Contractor or principal? Choose your perspective.

For contractors: the cover that carries the business forward

As a contractor, CAR/EAR cover settles three questions at once. What does it protect? The works under construction – in other words, the value standing behind the interim invoices –, the temporary works, and, through the liability section, damage caused to third parties. Who takes it out? On many projects, you do, because the contract or the tender requires it; on others, the principal takes it out and includes you as an insured party – the contract clarifies this, for details see: who should take out the CAR policy? What about the chain? Subcontractors can typically be included as insured parties – but there's a proper way to do it: the subcontractor chain.

• Several jobs a year? An annual open cover is more predictable and means less admin.
• Preparing for a tender? The tender certificate article and the checklist will walk you through it – for the specific requirement, the tender documentation prevails.
• Working with machinery? Cover for plant is a borderline question: construction machinery and equipment.
• Protecting your own company? CAR is project cover – the company's general and professional liability insurance is a separate discipline: how the two relate.

For principals: protecting your own money

As a principal, construction insurance isn't just the contractor's private business: your advance payment, interim invoices and the value already built in stand behind it for covered losses – even where the damage is force majeure. What it doesn't cover: the contractor's insolvency isn't an insured event – that's what a performance bond (a bank guarantee or surety bond) is for. You can choose between two routes: you take out the policy yourself for the whole project (with the contractor chain brought in as insured parties), or you require it of the contractor to hold the right cover – in which case checking it is the key.

• What should you look at on the contractor's policy? Not just whether the paper exists, but what's in it: the principal's checks + the tick-box checklist.
• Working on an existing building? Cover for existing property is primarily in your own interest: insuring an extension or refurbishment.
• Drafting the contract? What you can hold the other side to depends on the wording of the insurance clauses: the clauses article (with a lawyer-reviewed panel).
• Handover approaching? Make sure the switch from project cover to operational insurance is handled in an orderly way: after handover + checklist.

When both sides sit at the same table

On the best projects, insurance isn't a point of contention but a shared language: the contract sets out who takes out cover, for what, and with what limits, certificates are issued on time, and every member of the chain knows where they stand. This is where I can help the most – whether you come to me from the contractor's side or the principal's: I assess the need and explain the options – the decision is yours.