Insurance when you project manage your own build

If you hire trades directly, check each trade’s insurance and confirm that your own site policy covers the way you are running the build. You are also the client under the construction safety rules. A main contractor may arrange insurance and coordinate subcontractors, but you still need to check the contract and policy scope if you choose that route. If you are still deciding between routes, read project manage or hire a main contractor first.

What changes when there is no main contractor

• Checks are yours. Unless you appoint someone to do it, you need to collect insurance certificates from the electrician, the plumber or the groundworker.
• Gaps can open between trades. A trade’s policy covers that trade’s work and liabilities. It may not cover damage caused by someone else, or work they pass to a subcontractor.
• Coordination risk sits with you. If two trades damage each other’s work, or a visitor is injured on site, the question of who was responsible can be unclear. Clear contracts and cover reduce the dispute.
• Your insurer needs the full picture. How you run the build affects what a policy covers, so describe it accurately. A policy sold on the basis of a main contractor may not fit a build you manage yourself.

Which policies are in play

Policy	Whose it is	What it is for
Building (site) insurance	Usually yours, as owner	The works, materials and site while building. See contract works and public liability
Public liability	Yours, and each trade’s	Injury to third parties or damage to their property
Employers’ liability	Each trade with employees	Injury to the trade’s own employees
Professional indemnity	Your architect or engineer	Errors in design or certification
Latent (hidden) defects cover	Provider-dependent	Defects that appear after completion. See structural defects cover

Ask your broker which policy pays if a tradesperson’s worker is injured, and which if a visitor is. A trade’s public liability policy is subject to its own terms and exclusions. Whether your own site policy also responds to claims from a visitor or neighbour on a site you run is a question for your insurer.

What to ask each trade

1. A current certificate showing public liability, with the limit of indemnity and the expiry date.
2. Employers’ liability, if they have employees.
3. Whether they use subcontractors, and whether those are insured too.
4. The name of the insurer or broker, so you can check the certificate is genuine.

Ask your broker what limits and insured activities suit this build. Check the business name, the work being undertaken and the dates, not just the headline limit. A certificate is evidence to review, not a guarantee that every claim will be paid. Ask the insurer or broker to clarify any conditions or exclusions that affect the job.

Ask about exclusions for residential sites or work at height where relevant. If the certificate is unclear, have the trade’s broker confirm the scope in writing and file the reply with it. A related company’s insurance is not evidence that the business you engaged is insured.

Sole traders and no employees

Ask a sole trader to confirm whether anyone works for them and whether employers’ liability cover is relevant to those arrangements. Public liability still matters. If someone works alongside them informally, ask who that person is and how they are covered.

Red flags

• A certificate with no expiry date, or one that has expired.
• A limit far below the value of the work around them. A plumber working in a fitted kitchen can cause a large loss.
• A reluctance to let you contact the broker.
• A business name on the certificate that differs from the one on the quote.

What to ask your insurer or broker

• Does the building (site) policy cover works done by trades I hire directly?
• Are there exclusions for work I do or supervise myself?
• Does the policy require conditions, such as site security or fencing?
• Is cover reduced if a trade’s own insurance has lapsed?
• What does my lender require? See what lenders require.

Get the answers in writing from a regulated broker or the insurer. If you have a self-build mortgage, tell your lender how you are running the build too, since lender conditions vary.

Your safety duties as client

As the client, you have duties under the Construction Regulations. Before design and construction begin, agree who will carry out each role and keep a record of the arrangements:

• Appoint in writing, before design work starts, a competent and adequately resourced project supervisor for the design process (PSDP), as required.
• Appoint in writing, before construction starts, a competent and adequately resourced project supervisor for the construction stage (PSCS), as required.
• Keep and make available the safety file the PSDP provides for the completed structure. It holds information needed for later maintenance or renovation.
• Provide the safety and health plan prepared by the PSDP to everyone tendering. For work on a domestic dwelling, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) says it is enough to give the plan to the PSCS once appointed.

You must appoint project supervisors where there is more than one contractor, a particular risk, or work lasting more than 30 days or 500 person-days. Hiring several trades directly therefore triggers the appointment requirement. The supervisors must accept their appointments in writing too.

You can take on a supervisor role only if competent to carry out its duties; managing the budget or programme does not establish that competence. The same person may perform both roles if competent for both. Use competent contractors, cooperate with the supervisors and supply the information they need. Notify the HSA where the project is likely to exceed 30 working days or 500 person-days.

The PSCS must develop a suitable construction-stage safety and health plan before work begins. Agree this practical deliverable when making the appointment.

Safety duties matter for insurance too. Keep the appointments and records of how duties were carried out. An appointment alone does not prove that all safety duties have been fulfilled.

A worked example

You hire a groundworker, a block layer, a roofer, an electrician and a plumber. Before each starts you collect a certificate. The roofer’s expires in six weeks and the job is likely to run eight, so you diary a request for the renewal. The electrician is a sole trader with no employees, so you record their confirmation that they work alone and ask the broker about any uncertainty over cover. You ask your broker in writing whether the site policy covers directly hired trades, and file the reply. You agree who is competent and willing to act as PSDP and PSCS, and keep their written acceptances. Agree any fees before appointing them. Keep these records together. If something goes wrong, they show which checks you made, whose insurance was current and who accepted the safety roles.

Checklist before each trade starts

• Certificate received and read (limit, expiry, business name).
• Employers’ liability seen, or staffing arrangements clarified with the broker.
• Subcontractor position asked about.
• Expiry date in your diary.
• Broker or insurer told about the new trade, if they ask for it.
• Copy filed with your policy documents.

Keep records

Keep every certificate, with dates, alongside your policy documents and build records. They matter if there is a claim, and a lender or buyer’s solicitor may ask for them later. Keep the safety file with the house papers, since the next owner will need it too.

If something goes wrong

Tell your insurer promptly, secure the site, and photograph the damage. Do not admit liability or agree a payment with a trade before speaking to the insurer. For the process and your rights, see making a self-build insurance claim. If a main contractor leaves and you take over the site, their cover may end with them; see if your builder goes bust or walks off the job.