AW. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 5172311.

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